Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Man seeking to invalidate murder conviction based on docuseries fails to meet burden
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday rejected an attempt by a defendant, who was found guilty of aiding and abetting murder in furtherance of racketeering relating to the death of two tourists in Mexico mistakenly believed to be U.S. narcotics officers, to reopen his murder case based on new evidence revealed in 2020 in a documentary and book.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| | |
California judge dismisses injury suit accusing homeless man of attacking train passenger
A Black man who sued Suisun City after a homeless man struck him with a stolen vehicle in a racially charged incident had no opposition to a federal judge dismissing the city from the case. U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd did just that, finding in favor of the city’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and closing the entirety of Nickolas Rose's case.
Courthouse News Service
| | |
California judge won’t block Huntington Beach voter ID requirement
A California state court judge on Monday denied efforts to prevent Huntington Beach, a conservative bastion in the left-leaning state, from requiring voters to present a government-issued identification before they cast their ballot. Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas rejected both the bid by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and by Huntington Beach resident Mark Bixby to invalidate the city's charter amendment that imposed the voter ID requirement because, they argued, it would conflict with state law and burden citizens' right to vote.
Courthouse News Service
| | |
Appeals court voids $10 million sexual harassment judgment
The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday stripped a professor of a $10 million judgment against her employer, the Los Angeles Community College District, in an action for sexual harassment and retaliation, citing infirm evidentiary rulings by a judge who allowed reference to the harasser’s expunged misdemeanor convictions, admitted 1997 Los Angeles Times articles about him, and permitted testimony by a former student as to conduct of a different administrator.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| | |
Ninth Circuit revives lawsuit over California school’s transgender policy
The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court’s ruling dismissing a complaint over a California school district using a student’s preferred pronouns without telling a parent, remanding the issue back to the district court. A three-judge appeals panel found that U.S. District Senior Judge John Mendez applied erroneous legal standards to Aurora Regino’s substantive and procedural due process claims. The case now returns to Mendez for further proceedings.
Courthouse News Service
| | |
After 9th Circuit win, San Diego County seeks to withhold more sheriff’s records
Almost as soon as a federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s ruling that certain internal sheriff’s records must be made available to the public, lawyers for the County of San Diego began capitalizing on the decision. The Office of County Counsel, which defends Sheriff Kelly Martinez and other officials and agencies in civil litigation, is broadly interpreting the recent 2-1 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asking judges in other lawsuits to withhold similar records - or to reverse prior decisions to hand over the records.
San Diego Union-Tribune
| | |
Arbitrator’s comment in email was sufficient to amend award
A judge erred in confirming an arbitration award without including in the judgment a clarification the arbitrator had emailed to the parties, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday. Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert of Div. Six authored the unpublished opinion holding that cognizance must be taken of the email, notwithstanding that it was not signed.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| | |
US appeals court rejects Trump bid to fast-track migrant deportations
A U.S. appeals court on Monday declined to lift an order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting people to countries the government did not previously raise without first allowing individuals to show they face risk of persecution or torture there. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by President Donald Trump's administration to put on hold a nationwide temporary restraining order issued by a judge on March 28.
Reuters
| | |
Soccer coach charged with murder in death of 13-year-old California boy
Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed a murder charge with special circumstances Monday in the disappearance and death of Oscar Omar Hernandez, the 13-year-old boy who vanished after visiting a soccer coach in the Antelope Valley last month. That coach, identified by Hernandez's family as Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino, was arrested last week by LAPD detectives investigating the teen's disappearance, although he was booked on an unrelated assault charge from last year.
NBC4
| | |
Menendez brothers resentencing battle heats up as DA Hochman rejects clemency, cites lies and premeditation in stark contrast to David Brinson case
Comparison: Lyle and Erik Menendez vs. David Brinson. On April 11, 2025, a scheduled court hearing will address two motions concerning the Menendez brothers, with additional hearings possibly taking place on April 17 and 18 at the Van Nuys Courthouse. In October 2024, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced plans to request a resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez.
