Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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Murdered deputy's parents plan to sue LA County for wrongful death
The parents of an LA County Sheriff's deputy murdered in Palmdale plan to sue the county, accusing the Sheriff's Department and county executives of knowingly endangering the lives of law enforcement officers by forcing deputies to work excessive amounts of overtime due. Michael and Kim Clinkunbroomer, the parents of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, said in a government claim filed Monday, the mandatory overtime hours, needed for the Sheriff's Department to maintain minimum staffing levels, caused their son to become so fatigued as to be unable to defend himself.
NBC4
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DA George Gascon’s secret push to release murderers
It is common knowledge that Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon wants as many people out of jail as possible. It seems that progressive ideological effort now extends to cop killers. In 1979, drug dealer and gang leader Jesse Gonzales was watering his lawn when he saw police officers. He went into the house, while the officers - there to serve a warrant - knocked on the door, yelled “Police!” heard movement inside the house, and kicked in the door.
California Globe
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L.A. County cites ex-deputy's 2 DUIs in post-resignation damages spat
A former L.A. County sheriff's deputy who is one of seven plaintiffs who maintain they were pressured to quit or leave the East Los Angeles station by an internal clique known as the Banditos should be barred from seeking any post-resignation damages, in part because of his two drunken-driving convictions, defense attorneys state in new court papers.
City News Service
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Ex-con sentenced to life without parole for killing LAPD officer in 1983
An ex-con was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of a Los Angeles Police Department officer during a traffic stop in Lake View Terrace more than 40 years ago. Kenneth Earl Gay, 65, was convicted Aug. 25 of first-degree murder for the June 2, 1983, shooting death of Officer Paul Verna, a married father of two young sons who both eventually became police officers.
KCAL News
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Man convicted of murder entitled to evidentiary hearing
A man who was convicted of murder after a jury was instructed under the now-repudiated “natural and probable consequences” theory cannot be heard to challenge the finding that he had an intent to kill, the California Supreme Court held yesterday, but that does not necessarily preclude a resentencing petition being granted, it declared.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Judge dismisses last claims in LACo prosecutor’s employment lawsuit
A judge has dismissed the remaining two claims in a lawsuit filed by a longtime Los Angeles County prosecutor who sued the county, alleging she was repeatedly harassed and denied promotions by individuals within the office she believed were trying to destroy her career. Deputy District Attorney Linda Baek‘s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit originally alleged six claims, including gender and disability discrimination, retaliation, and failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation.
City News Service
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City denies stalling woman in records request concerning husband's death
The city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports are not stalling in fulfilling a woman's request for records concerning her husband's death while working at Los Angeles International Airport in 2022, lawyers for both entities maintain in new court papers while citing the volume of the documents sought. Petitioner Tiffany Abraham alleges the city and airport are snubbing her requests in violation of the California Public Records Act as she tries to find out more about the death of her husband, 36-year-old Cristofer Abraham.
City News Service
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District attorney candidates’ names were properly placed on ballot in primary
The charter of a home-rule county supersedes statutory provisions on the election of district attorneys, Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held, but rebuffed the contention of a write-in candidate for the office of chief prosecutor for San Bernardino County that a charter provision was ignored in holding an election for the position on June 7, 2022, the day of the statewide primary.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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California’s sober home rules headed to another courtroom showdown
Who’s really disabled? Who really deserves protection under anti-discrimination laws? Those are the questions Costa Mesa urged the the U.S. Supreme Court to ponder as the city battles on, defending its sober living home rules against lawsuits from irate operators. Wisdom on this from the Supremes could have crystalized squishy matters of law and, as the city sees it, saved people’s lives.
Orange County Register
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Federal appeals court strikes down Maryland law requiring 'handgun qualification license
A Maryland law requiring those who want handguns to wait up to 30 days for a “handgun qualification license” violates the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled last week. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, ruled 2-1 that the law is unconstitutional because it isn’t justified by history and tradition, as required by the U.S. Supreme Court in the June 2022 decision New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen.
