Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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Trial of former D.A. advisor on hold after appeals court steps in
A California appeals court is taking a closer look at the criminal prosecution of a former top district attorney’s office advisor, asking state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office to further justify the case in court before deciding whether to let it move forward. Earlier this year, then-D.A. advisor Diana Teran was charged with 11 felonies after state prosecutors said she violated California hacking statutes. Teran is accused of sending court records to a colleague in 2021 as part of an effort to track cops with disciplinary histories.
Los Angeles Times
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Emergency room fee forewarning unnecessary, California Supreme Court finds
The California Supreme Court on Monday ruled that hospitals in the state don't need to warn emergency room patients in advance about the fees they may be charged, opting not to tighten existing legislative and regulatory requirements. In a unanimous decision the court upheld both the trial court's and an appellate court's rejection of class claims that San Jose Healthcare Systems, also known as Regional Medical Center San Jose, violated state consumer protection laws.
Courthouse News Service
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Federal judge blocks California law preventing reporting of sealed arrest records
In a win for California journalists, a federal judge agreed Thursday night to a stipulation between government officials and free speech advocates to halt a state law that penalizes the sharing of public information on sealed arrest records. The law ensures that any information related to sealed arrest records can't be disseminated, but First Amendment advocates say that also prevents journalists, attorneys and even victims themselves from sharing such records, even if they had obtained the information through legal public records requests.
Courthouse News Service
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Federal courts continue to strike down gun restrictions
More than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally expanded its interpretation of the Second Amendment, federal courts throughout the country continue to strike down state restrictions on gun ownership. Since the high court’s 2022 decision - in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen - that firearm regulations must have some historical comparison going back to the country’s founding, some state restrictions have been ruled unconstitutional.
Governing
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US appeals court again rejects blanket gun ban for non-violent felons
A Pennsylvania man convicted of food stamp fraud cannot be barred under federal law from possessing a gun, a U.S. appeals court held for a second time, declining to change its conclusion in light of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling that clarified the standard for when a firearms regulation can pass constitutional muster. Monday's 13-2 decision, opens new tab from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after the U.S. Supreme Court, at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, directed the Philadelphia-based court to reconsider its earlier ruling in favor of Bryan Range.
Reuters
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9th Circuit gives immunity to Phoenix officers accused of excessive force
A federal judge granted partial summary judgment in 2022 to the Phoenix Police Department and the more than 20 officers named in a lawsuit filed by Puente, a nonprofit focused on issues in immigration and policing, on behalf of those in the crowd. U.S. District Judge John Tuchi ruled that the officers who dispersed the crowd with tear gas, flash-bang grenades and “other chemical irritants” were protected by qualified immunity because they acted reasonably under the raucous circumstances - protesters apparently attempted to breach fence separating them from the rally - and didn’t violate the law by deploying the projectiles and irritants.
Courthouse News Service
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Veteran suing CNN scores another victory, judge rules expert witness can’t claim segment didn’t impact income
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young scored another victory on Friday ahead of his high-profile defamation trial against CNN, as a Florida judge ruled that the network’s expert witness cannot testify that he suffered zero lost income or profits as a result of the segment at the center of the case. Young alleges that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited via a "black market" when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.
Fox News
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Ninth Circuit upholds FCC revocation of Chinese telecommunications company’s US operating certificates
A Ninth Circuit Appeals Panel ruled 2-1 Tuesday that the Federal Trade Commission had the right to revoke certificates authorizing a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator from providing service in the U.S. over national security concerns. China Unicom Operations Limited, a California corporation owned by the Chinese government, filed a petition for review of the FCC’s 2022 revocation order, arguing that the commission lacked statutory authority to revoke China Unicom’s telecommunications certificates, that its decision to do so was arbitrary and capricious and that it revoked the certificates without following proper procedures.