CityWatch LA
| | |
United States Attorney Bill Essayli announces criminal task force to investigate fraud and corruption involving homelessness funds
United States Attorney Bill Essayli today announced the formation of the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which will investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption involving funds allocated toward the eradication of homelessness within the seven-county jurisdiction of the Central District of California.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
| | |
California judge who shot his wife faces murder charge retrial
The California judge who fatally shot his wife after a drunken argument will return to state court Monday for retrial on a charge of second degree murder. The retrial will likely be an uphill battle for Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who argues the shooting was an accident, according to two legal scholars who are familiar with the case. They pointed to both the facts of the case and how close prosecutors got to a guilty verdict in the first trial.
Bloomberg Law
| | |
One of the dark web's largest drug-dealing networks was run by four L.A. County men, feds allege
Four Los Angeles County men were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of operating one of the dark web's biggest drug distribution networks, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors have accused the men of operating 10 virtual storefronts on 17 different dark web marketplaces from September 2018 through February, the department said in a statement. The vendors had names like JoyInc, LaFarmacia and WhiteDoc.
Los Angeles Times
| | |
Southern California man, 38, fatally stabbed by wife on his birthday, prosecutors say
Prosecutors in a Santa Ana courtroom told jurors on Tuesday that Michelle Gutierrez stabbed her husband to death on his birthday while he slept in bed and that his screams were heard by their two children. The gruesome scene reportedly played out in January 2021 at the couple’s Santa Ana home in the 1000 block of West Bishop Street at around 9:30 a.m., The Orange County Register reported at the time.
KTLA
| | |
U.S. border patrol officers charged with taking thousands in bribes to wave people into the country without showing documents
Two U.S. border inspectors in Southern California have been charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes to allow people to enter the country through the nation's busiest port of entry without showing documents, prosecutors said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez were assigned to immigration inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Associated Press
| | |
Justice Department seeks death penalty for man who killed fellow supermax inmate
The Justice Department will seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing a fellow prisoner at the federal government’s “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, while serving a life sentence for killing his cellmate at another lockup, the department announced Thursday. Ishmael Petty, who was separately convicted of assaulting prison employees, is the latest to face a possible death sentence as the Trump administration pushes to revive federal capital punishment.
Associated Press
| | |
California lawmakers ask for millions for Prop. 36. The true cost is still unknown
California lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seeking hundreds of millions of state dollars to support the implementation of the state’s new theft and drug treatment law. Proposition 36 went into effect in December after a landslide victory at the ballot box. Among other things, the new law raises the stakes of everyday street crime: instead of misdemeanors for theft and drug crimes, some petty thefts - especially for repeat offenders- can now be felonies, and a third drug offense can yield an option of either a felony or drug treatment.
Sacramento Bee
| | |
Heads of Foodbank of Southern California accused of misusing funds for personal financial gain
California officials sued the Foodbank of Southern California, alleging that the nonprofit and a dozen of its leaders misused state and federal funds for their own gain, including home renovations, a Tesla and a church billboard. The Long Beach-based food bank closed last October amid a Department of Social Services investigation into allegations against the nonprofit's former CEO, Jeanne Cooper.
KCAL News
| | |
L.A. D.A.’s office denies allegation of retaliatory transfers
The Office of Los Angeles County District Attorney has insisted in a memorandum of points and authorities that the reassignment of two prosecutors who recommended the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez - convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole - had nothing to do with the stance they took in that case. Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford and former Deputy District Attorney Nancy Theberge have brought suit against District Attorney Nathan Hochman in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming retaliatory demotions.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| | |
Huntington Park councilmember sues city after move to boot her from office over residency
A judge has ordered Huntington Park not to fill the seat of a City Council member who city officials allege automatically vacated her office when her family moved to South Gate. Councilmember Esmeralda Castillo is suing Huntington Park, City Manager Ricardo Reyes, and Councilmembers Arturo Flores, Eduardo Martinez and Jonathan Sanabria for declaring her seat vacant in February, allegedly without giving her an opportunity to defend herself.
