Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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There’s no ‘justice’ exception for rule on new evidence
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a motion for relief from a judgment based on newly discovered evidence requires a showing that reasonable diligence was used to try to obtain the proof before trial even if the new information would conclusively change the result and justice weighs in favor of relief.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Exception to psychotherapist-patient privilege declared
The psychotherapist-patient privilege does not preclude a compelled production of mental health records to an expert evaluator appointed by a Juvenile Court judge to render an opinion as to a minor’s competency to stand trial, Div. Five of the First District Court of Appeal has held. In an unpublished opinion by Justice Danny Y. Chou, filed Tuesday, the appeals court denied a petition for a writ of mandate sought on behalf of “T.M.,” the subject of a delinquency petition based on alleged sex offenses.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Linking defendant to high-crime, Black area can violate Racial Justice Act
The Court of Appeal yesterday conditionally reversed a second-degree murder conviction based on the prosecutor repeatedly posing questions to the defendant concerning links to East Palo Alto which, during the time he lived there, was predominantly African American and known for violence, with the justices ordering that the trial court hold a hearing to determine if there was a violation of the California Racial Justice Act of 2020.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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California appeals court reverses November ballot label rewrite
California’s Third District Court of Appeal on Tuesday overturned a decision made last week by a lower court, ruling that the ballot label for a November voter initiative needs no rewrite. The appeals court issued its ruling just days after a Sacramento County Superior Court judge had ruled against the authors of Proposition 5. That proposition, if passed, would lower the threshold needed to pass certain general obligation bonds for housing and infrastructure projects from two-thirds to 55%.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge erred in axing suit on his own motion over lawyer’s fumbling, C.A. declare
A judge, exasperated over an attorney’s fumbling in seeking to have a default judgment entered in favor of his client for $9.42 million based on alleged unpaid debts, abused his discretion in ordering a dismissal of the action on his own motion, Div. Four of the Court of Appeal for this district’s held yesterday. The unpublished opinion by Justice Audra Mori reverses a judgment by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William F. Fahey in favor of defendant Ning Chen and against plaintiff Jian Xiong.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Supreme Court blocks temporary enforcement of expanded protections for transgender students
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Biden administration’s request to be allowed to temporarily enforce most of an April 2024 rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding, while its appeals continued. Friday’s ruling leaves in place for now decisions by federal appeals courts that barred the Biden administration from enforcing any portion of the rule, including three provisions that target discrimination against transgender people in schools.
SCOTUS Blog
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Court must tell sexual offenders of risk of commitment
The California Supreme Court yesterday announced a new rule requiring trial courts to advise any defendant pleading guilty to a qualifying sexual offense that he may be committed to a secure medical facility indefinitely under the Sexually Violent Predator Act following the completion of a term of imprisonment on the underlying crime.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Court to California: Try a privacy law, not online censorship
In a victory for free speech and privacy, a federal appellate court confirmed last week that parts of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act likely violate the First Amendment, and that other parts require further review by the lower court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit correctly rejected rules requiring online businesses to opine on whether the content they host is “harmful” to children, and then to mitigate such harms.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Supreme Court rejects Biden administration request to restore newest student debt plan
The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept on hold the latest multibillion-dollar plan from the Biden administration that would have lowered payments for millions of borrowers, while lawsuits make their way through lower courts. The justices rejected an administration request to put most of it back into effect. It was blocked by 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In an unsigned order, the court said it expects the appeals court to issue a fuller decision on the plan “with appropriate dispatch.”
AP
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Sophisticated SoCal ‘crime tourism’ ring stole millions in heists, home burglaries, feds say
A multimillion-dollar crime tourism scheme that operated for years in Southern California, facilitating thefts across the country, led investigators to a most unusual hub: a Los Angeles car rental business. But this wasn’t just any rental car shop. The business “catered only to crooks,” U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada said at a news conference Wednesday.
Los Angeles Times
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No charges filed against man punched by Los Angeles police officer
An attorney for a man seen on video being punched by a Los Angeles Police Department officer during an arrest last month said Monday that his client will not face charges. The announcement was made following the morning arraignment of Alexander Mitchell, 30, who was seen with his hands behind his back when he was punched during the July 28 incident. Cellphone video of the arrest shows Mitchell yelling, “What did I do?” as he was being detained.
KTLA
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Three suspects plead not guilty in killing of former 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor
Three suspects involved in the shooting and killing of former "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor in downtown Los Angeles pleaded not guilty. The fourth suspect pleaded guilty. The not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of the alleged gunman, Robert Isaiah Barceleau, 18, of Huntington Park, who is charged with murder and the special circumstance allegation of murder during an attempted robbery in connection with the actor's killing, on May 25, 2024.
