Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
California appellate court takes up unusual prosecution of district attorney’s advisor
The California district attorney's office defended on Wednesday to the California Courts of Appeal a decision to criminally charge a top adviser to the former Los Angeles district attorney for sharing purported confidential information about sheriff's deputies involved in disciplinary proceedings. The appellate court, in another atypical step, agreed to take up the case ahead of a trial that had been scheduled to start earlier this year.
Courthouse News Service
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California Supreme Court reverses murder convictions of Los Angeles gang boss
The convictions and death sentence of the one-time leader of an Atwater Village street gang, who police believed committed at least a dozen murders and who was once on the US Marshals most-wanted list, were overturned Thursday by the California Supreme Court, which found a juror was improperly dismissed during deliberations. Timothy McGhee was found guilty in 2007 of three murders and four attempted murders and is currently listed as a "condemned" inmate at Kern Valley State Prison.
NBC4
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Judge to L.A. leaders: ‘I am your worst nightmare’ in scathing homeless spending rebuke
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, famous for his rulings against the West Los Angeles VA and UCLA in favor of veterans, on Thursday sharply criticized Los Angeles city and county officials over long-standing failures to properly track and manage billions of dollars in homeless services funding. He called the system broken and urged immediate reforms to ensure accountability.
Santa Monica Mirror
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17 attorneys push to disqualify LA judge from sex abuse trial, accusing her of a ‘reign of terror’
Seventeen attorneys are supporting a motion to disqualify Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Ann Murphy from an ongoing child sex abuse trial, citing alleged favoritism in the presence of jurors, racial bias and a lengthy history of abusive behavior. Attorney Nicholas C. Rowley, who is representing six victims suing the Mountain View School District in South El Monte for sexual abuse inflicted by a teacher, filed the motion this week and submitted written complaints to Presiding Judge Sergio C. Tapia II and the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance.
Orange County Register
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Superior Court of Los Angeles County to unveil redesigned jury duty portal to provide court users with efficient, user-friendly experience
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County will unveil a completely redesigned My Jury Duty Portal on April 7, 2025, providing jurors with a more streamlined user-centric experience with the ability to register for jury duty on any device, locate courthouses and jury assembly rooms with tailored directions, and know exactly what is expected of them along each phase of service. “Jurors play a vital role in upholding a justice system that is fair, equitable, and just,” said Presiding Judge Sergio C. Tapia II. “The Court’s mission - to ensure equal access to justice by resolving cases fairly, efficiently, and promptly - would not be possible without their invaluable service.”
Superior Court of California News Release
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Appeal in LASC phishing case generates three opinions
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday, in a divided decision, that a District Court judge abused his discretion in imposing a sentence enhancement under a guideline that applies where there are 10 or more victims, holding that a targeted person or entity not suffering harm does not fall under the definition of a “victim.” Circuit Judges Roopali H. Desai and Eric D. Miller said in a memorandum opinion that they counted only nine victims of a phishing scheme - one of which was the Los Angeles Superior Court (“LASC”).
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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City, officials on hook in lawsuit over Kansas newspaper raid
Marion, Kansas, law enforcement officers will face most of a lawsuit accusing them of using bogus criminal suspicions to raid the offices of local newspaper as well as the home of its publisher during a local political feud. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Kansas City on Friday mostly denied the motions by city and county officials to dismiss the claims brought by Eric Meyer, the owner of the Marion County Record.
Courthouse News Service
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Retired LAPD sergeant gets $4.5 million in overtime fraud whistleblower lawsuit
A Los Angeles County jury has awarded a former LAPD sergeant $4.5 million after finding that department officials retaliated against him when he reported another officer for billing Metro Transit for overtime work that was never performed. The lawsuit by Randy Rangel, who spent 32 years with the department before retiring in 2023, was the latest in a string of lawsuits involving officers from the department's Transit Services Division over allegations of overtime fraud, gender discrimination and lax supervision.