Los Angeles Daily News
| | |
Black people make up 75% of all weed arrests at LAX, data shows
There’s one neighborhood in Los Angeles where you’re more likely to be arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for possession of cannabis than anywhere else in the city: Westchester. Roughly a third of the people who were arrested by LAPD in the city of Los Angeles for cannabis-related offenses since 2020 were arrested in Westchester - the majority-white, upper-middle-class, suburban community on the city’s westside - according to LAPD data.
L.A. Taco
| | |
Court study claims zero-bail requirements improve public safety
A new report from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County shows that replacing money bail with individualized risk assessments has improved public safety one year after implementation, according to data released Wednesday. The report on the Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols (PARP) found that despite increasing the number of pre-arraignment releases for non-serious and non-violent crimes, there has been a 10% reduction in new criminal activity for individuals booked into custody compared to before PARP was implemented.
Santa Monica Daily Press
| | |
California, Pennsylvania students sue over revoked F-1 Visas
A southern California college student seeks to reverse the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of its program that tracks their status as non-immigrant, full-time international student F-1 visa holders. DHS’s decision to end the Student and Exchange Visitor Program effectively strips program participants of their ability to remain as students in the United States, says the unidentified “Student Doe #1" plaintiff.
Bloomberg Law
| | |
As judges stymie Trump with nationwide orders, pressure builds on US Supreme Court
Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden may not agree on much, but there is one issue on which they have been united: The need to blunt a powerful weapon that federal judges have been deploying at a quickly rising clip. Top lawyers for each president separately urged the U.S. Supreme Court to limit the authority of judges to issue nationwide - or "universal" - injunctions that can stop a government policy in its tracks.
Reuters
| | |
About 500 law firms sign brief challenging Trump’s executive orders targeting the legal community
President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting the legal community pose “a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself,” according to a court filing submitted Friday by more than 500 law firms. The brief represents the most organized pushback to date against a series of White House executive orders that have sought to punish some of the country’s most elite firms and to extract concessions from them.
Associated Press
| | |
Tattoo artist to pay $9 million to YouTube star’s parents over deadly crash
A 31-year-old former cast member of the reality show “Ink Master” has been ordered to pay $9 million to the parents of a former YouTube star who died in a 2020 traffic accident when he was a passenger in the artist’s car. Simon La Barrie and Lissa Burton, the father and mother of Corey La Barrie, brought the complaint in May 2020 against Daniel Joseph Silva and Daniel Silva Tattoos LLC. Silva’s 2020 McLaren 600LT crashed into a tree at about 9:40 p.m. on May 10, 2020, at Huston Street and Carpenter Avenue in Valley Village, killing La Barrie, who was celebrating his 25th birthday.
MyNewsLA
| | |
Palmdale Lt. Oscar Martinez will run for LASD Chief against Luna
With the June election 15 months away, Lt. Oscar Marinez announced his bid to lead the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department - the third largest law enforcement agency in the nation - with other potential candidates to follow and challenge incumbent Robert Luna, officials confirmed Thursday. Martinez, a 16-year deputy of the sheriff’s department currently assigned to the Palmdale Station, said Wednesday that he will focus on “real leadership.”
MyNewsLA
| | |
A rich L.A. neighborhood donated surveillance technology to the LAPD - then drama ensued
When residents of a ritzy West L.A. neighborhood experienced an increase in burglaries last year, they decided to invest in technology to fight the problem. The neighborhood association in Cheviot Hills - a community of million-dollar homes sandwiched between the 10 Freeway and Century City - raised more than $200,000 to purchase scores of controversial, high-tech cameras that scan license plates.