Courthouse News Service
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USC professor sues over posts allegedly linking her to admissions scandal
A USC journalism professor is suing an unspecified number of still unidentified "Does" who she alleges have defamed her on the social media by falsely linking her to the "Operation Varsity Blues" scandal. Plaintiff Courtney Pade is a researcher and educator who is employed as a clinical associate professor of communication in the graduate school at USC's Annenberg School or Communication and Journalism. Pade also is co- director of USC's Communication Management Program.
City News Service
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Beverly Hills piano teacher accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old student during lessons
A Beverly Hills piano teacher is accused of sexually abusing his 13-year-old student during lessons, authorities said. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Hovanes John Jihanyan, 41, "continuously" sexually abused the student between August 1 and November 9. The victim turned 14 during the time of the alleged abuse, the DA's office said.
ABC 7
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LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman orders release of two people wrongfully-convicted of murder
Just days after a judge overturned the convictions of two people, Charlotte Pleytez and Lombardo Palacios, in the 2007 murder of a man in East Hollywood, District Attorney Nathan Hochman has vacated their convictions and ordered their immediate release. "Our justice system must be both fair and accurate, and this case highlights the critical importance of never resting until justice is done, reviewing even past cases with the utmost care to ensure that the right and just result is reached," Hochman said in a statement.
CBS News
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O.C. judge tied to healthcare fraud scheme with convicted doctor, records show
By day, Israel Claustro was an Orange County prosecutor who took down violent gang members, sex abusers and corrupt bureaucrats. In 2022, Claustro glided to electoral victory, winning an open judicial post. For years, he also operated a medical billing and healthcare management firm on the side. Now, he is facing accusations that his moonlighting was rife with fraud and part of a long-running conspiracy with a Pasadena doctor, according to federal court records.
Los Angeles Times
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Southern California high school teacher charged with sexually assaulting two underage students
A Southern California high school teacher has been charged with illegal sexual acts against two underage students, according to authorities. Joshua Daniel McGinn, 41, a teacher at Charter Oak High School in Covina, faces charges including four felony counts of oral copulation on a minor, a felony count of sexual penetration by use of force, two felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and one felony count of possession of child pornography, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced in a news release Tuesday.
Los Angeles Times
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DA to seek death penalty for second time against killer of Sacramento cop Tara O’Sullivan
Sacramento County prosecutors on Friday said they will seek the death penalty for a second time against Adel Ramos, who in August pleaded guilty to the 2019 ambush murder of Sacramento police officer Tara O’Sullivan. The decision comes after a jury in November deadlocked on the question of whether Ramos, 51, should be put to death for killing O’Sullivan in a bloody ambush that rocked the Sacramento region, leading Superior Court Judge James Arguelles to declare a mistrial.
Sacramento Bee
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California corrections officer charged with federal conspiracy and civil rights violations
A federal grand jury in Fresno, California, returned an indictment today charging California State Prison-Corcoran Correctional Officer Raquel Mosqueda and inmate Jimmie Carter with conspiracy and a federal civil rights violation. The indictment alleges that, on or about April 20, 2022, Mosqueda and Carter conspired to violate the Eighth Amendment right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment of J.M., an inmate at California State Prison-Corcoran.
Office of Public Affairs U.S. Department of Justice
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Ventura County man accused in $22M cryptocurrency fraud case
A Ventura County man is one of two defendants accused by federal prosecutors of defrauding investors of more than $22 million in a cryptocurrency scheme. A six-count indictment unsealed in Los Angeles Friday charged Gavin Mayo, 23, of Thousand Oaks, and 23-year-old Gabriel Hay of Beverly Hills with two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of stalking, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.
VC Star
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L.A. city officials use disappearing Google Chats. The city attorney is investigating
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is conducting an internal review of city employees’ use of Google Chat messages that are automatically deleted after 24 hours. The investigation was the result of an agreement between the city and a community group, the Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition, which found out about the disappearing messages in the course of litigation involving the construction of a home in Mount Washington.
Los Angeles Times
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He was an unarmed cop in England. Now he leads the commission that reviews LAPD shootings
It wasn’t long after becoming a police officer in the northern English town of Hull in the 1990s that Django Sibley realized patrolling without a gun meant “policing by consent.” His beat was the town’s public housing tenements, and Sibley said he quickly worked out that people responded better to persuasion than threats of force or arrest. De-escalation hadn’t yet hit the mainstream in law enforcement, but Sibley recalled spending most of his days doing just that.
