Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits

Fired teacher settles suit over LAUSD vaccine mandate

A longtime Los Angeles Unified teacher who alleged she was fired in 2022 for refusing to abide by the district's coronavirus vaccination mandate has reached a tentative settlement with her former employer. In her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, plaintiff Kellie Ford maintained her faith did not allow her to take the shot and thus she was a victim of religious discrimination.

City News Service

Conviction overturned for threats to judge on Facebook

Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a judgment of conviction for criminal threats by a former Livermore mayoral candidate must be reversed where there was no evidence that his suggestion that the judge’s house should be burned down - made on a public Facebook page of an advocacy group that published the judge’s home address - was uttered with the specific intent that the judge would read the comment.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Los Angeles County judge sanctioned by CJP for actions during murder trial

A Los Angeles County judge was given a public censure, the harshest punishment allowed short of removal from the bench, for texting a prosecutor about a murder trial and then trying to minimize her conduct once she was caught. The Commission on Judicial Performance called Superior Court Judge Emily J. Cole’s texts about a potential witness to a former colleague in the district attorney’s office “antithetical to her role as a judge.” 

Daily Journal

Judge tosses lawsuit over LA mayor’s emergency declaration on homelessness

A California Superior Court judge on Thursday agreed to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at overturning Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' declaration of a local emergency on homelessness. The lawsuit was filed in September by Fix the City, a nonprofit advocacy group known for filing numerous lawsuits against the city in an effort to slow housing development - and, more recently, the construction of homeless housing.

Courthouse News Service

Supreme Court sides with NRA in free speech ruling that curbs government pressure campaigns

The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously backed the National Rifle Association in a First Amendment ruling that could make it harder for state regulators to pressure advocacy groups. The decision means the NRA may continue to pursue its lawsuit against a New York official who urged banks and insurance companies to cut ties with the gun rights group following the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 people dead.

CNN

Conviction may not be expunged over equitable concerns

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that a district court lacks jurisdiction to grant a motion to expunge the conviction of a defendant who pled guilty to aiding and abetting in the transmission of wagering information where the defendant did not allege an unlawful arrest or conviction or the existence of a clerical error.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

California Supreme Court weighs two cases that could limit the ballot initiative process

Seven years ago, California’s Supreme Court declared broad support for the historic right of voters to make law through the initiative process. Ruling in a case dubbed “Upland,” the court said that while governments are subject to voter-approved constitutional restraints on raising taxes, tax increases proposed via initiative need only simple majority votes for enactment. But the decision embraced much more than taxation.

CalMatters

Pending criminal action justifies stay in civil human-trafficking case

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that a stay order was properly granted by a District Court judge in a civil case brought by 10 Jane Does under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act due to a pending federal criminal case although the prosecution is against a different defendant.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Supreme Court declines to decide whether 12-person juries should be required for state felony cases

The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear a number of cases questioning whether state court juries must have a dozen members when they are weighing serious criminal charges. A series of appeals challenging Florida’s use of six-member juries has been pending at the Supreme Court for months. Six states - Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts and Utah - allow six- or eight-member juries to decide felony cases.

CNN

US judge rejects Amazon bid to get FTC lawsuit tossed over Prime program

A U.S. judge in Seattle on Tuesday rejected Amazon.com's request to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit that accuses the company of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid Amazon Prime service without their consent. The lawsuit is part of the Biden administration's ongoing regulatory and enforcement squeeze on big technology companies.

Reuters

Humboldt County judge resigns after admitting to unwanted touching, improper conduct

The state’s judicial disciplinary agency says a Humboldt County judge has resigned after admitting numerous wrongful acts, including failure to disclose friendships with parties in his court, and grabbing or slapping a husband and wife on the rear end at a social gathering.

San Francisco Chronicle

Scott Peterson strikes out as judge denies nearly all requests for new DNA testing

Convicted murderer Scott Peterson’s attempt to prove someone else killed his wife, Laci, and their unborn son failed overwhelmingly Wednesday when a judge denied all but one request to retest DNA samples from old pieces of evidence. Although his new defense lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project will be allowed to retest a piece of duct tape stuck to Laci’s pants when her body was found washed up along San Francisco Bay in 2003, they won’t be able to retest a stained mattress from a burned-out van found two miles from her Modesto home.