ABA Journal
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Ninth Circuit denies compassionate release to man convicted of sex trafficking minor
A man convicted in 2017 of sex trafficking a minor and sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison on Wednesday lost his bid in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for reversal of a District Court order denying him compassionate release. The order was made by Judge Troy L. Nunley of the Eastern District of California and affirmed in a memorandum opinion by Ninth Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw and Senior Circuit Judges Barry G. Silverman and Richard C. Tallman.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Michael Latt death suspect charged with murder; motive revealed by D.A.
Jameelah Elena Michl, the suspect in the shooting death of Michael Latt, has been charged with murder. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victim, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that justice is served for this heinous crime,” stated Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón today as the charges were made public.
Deadline
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Body of 9-year-old girl in wheelchair 'left to rot' after drowning death, OC DA says; mother charged
A 32-year-old Westminster woman is accused of drowning her 9-year-old daughter and leaving her body in a bathtub for several days, authorities said. Khadiyjah Aliyyah Pendergraph, 32, was charged with one felony count of murder Tuesday after she was arrested last week at a grocery store parking lot in Aliso Viejo. According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, the girl's father called police Friday, saying his daughter, 9-year-old Victoria, was missing.
ABC7
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‘El Nini’: Top Sinaloa Cartel criminal arrested in Mexico, Justice Department calls for extradition
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has called for the “swift extradition” of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, described by the Justice Department as a lead assassin for the Sinaloa Cartel, after his arrest in Mexico. Pérez Salas is “one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins,” according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Known as “Nini,” Pérez Salas was captured by the Mexican National Guard on Wednesday in Culiacán, Sinaloa, according to Mexican officials.
CNN
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California jogger charged with voluntary manslaughter after filming himself shooting a homeless man, authorities say
A Southern California man accused of shooting and killing a homeless man he woke up for blocking a sidewalk captured the shooting on video, according to the Orange County district attorney. Craig Sumner Elliott, 68, was jogging the afternoon of September 28 with his two dogs in Garden Grove, California, when he encountered Antonio García Avalos, 40, who was asleep in the middle of a sidewalk, a news release from the district attorney’s office said.
CNN
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Protest outside Israel lobbyist’s Brentwood home being investigated as possible hate crime
The Thanksgiving Day demonstration that took place in front of the Brentwood home of Michael Tuchin, President of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore confirmed the hate crime investigation on Friday afternoon. “Video evidence and other information is being collected to identify those responsible for the vandalism and assault on a neighbor,” Moore said on X, formerly Twitter.
KTLA
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LA County wants to compensate incarcerated people caring for peers living with mental illnesses
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors threw additional support this week behind a program in which incarcerated people volunteer to care for peers living with a mental illness behind bars. Since 2018, incarcerated peer caregivers - or mental health assistants, as they’re called - have worked to assist people living with serious mental illness inside L.A. County jails.
LAist
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11 seeking to replace Gascón as county DA
Eleven potential candidates have either pulled or filed nomination papers or filed signatures in lieu to challenge first-term Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón in the March 5 presidential primary. As of Wednesday, Debra Archuleta, a Los Angeles Superior County Court judge; Jeff Chemerinsky, a federal prosecutor; Jonathan Hatami, an LA County deputy district attorney; Nathan Hochman, a former US assistant attorney general; Lloyd “Bobcat” Masson; David S. Milton, a retired LA County Superior Court judge; Craig Mitchell, an LA County Superior Court judge; Maria Ramirez, head deputy district attorney; and deputy district attorney Eric Siddall each pulled candidate nomination papers, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder.
Antelope Valley Press
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Is shoplifting up or down?
Reported shoplifting incidents in U.S. cities rebounded in the first half of 2023 compared to levels seen prior to the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but that trend was driven by the large number of incidents in New York City, according to a new analysis released today by the Council on Criminal Justice. Examining trends in 24 cities where police have consistently published data over the past five years, the analysis found that shoplifting reports were 16% higher (about 8,450 more incidents) during the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2019.
Council on Criminal Justice News Release
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Supreme Court set to review if judges can be fired by the president
Judges working within the federal bureaucracy could find themselves more vulnerable to the whims of political power after the Supreme Court reviews a case from a hedge fund manager accused of violating federal securities law. On the high court’s docket next week is a case involving the workhorses of the federal government: career civil servants who stand at their posts regardless of which party takes up residence on Pennsylvania Ave.