Los Angeles Times
| | |
CA bill would ban some teens up to 16 years old from riding in the front seat
California teens could be banned from riding in the front seat of a car. Last week, Assemblymember Lori Wilson's car seat bill passed its first committee in Sacramento. It would require all children younger than 10 years old and shorter kids under 13 to sit on a booster seat. Kids under 13 would be prohibited from sitting in the front seat. Teens up to 16 years old would also be banned from riding shotgun unless they meet the height requirements.
ABC7
| | |
California’s big pension funds lost billions in stock market selloff. Can they recover in time?
The investment chief who’s responsible for the retirement plans of 1 million California educators saw foreboding signs when he spoke to the state’s teachers’ pension board last month. Scott Chan pointed to the torrent of executive orders and policy changes coming out of the new Trump administration and noted they “caused a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the marketplace” He warned of a recession, and a potential drop in stock markets of 20% or more.
CalMatters
| | |
Fake student aid: California community colleges detect more fraudsters stealing millions
For years, scammers have targeted community colleges across the state, posing as students in order to steal money from scholarships or government financial aid. Recent state reports suggest the problem is getting worse, and college leaders say they’re worried that the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Education could hamper fraud prevention and investigations.
CalMatters
| | |
Caught off-guard, California colleges scramble to determine scope of student visa cancellations
Confusion and concern have ratcheted up at California colleges as campus officials indicated they were caught unaware by the Trump administration's cancellation late last week of dozens of international student visas. Federal authorities have revoked at least 83 foreign student visas within the University of California and California State University systems and at Stanford, college officials said.
Los Angeles Times
| | |
New study exposes how a blue state's 'self-inflicted' policies are responsible for high gas prices
A new study released by Michael Mische, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, concluded that policies play a significant factor in higher gas prices in the state, whereas the governor’s office and others argue that price-gouging is still a critical factor.
Fox Business
| | |
Border Patrol said it targeted known criminals in Kern County. But it had no record on 77 of 78 arrestees
It was quiet on the border. A Border Patrol agent named James Lee was parked in the shade next to a 30-foot fence in Calexico. The windows of his SUV were rolled up, the engine making that noise when it’s idle for a long time while the air conditioning is running. “We haven’t had any crossing in the last few days,” Lee said. At the height of illegal border crossings in 2023, Border Patrol encountered 3.2 million people. But now the southern border is desolate.
CalMatters
| | |
Wife of Weezer bassist fired gun at officers, L.A. police say. She’s accused of attempted murder
Jillian Lauren, an author and the wife of Weezer bass player Scott Shriner, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after authorities say she fired a gun at LAPD officers as she stood in her Eagle Rock backyard. Police shot Lauren during a search for a hit-and-run suspect on Tuesday afternoon. She was taken to a hospital with a wound that was not life-threatening.
Los Angeles Times
| | |
Annual Report: Hate activity in Los Angeles County
The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released its first ever annual Hate Incident Report, with some alarming findings. Reported hate incidents in Los Angeles County grew 35% from 609 in 2022, to 821 in 2023. Reported hate incidents taking place at schools, colleges, and universities rose 234% (from 59 to 197). Incidents with White supremacist ideology increased 124% (from 33 to 74).
Precinct Reporter Group
| | |
LA County Catholic priest faces child sexual abuse charges
A Catholic priest from Downey remains in custody after Los Angeles County prosecutors charged him with several counts of child sexual abuse on Monday. Jaime Arriaga, 41, was remanded without bail after pleading not guilty to six felony counts related to the case. Most of the charges from the alleged sexual abuse happened in early February, according to court records. However, prosecutors also charged him with an assault that allegedly happened more than a month later on March 22.