Los Angeles Times
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LA Mayor Karen Bass sued by L.A. Times over deleted text messages
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was sued over the weekend by the Los Angeles Times, with the paper claiming that Bass and other officials purposefully withheld and deleted texts and other records during the opening days of the Southern California wildfires in January. According to the L.A. Times, the deleted records first came to light earlier this month when a public information request for the texts messages from Bass’ time in Africa and during her travel back to L.A. the first few days of the wildfires was denied on the grounds that those texts were all deleted by the Mayor.
California Globe
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California law to hold gunmakers liable for harm will remain blocked during litigation
A California law that allows residents and local governments to sue gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers that don't follow strict safety and marketing standards will remain on ice while a Second Amendment challenge works its way through the courts, a federal judge ruled Monday. That law, the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, was passed in 2022 by the Legislature and championed by Governor Gavin Newsom as a way to hold the firearm industry accountable for perennial mass shootings and gun violence across the country.
Courthouse News Service
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After baby's fentanyl death, L.A. prosecutors accuse mom and grandpa of murder
At 17 months old, Justin Bulley should have been safe when he fell asleep on a couch next to his grandfather in a Lancaster apartment last year. But the baby never woke up from the Sunday afternoon nap. His grandfather, 73-year-old Jessie Milton Darthard, admitted to smoking fentanyl out of a glass pipe while next to the boy, and then falling asleep, court records show. Paramedics found the child unresponsive, and a medical examiner ruled that he overdosed.
Los Angeles Times
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District Attorney Hochman announces attempted murder, carjacking charges against driver of stolen trucks
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced that a 40-year-old man has been charged with carjacking a tow truck operator and then attempting to murder the victim by running over him with his own vehicle last week. Hours later, Bowen allegedly stole a flatbed truck, then led police on a high-speed pursuit, hitting several vehicles, seriously injuring one person, before running a red light and crashing into a parking lot in Long Beach. He was arrested a short time later.
L.A. County District Attorney’s News Release
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White House abruptly fires career Justice Department prosecutors in latest norm-shattering move
The recent firings of career Justice Department lawyers by the White House is a sign of President Donald Trump’s tightening grip over the law enforcement agency known for its long tradition of political independence. On Friday, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles was fired without explanation in an terse email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office shortly after a right-wing activist posted about him on social media, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Associated Press
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Citizen who held down burglary suspect won't face charges in man's asphyxiation death
A man who tackled and held down a burglary suspect who then died of asphyxiation in a Westlake parking lot won't face charges for the man's death, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday. Police released security footage of the July 6 incident, which included the final moments of 47-year-old Anthony Sowell's life. The “Critical Incident Video” shows the end of a foot chase in which a community member tackles Sowell and lays on top of him.
Los Angeles Patch
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Alleged price gougers being sued for $62M by Los Angeles
A group of property owners are facing a $62 million lawsuit for alleged price gouging in the aftermath of January's wildfires and violating short-term rental laws, Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced Thursday. The City Attorney's Office filed a civil enforcement action against several individuals and their related companies that allegedly operated a sprawling illegal multimillion-dollar rental property scheme.
City News Service
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D.A. appoints new leader in Bureau of Investigation
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on April 1 that he has appointed law enforcement veteran Tony Lee, who currently serves as interim chief of the Ventura Police Department, as chief of the office’s Bureau of Investigations. Lee, who becomes the first Korean American and Asian American individual to lead the bureau, has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, previously spending 26 years at the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Beverly Press
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DA files manslaughter, DUI charges in July 3 boat crash that killed 1, seriously injured 7
A 57-year-old Long Beach man pleaded not guilty today to felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and DUI in connection with a boat crash last July that killed one man and seriously injured seven other passengers. Prosecutors allege that Kevin King was drunk when he crashed his 48-foot sportfishing boat with ten passengers onboard into a jetty at the entrance of Alamitos Bay around 9:20 p.m. on July 3, 2024.