Bay Area News Group

With victim's death, murder charge filed against suspect in Venice attacks

A man who was previously charged with sexually assaulting and brutalizing two women in the Venice Canals area has been charged with murder following the death of one of the victims, the District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. Anthony Francisco Jones, 29, is accused of attacking the two women on the night of April 6. One of the victims, 53-year-old Sarah Alden, had been in a coma since the attack but was taken off life support and died Friday.   

City News Service

Lead prosecutor in Robert Durst murder trial vacationed at Hamptons home of killer’s widow

The Turn To Tara team has uncovered evidence that the star prosecutor responsible for the murder conviction of New York real estate scion Robert Durst took a free vacation at the Long Island mansion owned by his widow -just a few months after the serial killer’s conviction. John Lewin was the lead prosecutor in the 2021 California trial that found Durst guilty of murder.

News12 Long Island

Ventura County DA says deadly officer involved shooting in Simi Valley was justified

The Ventura County District Attorney's Office says the deadly officer involved shooting of Derrick Padilla by Simi Valley Police Officers David Maupin and Daniel Stradling on April 28th, 2022 was justified. The DA's investigation, review, and report concludes that the officers "acted reasonably, and their use of deadly force in self-defense was justified."

KVTA

Hollywood actor accused of stabbing makeup artist ex nabbed near Mexico

An actor who appeared in How I Met Your Mother was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border apparently trying to flee the country after allegedly stabbing a Hollywood makeup artist earlier this month. Nick Pasqual, 34, is due to be extradited to Los Angeles County to face an attempted murder charge for a brutal knife attack on Allie Shehorn, his ex-girlfriend. 

Daily Beast

Criminal justice backlash heads to the California ballot

This fall, California voters will have multiple chances to decide whether their state has gone too far in reining in law enforcement and reducing criminal penalties. A statewide initiative that’s likely to qualify for the ballot would unwind parts of Proposition 47, a collection of sentencing reductions passed by voters years before the George Floyd killing sparked a national movement to rethink criminal justice policy. 

Politico

Can algorithms help judges make decisions?

Can algorithms improve human decision-making by taking out bias-prone factors like age, race and gender? It's not a particularly new debate, but it's one that's gained renewed attention lately amid a new generation of artificial intelligence and large language models. Now, a new paper - published Tuesday in the Quarterly Journal of Economics - looks at New York City judges' decisions regarding pretrial detention in an attempt to ascertain whether machine learning could help them make better calls.

Courthouse News Service

How a lost credit card and $7 cheeseburger reignited California’s debate over excessive bail

By most metrics, Gerald Kowalczyk was a uniquely bad candidate to leave jail before his trial. He had a criminal record of more than 60 convictions, a history of failing to adhere to his release conditions and a pretrial algorithm’s assessment that he presented the highest risk score possible. A San Mateo Superior Court judge set his bail at $75,000, an amount Kowalczyk, homeless and unemployed, could not pay.

CalMatters

Nathan Hochman endorsed by veteran L.A. County child abuse prosecutor Jonathan Hatami

Los Angeles County District Attorney candidate Nathan Hochman announced today that his campaign continues to gain strong momentum, securing a significant endorsement from 18-year veteran L.A. County child abuse prosecutor Jonathan Hatami – a former D.A. candidate, Army veteran, dad, husband to a Deputy Sheriff, and long-time critic of his boss, D.A. George Gascon.

Nathan Hochman News Release

Los Angeles City/County

Skipped inspections, lax maintenance: Regulators blame Sheriff’s Department for fire that killed deputy

State regulators have accused the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department of skipping inspections, neglecting maintenance and committing an array of “willful” safety violations that led to a 2023 mobile shooting range fire that killed one deputy, according to records obtained by The Times. Last month, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health hit the department with just over $300,000 in fines for a series of safety violations in a mobile range trailer parked outside the Castaic jail complex. 

Los Angeles Times

Attorney accuses LAPD internal affairs unit of revealing alleged sex-hazing victims' names

A group of Los Angeles police officers who are suing the city over allegations they endured sexual hazing on the LAPD’s amateur football team now risk facing retaliation, their attorney says, because the department revealed their identities during an internal investigation.

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles politicians take rare steps to limit their power and boost public confidence - sort of

Self-regulation is a messy business. In politics, it can seem elusive. When elected officials adopt rules to govern the conduct of elected officials, they’re pulled in one direction by constituents who favor restrictions and punishments, and in the other direction by self-preservation, a basic instinct politicians have in abundance. Progress tends to be incremental and uneven as a result.