Los Angeles Times
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Alleged California shoplifters shocked to learn stealing now a felony: 'B---h new laws'
Police in California released a video of a trio of alleged shoplifters who were shocked to find out that the penalty for their crime had recently changed. In the viral surveillance video shared by the Seal Beach Police Department on Sunday, three women can be seen walking into an Ulta Beauty store, browsing the shelves, then casually exiting the business with what police said was nearly $650 worth of stolen merchandise.
Fox News
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Inside China’s alleged spy scheme to influence governments in L.A. County and far beyond
It was no secret that authorities believed the Chinese government intended to infiltrate state and local governments across America. For years, the FBI has warned cities and police agencies about foreign actors potentially trying to influence politics. Two years ago, U.S. intelligence officials issued a bulletin stating that the Chinese were collecting information about local officials.
Los Angeles Times
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U.S. Senate confirms final two Biden judges
The U.S. Senate, late in its final session of the year, confirmed what are expected to be the final two of Biden’s nominations, bringing his total number of judicial confirmations to 235, just one more than President-elect Donald Trump’s first-term total. Senators voted along party lines to confirm Benjamin J. Cheeks to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of California, in a vote of 49-47, and Serena Raquel Murillo to be U.S. district Judge for the Central District of California, in the same vote breakdown.
North Dakota Monitor
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Senate passes Social Security bill to repeal WEP and GPO
The Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act to deliver higher Social Security benefits to millions of public sector retirees. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for a signature after the Senate cleared the legislation just after midnight on Saturday by a vote of 76-20. The legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has been reintroduced each Congress for decades but had not received a vote in either chamber until just this year.
Federal News Network
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Trump pledges to pursue executions after Biden actions
President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims.
AP
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California's Soros-backed progressive experiment collapses after a decade
Certain 2024 election results in California took many by surprise. The Golden State's residents, for example, rejected another term for progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, backed by billionaire George Soros. They also overwhelmingly voted - at more than 70% - in favor of Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, which seeks to undo portions of Proposition 47 from 2014 by increasing penalties for some crimes.
Fox News
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Senators push constitutional amendment for Supreme Court term limits
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont recently proposed a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on future Supreme Court justices. The proposed amendment would create 18-year terms, with new terms beginning every two years. This would only impact justices appointed after the amendment is ratified. Current justices would still be able to remain on the bench as long as they wish. The amendment does not change the number of justices on the Court.
First Liberty
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Multiple L.A. sheriff’s deputies relieved of duty as feds probe beating of trans teacher
At least eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been relieved of duty amid a federal investigation into the beating of a transgender man last year in a 7-Eleven parking lot, according to several law enforcement sources. Last week, nearly two years after the incident, Deputy Joseph Benza III agreed to plead guilty to one felony civil rights violation in federal court.
Los Angeles Times
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The time for excuses is over. L.A.’s MacArthur Park needs a champion now
Early one morning in Westlake, as neighborhood children walked to school, I spotted a woman heading in my direction. She was holding the hand of a little girl who wore a mask, carefully leading her around three people who were sprawled on the pavement. They were walking on Bonnie Brae Street, a couple blocks east of MacArthur Park, where it’s not uncommon to see people who are either asleep or passed out, with syringes and needles scattered about.
Los Angeles Times
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Changes planned for PCH after Pepperdine students killed
The city of Malibu and Caltrans are making more changes to an iconic stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. It's also a dangerous section of road, with numerous accidents, including a crash that killed four Pepperdine students last year. Malibu plans to put up speed cameras and Caltrans is looking at moving parking off the highway. The Mountain Conservation Recreation Authority opposes those proposed parking changes, telling the city it feels that's just a way to make Malibu more exclusive.