Long Beach Post
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U.S. Department of Justice announces Second Amendment pattern-or-practice investigation into California’s Los Angeles County
Protecting the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans is a high priority for this Administration. As part of a broader review of restrictive firearms-related laws in California and other States, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division today announced an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to determine whether it is engaging in a pattern or practice of depriving ordinary, law-abiding Californians of their Second Amendment rights.
Office of Public Affairs Press Release
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He sold Pablo Escobar-branded flamethrowers, phones and more. But it was all a scam, authorities say
A Swedish man known as "El Silencio" has been accused of running a global scam in which he sold Pablo Escobar-branded products - including cellphones, flamethrowers and cash - but never delivered them because they didn't exist, authorities say. Olaf Kyros Gustafsson, 31, was extradited from Spain to Los Angeles, where he was arraigned Friday on a 115-count federal indictment alleging money laundering, wire fraud and mail fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
San Luis Obispo Tribune
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State DOJ clears L.A. County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot unarmed man at Valencia mall
State prosecutors have cleared a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed mentally ill man two years ago at a Valencia mall, according to a California Department of Justice news release. Even though the state determined there wasn’t enough evidence to justify charging Deputy Lorena Gonzalez, a 27-page report released Wednesday offered a series of policy recommendations for the Sheriff’s Department in relation to the Jan. 11, 2023, killing of Christopher Mercurio.
Los Angeles Times
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‘Alarmed’ prosecutors challenge judge in court for mentally ill defendants
There’s a battle under way in a specialized San Diego court program for criminal defendants with a serious mental illness, a tug-of-war that may be stalling the program from accepting new participants. Several times since last summer, the District Attorney’s Office has asked the Superior Court judge overseeing Behavioral Health Court to recuse herself from hearing cases involving referrals of potential participants to join the court program. Judge Cindy Davis has generally refused to do so.
San Diego Union-Tribune
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In unprecedented payout, L.A. County will settle sex abuse claims for $4 billion
Los Angeles County plans to pay $4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 claims of childhood sexual abuse that allegedly occurred inside its juvenile facilities and foster homes, dwarfing the largest sex abuse settlements in U.S. history. The mammoth settlement, which still needs to be approved by both the county claims board and county supervisors, is a billion dollars more than what county officials had anticipated as the worst-case scenario to resolve a flurry of lawsuits - and far more than other organizations notorious for allowing unchecked sex abuse have paid victims.
Los Angeles Times
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California Democrats plan to starve Proposition 36 to death
On November 5, 2024, California voters overwhelmingly adopted Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, a modest reform to restore consequences for thieves and drug dealers and require treatment for addicts. It’s adoption was a complete rebuke of Proposition 47, the so-called Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act adopted in 2014, with major funding from the ACLU and socialist billionaire George Soros.
California Globe
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UCLA bans Students for Justice in Palestine as a campus organization
Seven weeks after pro-Palestinian students vandalized a University of California regent’s Brentwood home during a protest against UC’s financial connections to Israel, UCLA this week banned a campus organization involved in the demonstration. Students for Justice in Palestine was notified Thursday of an “indefinite revocation” of its status as a registered student group and another chapter, Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine, was banned for four years.
Los Angeles Times
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L.A. City Council advances efforts to relallocate $15 million from mansion tax to help wildfire survivors
The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday advanced an effort to re-allocate some $15 million from the city's so-called "mansion tax" to an emergency rental assistance program for survivors of January's wildfires. In a 14-0 vote two years to the day after Measure United to House Los Angeles went into effect, the council requested the city attorney, Housing Department and chief legislative analyst to report on how they can disencumber up to $15 million, and up to 10% from each House LA Fund expenditure category, to support fire survivors. Councilman Curren Price was absent during the vote.