Courthouse News Service
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Landmark legal battle: California court greenlights discrimination lawsuit against Google over Albanian language
Dive into the unfolding legal saga as the Supreme Court of California validates a discrimination lawsuit against Google concerning the exclusion of the Albanian language. Explore the far-reaching implications for media, marketing, and technological development in the Albanian-speaking regions. Introduction: In a legal development with potential repercussions for the global tech landscape, the Supreme Court of California has given the green light to a discrimination lawsuit against the tech behemoth Google.
GhanaGuardian
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Gun enthusiasts challenge California’s delayed background checks in court
The Golden State finds itself in the crosshairs of gun enthusiasts who claim the state overstepped its bounds by delaying background checks beyond the 10-day limit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case, which is currently being heard in a California Court of Appeal, is just one of many legal challenges to California’s gun laws. The state, known for its stringent gun control measures, is being accused of using a Department of Justice interpretation to delay over 220,000 gun purchases.
Bloomberg Law
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LA County moves to provide voters more information on political candidates
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to publish candidate statements online in addition to inside printed sample ballots, a move that will dramatically reduce candidates’ cost of getting their statements in front of voters. Right now, many candidates do not buy space in sample ballots because they say it's cost prohibitive.
LAist
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Are Prop. 47, other laws to blame for fentanyl crisis? Here’s what Stanislaus officials say
Modesto police Officer Mark Ulrich first noticed fentanyl during an arrest in 2019. He’d been used to finding heroin and identifying it by its tarry viscosity and strong vinegar smell. But this substance was different. “I did what we always did, took a little whiff, and boom. I got immediately dizzy and was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, OK, that’s weird. What the heck is that?’” Ulrich said. “Well, what they were doing at the time was they were mixing fentanyl into the heroin. So you couldn’t tell the difference.”
Modesto Bee
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Ninth Circuit clears San Francisco, Oakland to pursue state court nuisance claims against Big Oil
A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday cleared the way for San Francisco and Oakland to pursue their pubic nuisance claims against five major oil and gas companies in state court rather than in federal court. The panel in an unsigned decision Monday affirmed the 2022 ruling by a lower court judge who sent the two lawsuits back to the state courts where they were first filed in 2017.
Courthouse News Service
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California tax reform bid faces resistance from lawmakers
The California Legislature has two paths to disable a November 2024 ballot measure that would change how local and state governments raise taxes and fees - an initiative its detractors say already is destabilizing public coffers. The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act would, according to supporters, give Californians the final word over any new or hiked state tax by requiring majority approval by voters statewide.
Courthouse News Service
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In Oakland terminal dispute, developer demands a choice in remedy
After winning in a contract liability showdown against the city of Oakland, a major developer wants the judge to let it choose its own remedy - ultimately either demanding damages or finishing its long-stalled plan for a bulk shipping terminal at Port of Oakland. Attorneys for Oakland Global Rail Enterprise began a new phase of a lengthy trial before Alameda Superior Court Judge Noël Wise on Tuesday.
Courthouse News Service
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11 people arrested in LAPD Black Friday sting
The Los Angeles Police Department officers worked an undercover sting operation from November 22 and November 25 targeting flash mob thieves and other shoplifters during the Black Friday sales at local retailers resulting in the arrest of 11 individuals. According to a November 28 press release on the LAPD website, on August 21 the LAPD Commercial Crimes Division set up the Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCT) in response to the “Flash Mob” robberies that have hit local retail establishments in the area.
Canyon News
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2 arrested in string of armed robberies targeting victims wearing high-end jewelry in LA and Orange counties
Officials with the Beverly Hills Police Department on Thursday announced the arrests of two men in their 20s accused of multiple armed robberies in Los Angeles and Orange counties from July through October, adding the crimes primarily targeted victims for their luxury watches and jewelry. BHPD identified the suspects as 21-year-old Justice Bloodworth of Los Angeles and 23-year-old Cameron Woods-Harvey of Long Beach.