KCAL News
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Trial begins in 2022 killing of UCLA student inside Hancock Park furniture store
A trial began Thursday in the 2022 killing of a UCLA student who was fatally stabbed while working inside a furniture store in Hancock Park. Brianna Kupfer, who was a 24-year-old at the time of her death, was stabbed nearly a dozen times on Jan. 13, 2022 during her shift inside the Croft House furniture store on La Brea Avenue near Beverly Boulevard. The suspected killer, Shawn Laval Smith, is charged with murdering the UCLA graduate student in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack with nothing taken from the store.
NBC4
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Trump charged in superseding indictment in election interference case following SCOTUS ruling
Special counsel Jack Smith has charged former President Donald Trump in a superseding indictment in his federal election interference case that charges him with the same offenses in the original indictment, but is adjusted to the Supreme Court's recent presidential immunity ruling. "The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government's efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court's holdings and remand instructions," a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
ABC News
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Four Girardi Keese lawyers named as targets as prosecution rests
The federal government is investigating four senior lawyers who worked at the now-bankrupt Girardi Keese firm, an IRS special agent testified Monday shortly before federal prosecutors rested their case against Thomas V. Girardi. Robert Finnerty, Christopher Aumais, Keith Griffin, and Girardi’s son-in-law David Lira have received target letters from the federal government, meaning they could be charged with a crime, said IRS Special Agent Ryan Roberson, although he didn’t specify when the letters were sent.
Bloomberg Law
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Park and Lee rally against bill threatening LA’s towing authority, cite public safety concerns
In response to a proposed state bill that could handcuff the city's parking enforcement, Los Angeles City Councilmembers Traci Park and John Lee rallied opposition during a council meeting on Tuesday. If approved, AB 1082 would prevent cities like Los Angeles from towing vehicles with more than five parking citations, a critical tool for managing health, safety, and the City’s curb spaces.
Westside Current
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Attorney faces disciplinary charges for fruitless petitions
The State Bar of California has announced that West Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Aaron Spolin faces 18 disciplinary charges for alleged misconduct tied to repeatedly misleading inmates and their families about a resentencing relief program, charging them fees to prepare requests that were unlikely to be granted.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Newsom’s latest effort to derail crime-fighting ballot initiative
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will today enact a package of bills to combat retail theft, the latest gambit in a desultory, nearly year-long effort by statewide Democrats to sap momentum from a tough-on-crime initiative. The bills Newsom signs into law will pursue many of the same aims as Proposition 36, which rolls back parts of a decade-old criminal justice reform measure by increasing penalties for certain theft and drug offenses, without requiring voter approval.
Politico
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US appeals court revives a lawsuit against TikTok over 10-year-old’s ‘blackout challenge’ death
A U.S. appeals court revived on Tuesday a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl who died attempting a viral challenge she allegedly saw on TikTok that dared people to choke themselves until they lost consciousness. While federal law generally protects online publishers from liability for content posted by others, the court said TikTok could potentially be found liable for promoting the content or using an algorithm to steer it to children.
AP
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Langer’s closing? Mayor Bass comes for lunch and vows to “respond urgently” to neighborhood problems
Norm Langer, owner of the iconic MacArthur Park deli with his name on the sign, got a phone call just after 8 a.m. Tuesday. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was on the line. She had read my recent column, in which Langer said he was strongly considering closing his restaurant unless City Hall got it together and tackled the neighborhood’s festering problems with sanitation, public safety, homelessness, gangs, unlicensed vending and wide-open drug activity.
Los Angeles Times
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Major "crime tourism" bust unveiled in Southern California
Federal prosecutors have unsealed a 46-count indictment against six individuals accused of running a sophisticated "crime tourism" ring based in Southern California. The group, allegedly led by Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, and his girlfriend Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, is accused of orchestrating a series of high-profile thefts and laundering millions of dollars over a six-year period.
Los Angeles Magazine
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Scott Loughner appointed as Downey's new police chief
Downey Police Acting Chief Scott Loughner has been promoted to chief to oversee the department's operations, it was announced Thursday. Loughner stepped in as interim police chief in December after Leslie Murray retired, capping a 32-year career. Loughner joined the Downey Police Department as a recruit in 1999 and climbed the ranks, serving as a sergeant and lieutenant prior to his promotion to captain in 2021, according to the department.