Westside Current
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Owner of Langer's Deli says he'll keep restaurant open at least until these 3 things have happened
Norm Langer backs the city of Los Angeles' recent work toward combating crime in MacArthur Park, and although closing his Langer's Deli isn't off the table, he says he's decided to stick around for a little while. Seven months ago, Langer told The Times he was considering shuttering his historic 77-year-old establishment due to drug activity, crime and encampments in the area that he and other business owners had grown weary of dealing with.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County supervisors vote to create new homelessness department, pull funding from LAHSA
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a new county department for regional homeless services, stripping hundreds of millions in funding from a joint city-county agency that's faced audits criticizing its handling of taxpayers' money. It came the same day a new half-cent sales tax across the county went into effect, raising the sales tax from 9.5% to 9.75%, to generate an expected $1 billion annually for efforts tackling the homelessness crisis across the city and county of LA.
KCAL News
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The city refuses to disclose LAFD actions during Palisades fire
LAFD and Mayor Karen Bass have not been cooperative in informing the public about their internal communications in response to January's devastating fires. The mayor and her team refuse to answer questions from the press about the fires and the LAFD repeatedly denies public record requests about any information regarding how the fires were handled, including dispatch logs and any discussions of preparations.
Los Angeles Magazine
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Education Dept. opens investigation into California schools' gender identity law
The Department of Education started an investigation Thursday into a new California law that bars public schools from disclosing to parents the sexual orientation of their children. If the three-month-old law were to be found in violation of federal rules and the Trump administration acted on threats to withhold funding, the state could lose up to $7.9 billion, California Department of Education officials said.
NBC News
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DoJ investigating four California universities over race in admissions
The Trump administration has opened investigations into the admissions policies at Stanford University and three campuses within the University of California system, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine, the Department of Justice said on Thursday. US attorney general Pam Bondi has directed the department’s civil rights division to investigate whether the schools’ policies comply with the 2023 US supreme court ruling that ended affirmative action in college admissions, the department said in a statement.
The Guardian
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Campaign violations
Topline: California’s political watchdog is fining former Assemblymember Evan Low $106,000 for campaign finance violations after he admitted trying to conceal payments to actor Alec Baldwin, who appeared at a 2020 fundraiser for Low. Why now: California Fair Political Practices Commission, the agency charged with enforcing California’s campaign finance laws, charged Low with 18 violations, including failing to report the payments on time and poor recordkeeping. As part of a settlement with the agency, Low and his political committee have agreed to pay a $106,000 fine.
LAist
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Train burglary bust: Arrests made following Mohave County chase
Two people are in the Mohave County Jail after an 80-mile police chase that ended in a crash near the California state line. The Hualapai Tribal Police said the two, and 8 others who got away in a separate car, are suspected of participating in a train burglary. Train heists in 2025? Turns out, they’re not that rare. Investigators say thousands have happened nationwide, with dozens of arrests already made.
12 News
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Murder charges filed after second woman killed during conjugal visit in California state prison
The family of a woman who was strangled to death last year during a conjugal visit with her husband at a Northern California prison has called for reforms after a second woman was killed in a similar manner. Tania Thomas, 47, was killed in July while visiting her husband, Anthony Curry, overnight at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, according to Thomas’ cousin, Jeanine Rojo. Curry was charged last week with murder in connection with Thomas’ death and is scheduled to be arraigned in April, court records show.
Los Angeles Times
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Robbery suspect runs over pedestrian with tow truck in South LA
Police are searching for the robbery suspect who crashed a tow truck into a bystander in South Los Angeles. "There was just a lot of chaos going on," witness Jacqueline Reyes said. Reyes was walking to an appointment when she saw a man lying in the middle of the street near the W. 39th Street and Broadway intersection. "Couldn't really tell me what had happened, but it was pretty clear that he got hit by something," Reyes said.
KCAL News
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Man killed by hit-and-run driver in South Los Angeles
Police are searching for a driver who killed a man in a hit-and-run crash in South Los Angeles. The collision occurred on Feb. 24 as the victim, identified only as a man in his 60s, was crossing the road in the Vermont Vista neighborhood. In surveillance footage released by the Los Angeles Police Department, the man is seen pushing what appears to be a walker or a small cart as he crosses Figueroa Street near 104th Place at around 7 p.m.