Fox11
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LASD deputy arrested for allegedly assaulting female inmate while on duty
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a female inmate while he was on duty. Jonathan Tejada Paredes was arrested Wednesday for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with one of the inmates at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood while he was on duty, according to LASD.
Fox11
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Accused killer released from jail, then rearrested after human remains discovered in North Hills
A man arrested on suspicion of murder after human remains were discovered in concrete near a home in North Hills was briefly freed from jail Tuesday after the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office initially declined to file a criminal charge. Russel Robinson, 48, was first booked by LAPD detectives last week following the discovery that the remains of a 35-year-old man from Guatemala had been concealed in the construction of an outbuilding in the backyard of a home near Roscoe Blvd. and Woodley Ave.
NBC4
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‘El Mago,’ drug trafficker linked to son of Sinaloa cartel kingpin, gunned down in L.A.
A convicted drug trafficker linked to the Sinaloa cartel who worked for the son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was gunned down Thursday morning in an industrial stretch of Willowbrook, according to authorities and court records. Eduardo Escobedo, 39, was one of two men killed in the 14200 block of Towne Avenue, according to officials from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The other victim was Guillermo De Los Angeles Jr., 47.
Los Angeles Times
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ATM skimming thefts on the rise targeting low-income Southern Californians
Authorities are warning residents as ATM skimming thefts are on the rise and targeting low-income Southern Californians. Those eligible for cash or food assistance will typically receive their benefits via an EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card every month. Through “skimming thefts,” suspects are able to capture EBT cardholders’ information and steal the funds for themselves, Riverside County officials said.
KTLA
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Police investigate possible hate crime outside pro-Israel official's home
Los Angeles police launched a hate crime investigation after a pro-Palestinian group threw fake blood on the driveway of the president of a pro-Israel group in Brentwood on Thursday. "They tried to terrorize my neighbor," said a witness who wished to stay anonymous. The Thanksgiving rally happened outside the Brentwood home of the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
KCAL News
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Gavin Newsom deploys CHP across California to crack down on organized retail crime
In a bid to curb retail theft, California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced that he is deploying the California Highway Patrol in “key retail districts” across the state this holiday shopping season. Newsom’s office added that the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Prevention Task Force is out to crack down this season “through proactive and confidential law enforcement operations.”
Sacramento Bee
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Suspect in antisemitic temple vandalism wanted
Authorities have identified a man suspected of antisemitic vandalism at Temple Emanu El as well as other locations around Burbank. Burbank police are asking for help finding 32-year-old Klinton Allister Dion, who is wanted on suspicion of hate crimes. According to police, Dion is suspected of putting antisemitic graffiti such as swastikas, an iron cross and the "SS" Nazi symbol on places including Temple Emanu El, in the 1300 block of North Glenoaks Boulevard, and the subterranean garage of an apartment complex in the 400 block of East Cypress Avenue and a Burbank utility box.
Los Angeles Patch
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Convictions/Sentences/Parole/Appeals | |
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Ex-California cop gets 27 years for kidnapping, other crimes committed while working as bail bondsman
A former Torrance police officer and bail agent was sentenced Wednesday, Nov. 29, to 27 years in state prison for abusing his position as a bail agent by intimidating and kidnapping clients and threatening to send them back to jail if they didn’t give him money and property. Rehan Nazir, 51, was convicted by a Norwalk Superior Court jury in May of 17 felony counts, including three counts of kidnapping, extortion, burglary, false imprisonment, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and grand theft, according to court records.
Southern California News Group
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Five years won’t be lopped from fraudster’s sentence
Matthew Mazur - a man who defrauded investors out of more than $3.3 million through misrepresentations as to potential sales of disposable syringes and was sentenced in 2017 to 35 years and eight months in prison, with the prison time later whittled to 23 years after a second resentencing hearing - has failed in his effort to persuade Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal to order a further reduction of his term to 18 years.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Ventura County man sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for making death threats to a nonprofit and reproductive health centers
A Ventura County man was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for making threatening telephone calls last year, including to a Planned Parenthood office on the day the United States Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision. Nishith Tharaka Vandebona, 34, of Oxnard, but who lived in Camarillo when he committed the crimes, was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who described the threatening phone calls as “egregious.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Man gets probation for sex messages sent to someone he thought was teen boy
A 40-year-old man who sent sexually charged messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy in Palm Desert was sentenced Monday to four years of probation. Brandon Devon Bourgeois of Hemet pleaded guilty Oct. 18 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count of contacting a minor with intent to commit a crime, according to court records.