City News Service
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Home-invasion robbers who accosted nanny tracked and arrested: LAPD
A terrifying home-invasion robbery in the San Fernando Valley ended with the arrest of three suspects hours later in Compton Monday night. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the robbery crew broke into a house in the 15000 block of Greenleaf Street in Sherman Oaks at around 9 p.m. Monday. The robbers accosted a nanny and forced her into a bedroom, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Northridge-Chatsworth Patch
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Home invasion suspects were on supervised release
On August 28, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) updated their press release regarding the August 26 home invasion that occurred in the 1500 block of Green Leaf Street in Sherman Oaks. According to reports the three suspects, later identified as Isaiah Rankins, Juan Carlos Gonzales, and Dion Hill were on supervised release “during the commission of the crimes.”
Canyon News
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Homeowner shoots attempted burglar in Cerritos
An attempted burglar was shot and wounded by a homeowner in Cerritos on Saturday. It happened at around 1:45 p.m. at a home in the 11000 block of Shasta Circle, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators. They arrived to find the suspect suffering from a gunshot wound, where he was treated by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics before being taken to a hospital in critical condition.
KCAL News
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Men charged in Johnny Wactor's murder also suspected in series of SoCal burglaries
The suspects charged in the murder of "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor are also suspected in a series of burglaries across Southern California. The new details emerged during a Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Tuesday as authorities discussed a search warrant that led to their arrests earlier this month.
ABC7
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Footage appears to show woman thrown into oncoming traffic at Metro Station
Newly obtained footage appears to show a man throwing a woman into oncoming traffic in what officials have described as a random attack at a Pasadena Metro station. The woman reportedly sustained injuries to her head and face, including a broken nose, and was hospitalized. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said her injuries have "potential for long-term disfigurement."
Newsweek
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Striking Sacramento County deputy DAs, public defenders rally for higher wages
Flanked Wednesday by striking government attorneys, Anita Razo said she wouldn’t have pulled through without the support of her prosecutor. Razo’s son was robbed and killed in front of his house two years ago. The prosecutor assigned to the case worked with Razo, going as far as answering her calls at 3:30 a.m. Standing on the Sacramento County Courthouse steps, Razo said the county is shortchanging deputy district attorneys and public defenders and urged officials to pay them more.
Courthouse News Service
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Las Vegas police officials say the new NFL access policy compromises officers' privacy
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and union officials said they object to NFL access policies to certain areas of Allegiant Stadium and the union has urged its officers to not work Raiders home games after this weekend if the new arrangement remains in place. The NFL is using facial-recognition technology this season for those credentialed for games, including for players, media and vendors.
AP
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California Assembly passes AI regulation bill
A California bill that would put guardrails on the development of large artificial intelligence models squeaked through the state's Assembly Wednesday. Votes for Senate Bill 1047 - written by state Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat - quickly jumped up to 30 when the roll call began. However, the fate of the bill lingered for a long minute before the final few lawmakers pushed it across the 41-vote line.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge rules Breonna Taylor's boyfriend caused her death, throws out major charges against ex-Louisville officers
A federal judge has thrown out major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor's door before they fatally shot her. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson's ruling declared that the actions of Taylor's boyfriend, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a bad warrant.
CBS News
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US intelligence helped stop terror plot targeting Taylor Swift concert, CIA deputy director confirms
The CIA and other US intelligence agencies provided intelligence to Austrian law enforcement that allowed them to disrupt an ISIS-inspired plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert earlier this month, CIA deputy director David Cohen confirmed on Wednesday. CNN and others had previously reported the role of US intelligence in disrupting the plot, which Cohen said was “quite advanced” and threatened to kill “tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans.”
CNN
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LA releases sneak peek of reparations report
Los Angeles got its first look at a long-awaited report studying and documenting the experience of Black people in the city. The report, titled “An Examination of African-American Experiences in Los Angeles,” was unveiled Tuesday by the Civil, Human Rights and Equity Department and its Reparations Advisory Commission. It includes six pages of policy recommendations and details the affects of police brutality, unequal access to healthcare, segregation in schools, and housing instability, among others, for more than a century.
LAist
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Judge skeptical of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. election interference suit against Meta
A federal judge said Wednesday afternoon that he is unlikely to grant Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for a preliminary injunction against Meta on claims that the social media giant interfered with Kennedy’s presidential election campaign. Kennedy sued Meta in May, claiming Meta censored a 30-minute video advertisement about his life on Facebook, Instagram and other Meta-owned platforms by blocking users on those platforms from watching, sharing or linking to the video.
Courthouse News Service
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Georgia judge blocks federal rule allowing migrant farmworkers to join unions in 17 states
A federal judge in Georgia on Monday blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from enforcing a new rule in 17 states that would have prevented agricultural employers from retaliating against migrant workers with H-2A temporary work visas for joining labor unions and organizing against wage theft, trafficking and other abuses. Siding with the states in a lawsuit against the Labor Department, the judge granted a preliminary injunction and ruled the regulation would unconstitutionally give foreign agricultural workers rights that Congress never intended to provide.