CalMatters

Lifeguard who took down Pride flags at beach sues L.A. County over religious discrimination

A longtime Los Angeles County lifeguard stationed in Pacific Palisades near a stretch beloved by gay beachgoers is suing the county for requiring him to work feet away from a Pride flag last summer and punishing him for taking three of the flags down. The lawsuit, filed in federal court May 24 a week before this year’s Pride month kicks off, brings the county’s sparkling coastline squarely into the nation’s culture wars.

Los Angeles Times

California/National

California is about to tax guns like it does alcohol and tobacco

Starting in July 2024, California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammunition. The new tax - an 11% levy on each sale - will come on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California’s 6% sales tax. The National Rifle Association has characterized California’s Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act as an affront to the Constitution.

Honolulu Civil Beat

California’s fiscal watchdog sees positive signs in deficit reduction

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised budget has helped some of the Golden State’s budget woes, though financial problems continue to loom on the horizon, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office said Friday. Newsom’s new 2024-25 budget, released two weeks ago, cut what he said was a $38 billion deficit down to $27.6 billion. However, the analyst’s office earlier this month said that Newsom actually fixed a $55 billion deficit.

Courthouse News Service

Unhoused Californians are getting older, and they’re staying unhoused longer

Californians experiencing homelessness are aging. And the older they get, the more time they tend to spend unhoused. That’s one of the major findings in a recent study from UC San Francisco’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. The researchers found that for unhoused Californians aged 50 years or older, their current spell of homelessness lasted a median of 25 months.

LAist

Newsom promised 1,200 tiny homes for homeless Californians. A year later, none have opened 

In March 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood before a crowd in Sacramento’s Cal Expo event center and made a promise: He’d send 1,200 tiny homes to shelter homeless residents in the capital city and three other places throughout the state. The move was part of Newsom’s push to improve the homelessness crisis by quickly moving people out of encampments and into more stable environments. But more than a year later, none of those tiny homes have welcomed a single resident.

CalMatters

Who else was stealing? Conspiracy plea deepens mystery in San Joaquin Valley water heist

The former general manager of a San Joaquin Valley water district, accused by federal prosecutors of carrying out one of the most audacious and long-running water heists in California history, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a version of the crime far more muted than what prosecutors had laid out in their original indictment.

Los Angeles Times

Two ex-FBI officials who traded anti-Trump texts close to settlement over alleged privacy violations

Two former FBI officials have reached a tentative settlement with the Justice Department to resolve claims that their privacy was violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump. The tentative deal was disclosed in a brief court filing Tuesday that did not reveal any of the terms.

AP

Crime

Former 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor killed in downtown Los Angeles shooting

Former "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor was fatally shot in downtown Los Angeles while interrupting a catalytic converter theft, his family confirmed Sunday. The shooting happened around 3 a.m. Saturday in the area of West Pico Boulevard and South Hope Street. LAPD investigators say three men were trying to steal a catalytic converter when the car's owner approached them.

ABC7

LAPD re-arrests attempted kidnapping suspect for same crime at Koreatown park

Southern California authorities said 27-year-old Yara Vanessa Pineda, the woman who was arrested for allegedly trying to kidnap a child in the Westlake District in late February, was re-arrested for the same crime earlier this week. This time, officials said she struck again in Koreatown. On Tuesday, May 28, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were called to Seoul International Park in the 3200 block of San Marino Street following reports of a possible kidnapping suspect. 

Fox11

Police: Man shoots 5 people in San Fernando, fires at LAPD helicopter

A 61-year-old man is behind bars Sunday after allegedly shooting several people at a residence in San Fernando and later firing at a police helicopter during a barricade. Officers were dispatched at about 11:20 p.m. Saturday to the 900 block of Orange Grove Avenue regarding reports of multiple shooting victims, according to Lt. Walter Dominguez of the San Fernando Police Department.

City News Service

LA Metro bus driver attacked in downtown Los Angeles

A Metro bus driver was attacked in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, May 27, adding to a string of recent violent confrontations on the county’s mass-transit system. It happened about 9:50 a.m. on a bus traveling southbound on Spring Street just south of Temple Street, Metro officials said. The bus driver reportedly recognized the possibly homeless attacker from previous incidents and attempted to stop her from entering the bus by closing the doors, Los Angeles police said.