MyNewsLA
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Lawsuit: California regulators put anti-spam crusader out of business
Today, Jay Fink, a pioneer in fighting email spam, partnered with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal lawsuit challenging California’s overreaching and unconstitutional private investigator licensing requirements. Jay’s business was recently shut down by California regulators who argued he must endure 6,000 hours of irrelevant training and obtain a private-investigator license in order to legally help customers identify and index the junk email they receive.
Institute for Justice
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New tool to reduce homeless camps: L.A. County leases apartment building for former RV dwellers
Looking back, life in the RV camp wasn’t all bad. There were some good people living in the clusters of RVs scattered throughout unincorporated Gardena. For Robert Almorejo, it was a community where everybody knew everybody. He earned money painting his neighbors’ RVs. There was a stake of a sort: he owned his own home. And there was one dear friend, Jessica.
But then he remembers the cold days with no heat, the hot days with no air conditioning, the stove with no gas.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County wants to raise taxes even more in the name of fighting homelessness
One day soon your phone is likely to ring and the voice on the other end will be a pollster. The questions will be designed to figure out how to trick voters into approving more tax increases to pay for more of the same failed government policies to address homelessness. Roughly five years after L.A. voters approved Measure HHH and Measure H to borrow more than $1 billion to build housing and raise the sales tax to provide services, the problem is worse than ever.
Daily Bulletin
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Massage therapist must improve claims that San Jose officials mishandled sexual abuse complaints
A Vietnamese massage therapist must revise her claims that the city of San Jose is liable for the abuse and extortion a former city employee was convicted of carrying out against numerous massage therapists. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila granted the city its motion to dismiss the case, while allowing plaintiff Dai Trang Thi Nguyen leave to amend some claims.
Courthouse News Service
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Court document claims Meta knowingly designed its platforms to hook kids, reports say
Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew - but never disclosed - it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint described in reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
AP
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Study considers linguistic diversity of California
Whether for political, social, environmental reasons, or just on a whim, people have always moved around, intermingled, and shared their cultures with each other. A new study in Nature details how people some 5,200 years ago moved from modern Northern Mexico to what’s now Southern and Central California and how that left a lasting mark on language and history. People have lived in what’s now California for at least 13,000 years.
Courthouse News Service
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Elon Musk's newest defamation lawsuit highlights X's toxicity
Once again, Elon Musk, the owner of the platform X, is facing a defamation lawsuit. And once again one has to ask: What is this man doing running one of the most influential social media platforms in the world? One day in June, Ben Brody, who had just graduated from college, started receiving odd texts from his friends. They said there was a rumor circulating online that he was an undercover federal agent who was trying to provoke fights between brawling neo-Nazi groups in Oregon.
MSNBC
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Attorney warned Trump 'it's going to be a crime' if he didn't comply with subpoena for classified docs: Source
One of former president Donald Trump's current attorneys told special counsel Jack Smith's team that, within days of the Justice Department issuing a subpoena last year for all classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, she "very clearly" warned Trump that if he failed to fully comply - but then swore he did - "it's going to be a crime," according to sources familiar with the matter.
ABC News
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Jonathan Braun, the drug smuggler Trump pardoned, once flew to California to beat an associate with a belt, prosecutors alleged
A drug smuggler who was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump once beat an associate so badly with a belt that it left the man's body covered in bruises, prosecutors alleged at the time of his court case. Trump pardoned Jonathan Braun on his final day in office as part of a slew of last-minute pardons and commutations. In 2009, Braun fled to Canada, then Israel to avoid prosecution after his "stash house" was raided, according to court filings from prosecutors.
Business Insider India
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