KTLA
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More than 1,000 replica firearms seized at LAX by Customs and Border Protection officers
Warning of the dangers involving replica toy guns, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at LAX reported seizing over 1,000 replica firearms at the airport over the last six months. Shipments from China, intended to be distributed at various locations across the United States, were misdeclared as "Alloy Miniature Toys."
CBS News
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Arrest made in ‘large-scale’ financial scam that swindled thousands from elderly victim
Police in Simi Valley have arrested a 21-year-old man from Los Angeles County as part of an ongoing investigation into a “large-scale” financial scam operation targeting at least one elderly resident. On March 19, officers from the Simi Valley Police Department arrested Ruishan Liu of West Covina for his alleged role in the scheme. The Chinese-born suspect is accused of targeting an elderly Simi Valley resident and “manipulating” them into withdrawing and handing over $200,000 in cash by claiming it was part of a bank security measure.
KTLA
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | | |
Disgraced former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu sentenced to two months in prison
Disgraced former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu was sentenced to two months in prison and a year of supervised release, along with a $55,000 fine at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana on Friday afternoon. “I am ashamed and I put my whole heart in the letter that I have described and given to you,” he said to U.S District Judge John Holcomb before his sentence was handed down.
Voice of OC
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'Absolutely gutted': Cain Velasquez's prison verdict ignites outrage, condemnation across MMA world
The three-year saga of Cain Velasquez ended Monday as the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced to five years in prison on a litany of charges, including attempted murder, for his role in a 2022 attempted shooting of the man accused of molesting Velasquez's then 4-year-old son. Velasquez's sentence includes time already served.
Uncrowned
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20 defendants - convicted felons included - charged federally with being illegal aliens found in the United States following removal
This week, federal prosecutors working with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal law enforcement partners filed criminal charges against 20 defendants who allegedly were found in the U.S. following removal, the Justice Department announced today. Many of the defendants charged previously were convicted of felony offenses before they were removed from the United States, offenses that include vandalism and firearms crimes.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Long Beach man sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for smash-and-grab robbery of jewelry worth $2.6 million
A Long Beach man was sentenced today to 84 months in federal prison for his role in a smash-and-grab robbery of a Beverly Hills jewelry store in 2022 in which more than $2.6 million in merchandise was stolen - and the proceeds of which he later displayed on his Instagram account. Ladell Tharpe, 39, was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered him to pay $2,674,600 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Man to plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh
A California man will plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C, nearly three years ago, the defendant's attorneys said in a court filing on Wednesday. Nicholas John Roske, of Simi Valley, California, 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., federal authorities said.
Associated Press
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Los Angeles woman who dated Andrew Tate says she feared 'I might die’
A Los Angeles model who says she dated Andrew Tate for 10 months and alleges in a lawsuit that the online influencer threatened and abused her said she feared for her life during a violent sexual encounter with him this month. “I was scared to death,” Brianna Stern told NBC News on Friday. “So scared I was terrified that I might die.” Stern, in her first interview since filing the lawsuit Thursday, said she has received online threats after coming forward about her experience dating Tate, a self-described misogynist and anti-feminist with millions of followers on social media.
NBC News
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Navy veteran who proved CNN defamed him files another lawsuit, alleges Puck republished ‘defamatory lies’
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who successfully sued CNN for defamation earlier this year, filed a lawsuit on Friday against Puck for alleged "republication of CNN’s defamatory lies.” Young successfully alleged that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.
Fox News
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U.S. cancels visas for Mexican group displaying cartel leader photos
The U.S. State Department has canceled the work and tourist visas of the members of Mexican corrido group Los Alegres del Barranco after they displayed images of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during a concert on Saturday (March 29) at an auditorium at the University of Guadalajara. The news was confirmed on Tuesday (April 1) by Christopher Landau, the Deputy Secretary of State, in a post on X.
Billboard
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