NBC 4
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New LASD inmate transfer bus fleet to minimize court disruptions
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department celebrated its new fleet of inmate transfer buses Thursday, as the previous aging bus fleet led to court delays which backed up the entire system. Sheriff Robert Luna delivered his remarks at the morning news conference in front of the first new bus the department has had in eight years.
KCAL News
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Ousted Commerce city manager’s kickback scheme cheated city out of millions
Former Commerce City Manager Edgar Cisneros collected up to $120,000 in a kickback scheme that cheated the city out of potentially millions of dollars in rent at the peak of demand for tractor-trailer parking amid the pandemic-era gridlock at Los Angeles County’s ports, according to an unsealed plea agreement and a Southern California News Group investigation.
Pasadena Star News
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With the city failing on Vision Zero, Streetsblog looks at one of the lead implementing agencies: LAPD
We were there, back in 2015, when then-Mayor Eric Garcetti dragged a desk out into the middle of a Boyle Heights street to announce Los Angeles’ Vision Zero Initiative - the effort to eliminate traffic deaths by the year 2025. In the ensuing decade, traffic-related deaths have continued to rise, topping 300 in 2022 and 2023, and nearing 300 again this year. Despite being a lead implementing agency of Vision Zero, LAPD has both managed to contribute to that death toll and sought to shield themselves from accountability for it.
Streetsblog LA
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Tax loopholes cost California and its cities $107 billion but get little scrutiny
Among the hundreds of bills introduced in every session of the California Legislature, a few deal with what state officials term “tax expenditures,” which requires some explanation. The term refers to provisions in personal and corporate income taxes and sales taxes that exempt specific financial transactions from levies that otherwise would be applied. They have exactly the same fiscal effect as direct appropriations in the budget, which is why they are dubbed “expenditures.”
CalMatters
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Crime, housing, workplace rules and more. New California laws to know in 2025
On Jan. 1, 2025, many new laws will be going into effect in California. They range from a ban on legacy admissions to a ban on octopus farming. Here is a list of significant bills signed in 2024 and some of the laws going into effect this upcoming year. Click on the bill number to learn more.
NBC 4
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CFPB sues JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo for allowing fraud to fester on Zelle
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued the operator of Zelle and three of the nation’s largest banks for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud on America’s most widely available peer-to-peer payment network. Early Warning Services, which operates Zelle, along with three of its owner banks - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo - rushed the network to market to compete against growing payment apps such as Venmo and CashApp, without implementing effective consumer safeguards.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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House Ethics report finds evidence Matt Gaetz paid thousands for sex and drugs including paying a 17-year-old for sex in 2017
The House Ethics Committee found evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, according to the panel’s report on the Florida Republican released Monday. The committee concluded in its bombshell document that Gaetz violated Florida state laws, including the state’s statutory rape law, as the GOP-led panel chose to take the rare step of releasing a report about a former member who resigned from Congress.
CNN
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California homeowners paid millions for ADUs that were never built
A Chula Vista construction company that pledged to disrupt the local market for accessory dwelling units - the granny flats that so many homeowners want to expand their living space, and so many elected leaders have pushed to help solve a critical housing shortage - is being broadly accused of fraud. Instead of building the backyard homes known as ADUs, a new lawsuit says Multitaskr Construction collected at least $10 million from San Diego County homeowners and then did little more than plant portable toilets on the property.
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Fitness influencer dies months after being shot in West LA robbery
Fitness influencer and gym owner Miguel Angel Aguilar has died after being shot during a follow-home robbery in September, his team posted on his social media Saturday. Aguilar, who runs the Self Made Training Facility and has nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram, was under intensive care following a robbery-turned-shooting at his West LA home.
NBC 4
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In-N-Out owner bashes Oakland and its police in addressing store closure
Nearly one year after In-N-Out permanently shuttered its Oakland location, the owner of the beloved California burger chain opened up about the company’s decision to close the Bay Area site. In a recent interview with Marissa Streit, the CEO of conservative video network PragerU, Lynsi Snyder opened up about the former In-N-Out restaurant in Oakland. The location closed in January due to ongoing crime, the company said at the time.