City News Service

Burglary gangs are literally planting cameras in Southern California yards to spy on residents, police say

A Temecula electrician was left scratching his head this month when he discovered two devices, including a camera with a lens poking through a leaf taped to it, hidden in the planter in his front yard. The camera was pointed toward a neighbor’s home. “Why is this here?” said the man, who declined to provide more information about himself out of fear for his safety “What is the purpose? Is this here for a kidnapping? Is this here for a home invasion?”

Riverside Press-Enterprise

81-year-old arrested after police say he terrorized California neighborhood with slingshot

An 81-year-old man who investigators say terrorized a Southern California neighborhood for years with a slingshot has been arrested, police said. While conducting an investigation, detectives “learned that during the course of 9–10 years, dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter,” the Azusa Police Department said in a statement.

AP

FBI takes down massive global army of zombie computer devices

The FBI said it has dismantled what is likely the world’s largest botnet - an army of 19 million infected computers - that was leased to hackers for cybercrimes. The botnet, which was spread across more than 190 countries, enabled financial fraud, identity theft and access to child exploitation materials around the world, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

Bloomberg

Darknet: ‘NoLove’: Glendale man sentenced for drug trafficking

A Glendale man was sentenced recently to 120 months in federal prison for participating in a darknet-based organization - known as “NoLove” - that trafficked methamphetamine and ecstasy inside and outside of the United States and for laundering the outfit’s drug proceeds by exchanging bitcoin into U.S. dollars.

Pasadena Weekly

Man performed lewd acts on kids during nap time, then threatened them, CA cops say

A 28-year-old man is going to prison after being convicted of performing lewd acts on three kids, California officials said. Adam Bendell of Auburn is accused of inappropriately touching kids during bedtime and nap time, according to a May 22 Facebook post by the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. “The abuse also escalated over time,” the release said.

Sacramento Bee

Supreme Court declines to review conviction of disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti in Nike extortion case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away a bid by disgraced California attorney Michael Avenatti to overturn his conviction for attempting to extort nearly $25 million from sporting goods giant Nike. The rejection of Avenatti's appeal means his conviction on three federal charges will remain in place. Avenatti gained notoriety for representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against former President Donald Trump but became embroiled in numerous legal scandals. 

CBS News

‘Method to his madness’: This man may be California's most litigious person

In the time it takes to read this story, Steven Wayne Bonilla may very well sue again. Since entering California’s Death Row in 1995, the now-77-year-old Bonilla has established himself among the most prolific litigants in modern U.S. history. He shows no signs of slowing. In a fusillade of suits, petitions and other civil actions, Bonilla has targeted district attorneys, judges and clerks’ offices. He has sued the state and every county within it. 

San Francisco Chronicle

The cost to inform California voters? $118,000 a page for official guide

What’s the cost of democracy in California? If we calculate that based just on the pages informing the state’s 22 million voters about Proposition 1 in the official March voter guide, about $8 million. Each page of the primary voter guide cost $117,880 for printing, translations, audio, mailing and postage, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The total cost of the 112-page March voter guide was $13.2 million.

CalMatters

Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1 million in defamation case against far-right blogger

A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022. The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found Friday that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she posted a doctored video of his performance with a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals,” the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.

AP

Harvard to stay silent on issues that don’t impact university’s ‘core function’

Harvard University announced Tuesday it will no longer weigh in on public matters that don’t impact the Ivy League school’s core function, a shift that follows a historic period of turmoil at the storied university. Harvard leaders announced the new policy after forming a working group in April to debate when the university should speak out.

CNN

Ex-Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis has law license suspended in Colorado

Jenna Ellis has joined other ex-lawyers of Donald Trump in having their law license pulled in their home state, with the Colorado Supreme Court approving a deal Tuesday that will suspend her from practicing law there for three years. It’s the latest fallout from the 2020 election to hit Ellis, who tearfully pleaded guilty in October to a felony in Georgia over her failed efforts to overturn Trump’s loss there.

Daily Beast

Reggaeton-shaking dembow beat lawsuit to proceed after judge denies motions to dismiss

The lawsuit that could significantly impact the past and future of reggaeton music will proceed to trial as a judge denied the majority of motions to dismiss the legal action involving the oft-sampled 1989 track “Fish Market.” The massive case, which consolidates more than 50 related lawsuits filed over the last two years, alleges Jamaican producers Steely & Clevie’s 1989 hit “Fish Market” originated the distinctive dembow rhythm - named after Shabba Ranks’ 1990 single “Dem Bow,” which used the “Fish Market” riddim” - that’s become a signature of reggaeton music. 

Rolling Stone