CBS News
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | | |
L.A. County jail drug boss pleads guilty to racketeering, murder conspiracy
A Mexican Mafia member who controlled drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of prisoners inside the Los Angeles County jail system pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge that includes his role in a plot to murder a rival. Jose Landa-Rodriguez, 61, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to a charge of racketeering conspiracy, with a special sentencing allegation that he conspired to commit murder "with malice aforethought," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
City News Service
| | |
Chilean national sentenced for destructive burglaries targeting Ventura County homes
A Chilean national was convicted for a series of costly and destructive burglaries targeting homes across Ventura County. Ivan Andre Chamorro Santibanez, 23, of Chile, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crimes, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Between Nov. 9, 2023, and Feb. 7, 2024, Santibanez, who is also known as Evan Francisco, targeted homes in Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Simi Valley.
KTLA
| | |
Former LA County resident pleads guilty to defrauding investors
A former San Gabriel Valley resident who was a frequent guest on financial television news programs then became a fugitive from justice after being accused of defrauding investors pleaded guilty on Monday, April 7, to conning victims out of at least $2.7 million. James Arthur McDonald Jr., 53, formerly of Arcadia, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to one federal count of securities fraud, a felony that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Pasadena Star-News
| | |
Ex-con sentenced in 80-year-old's killing in Encino home
An ex-con was sentenced Tuesday to 135 years to life in state prison for murdering an 80-year-old man whom a prosecutor said interrupted a burglary at his Encino home. Timothy Kirkpatrick, now 45, was convicted March 18 of first-degree murder for the March 2, 2022, shooting of Stuart Herman. Jurors also found Kirkpatrick guilty of one count each of first-degree residential burglary with a person present, assault with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
City News Service
| | |
California man arrested near Justice Kavanaugh's home with a gun pleads guilty to attempted murder
A California man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C., nearly three years ago. Nicholas John Roske was arrested near Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in June 2022. Roske was armed with a gun and a knife, was carrying zip ties and was dressed in black when he arrived in the neighborhood by taxi just after 1 a.m., authorities said.
Associated Press
| | |
Ninth Circuit affirms convictions of bribe-taking surgeon
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the conviction of an orthopedic surgeon who was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for receiving more than $316,597.44 in bribes and kickbacks - up to $15,000 for each spinal operation - as part of a massive workers’ compensation insurance fraud perpetrated at Pacific Hospital in Long Beach.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| | |
Inmate attacks multiple officers at California Medical Facility in Vacaville
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said three correctional officers at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville were hurt in an attack by a prisoner person on Friday. CDCR stated on its website that a prisoner person attacked the officers with an improvised weapon while they were working on an emergency cell extraction. The three correctional officers were taken to an outside medical facility to be treated and were later released.
Fox40 Sacramento
| | |
‘I was silenced’: San Quentin News editor-in-chief fired for prison reform efforts
When I took over as editor-in-chief of San Quentin News (SQN) in early 2023, I was at the height of my rehabilitative journey. I was disciplinary-free, I had a college degree and vocational training, and was part of many self-help groups. At the time, I was also newly employed as an assistant producer to the podcast Ear Hustle and KALW’s podcast Uncuffed.
Prism
| | |
What Jay-Z’s feud with Tony Buzbee says about settling libel lawsuits
This week, attorney Tony Buzbee’s legal team argued to a California state judge that Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's extortion and defamation lawsuit involving rape claims should be thrown out, saying the rap mogul is "a well-funded, powerful figure who's trying to punish lawyers who do what lawyers do.” What lawyers do, among other things, is try to settle cases, but Jay-Z’s case against Buzbee is making litigators think twice about what they’re uttering or writing in their settlement demands.
Forbes
| | |
Gopher Media LLC v. Melone
In 2021, Ajay Thakore and his company, Gopher Media LLC, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Andrew Melone and his restaurant, American Pizza Manufacturing, alleging, among other things, racial discrimination and violations of Thakore’s First Amendment rights. Melone and his restaurant responded by filing defamation and other counterclaims against Thakore and Gopher Media stemming from statements Thakore made in several Instagram posts and Yelp restaurant reviews.
Reporters Committee
| | | | |