Courthouse News Service
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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Ex-deputy sentenced to prison for abusing inmate while on duty in Central California
A former deputy with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office was sentenced to seven years in prison for dragging an inmate by her hair and throwing her into another jail cell in what the judge called a callous and "unreasonable" use of force. U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. said during the Thursday sentencing hearing for Joshua Fischer, 42, that he showed a "level of callousness" and "disdain" towards the woman, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.
KCAL News
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Former Inglewood police officer recorded by FBI making drug deal with stolen evidence is sentenced
John Abel Baca pulled up to the meeting in a Ferrari with a gram of cocaine in a medical glove. The man he was there to meet was a customer, and Baca, an Inglewood police officer and the department’s union rep at the time, said he had a kilogram more of the product he could sell for $22,000. But Baca wasn’t working an undercover case. Instead, the meeting in 2021 was being recorded by the FBI.
Los Angeles Times
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L.A. sheriff’s deputy sentenced to probation for assault on woman with mental disability
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors more than three years after prosecutors say he assaulted a woman during a disturbance call and then lied about it in a report. Konrad Thieme was sentenced last week to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service for two counts of excessive force by a police officer, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in an email.
Los Angeles Times
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Violent extortionist targeting Koreatown karaoke bars gets 22 years in jail
A 39-year-old Los Angeles man has been sentenced to nearly 23 years in federal prison for dozens of felonies that involved extorting Koreatown karaoke businesses using methods seemingly ripped from gangster films. Woodland Hills resident Daekun Cho, 39, was convicted in March on 57 charges: 55 counts of interference with commerce by extortion, one count of attempted interference with commerce by extortion and one count of carjacking.
KTLA
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Judge tosses George Santos’ copyright suit over Jimmy Kimmel prank videos
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a civil suit filed by expelled Representative George Santos, finding that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s prank videos of the disgraced former congressman fall under fair use and are protected against copyright infringement claims. The loss for Santos was made public hours before his expected guilty plea to criminal fraud charges in federal court on Long Island.
Courthouse News Service
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Travel safety: 17 CIA tips, advice to think like a spy on vacation
Before I hit the bike path for a long sightseeing excursion in this international hotspot, dressing down in muted colors, a nondescript baseball cap and a relatively cheap watch and shoes was as second nature to me as applying sunscreen. As a longtime national security journalist who has traveled to some of the world’s grittiest corners, I learned long ago to make sure I’m that person who doesn’t stick out in a crowd and become a target for thieves, terrorists, or kidnappers - whether I’m on an assignment or a family vacation.
USA Today
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Democrats are hiding the rise in violent crime with tricky statistics
“Make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned in his first speech as Kamala Harris’ running mate. “If you look this up at home,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claimed last month, “you will know that crime went down under Biden and crime went up under Trump. Why would America want to go back to the higher crime we experienced under Donald Trump?”
New York Post
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Former Girardi client says attorney’s obfuscations were like ‘reopening wounds that we were trying to close’
A former client of disgraced attorney Tom Girardi took the stand on Wednesday, the sixth day of the lawyer's criminal trial, and told the court about her year-long effort to recover settlement money owed to her by Girardi's firm. After Erika Saldana's one-year-old child was badly injured in a car crash caused by a drunk driver in 2015, she hired an attorney to sue both the driver and the manufacturer of the car seat.
Courthouse News Service
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ER' creator Michael Crichton's estate sues Warner Bros. over upcoming hospital drama 'The Pitt’
The estate of Michael Crichton, who wrote the screenplay for what became the pilot episode of “ER,” has sued Warner Bros. Television over a dispute about an upcoming medical drama it says is a rebranded version of an unauthorized reboot. After Crichton’s estate, led by his widow, Sherri, could not reach an agreement with the television studio to produce a reboot of the famed medical procedural, the lawsuit alleges Warner Bros. proceeded to develop and produce a series based on the same premise without consent.
AP
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Yelp accuses Google of antitrust in search results
Yelp, the website that allows users to rate and review local businesses, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google Wednesday, accusing the search giant of "abandoning its stated mission to deliver the best information available to its consumers and instead forcing its own low-quality local search content on them.” According to Yelp, Google has used its vast dominance - it is responsible for more than 91% of all internet searches - to squeeze out local search platforms like Yelp by directing users to its own local search results, which Yelp says are vastly inferior.
Courthouse News Service
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