SFGate
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One detained in fatal stabbings in Baldwin Park
A person has been detained in connection with the fatal stabbings of a man and two women in Baldwin Park Friday and an investigation is underway. Baldwin Park Police Department officers responded at 6:48 p.m. Thursday to the 4700 block of Bogart Avenue, between Maine and Phelan avenues, where they found the victims, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Michael Modica.
mynewsLA.com
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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DC Circuit rejects Capitol rioter’s double jeopardy claim over resentencing
A D.C. Circuit panel rejected a Jan. 6 defendant’s appeal of a federal judge’s resentencing on Friday, finding that the additional 60 days of prison time for parading in the U.S. Capitol did not amount to double jeopardy. James Little, a 54-year-old truck driver from North Carolina, argued that the resentencing order - unrelated to the more common resentencings for rioters convicted of a staple obstruction charge narrowed by the Supreme Court - violated his Fifth Amendment right not to be punished twice for the same offense.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge approves sanctions against Israeli spyware company NSO Technologies
A federal judge Friday approved sanctions against Israeli spyware company NSO Group Technologies for withholding evidence in a computer fraud lawsuit by WhatsApp and its parent company Meta. The judge ruled that the hacker-for-hire company deliberately failed to obey the court’s orders to produce the code for its controversial spyware program, Pegasus, so the court could examine claims of how the program accessed and extracted data from users’ phones, a key issue in the case.
Courthouse News Service
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Justin Baldoni wanted Blake Lively smeared online - and used Hailey Bieber as example: Lawsuit
Justin Baldoni allegedly used a negative social media post about Hailey Bieber as an example of how he hoped his public relations team could organize a retaliatory smear campaign against his It Ends with Us costar Blake Lively, a newly filed complaint from her legal team claims.
People
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Cops lie to suspects during interrogations. Should detectives stick to the truth?
Thomas Perez Jr. was hours into an interrogation by police about his missing father when they dropped some devastating news: A body had been found. Thomas Perez Sr., they told his son, was dead. The news crushed Perez, but he never considered that the authorities could be lying. They were. The tale of his father on a gurney in the morgue was a deception used to push Perez to confess to killing him.
Los Angeles Times
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Federal judge sides with former Jussie Smollett attorney in long-simmering defamation case
U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland granted summary judgment to former Jussie Smollett attorney Tina Glandian on Friday, settling for now a more than 5-year defamation case brought against her by brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo. The Donald Trump appointee concluded that Glandian, an attorney with the law firm Geragos & Geragos, had simply described the brothers' behavior in televised remarks she made in March 2019.
Courthouse News Service
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Buying In
In the fall of 2021, Maer Roshan received an unusual message from his boss. Roshan, who had served as a deputy editor of New York and the editorial director for Tina Brown’s Talk, was fifty-four, the editor in chief of Los Angeles magazine, busy transforming it from a dull lifestyle publication - with articles on “the best” of the city - into a vibrant, timely outlet. Lately, Los Angeles had published a cover story about how COVID-19 could derail Los Angeles, seven days before the city shut down; an exclusive profile of Governor Gavin Newsom; a feature inside the “woke wars” at Brentwood School.
Columbia Journalism Review
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How lawyer Tony Buzbee got to the center of the Diddy - Jay-Z storm
On the 75th floor of the tallest building in the city, the Houston attorney Tony Buzbee spoke for nearly 40 minutes at a press conference near his office. It was October, and nearly a year had passed since Sean “Diddy” Combs quickly settled a lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura that accused the hip-hop mogul of extensive violence and sexual abuse.
Vanity Fair
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How did Blake Lively’s lawyers obtain bombshell texts trom Justin Baldoni’s PR team?
On Aug. 21, Jonesworks founder Stephanie Jones called publicist Jen Abel into the office. The two women had been in the thick of a grueling crisis PR campaign on behalf of client Justin Baldoni, the “It Ends With Us” director and the subject of incessant media coverage thanks to a mysterious rift with the film’s star, Blake Lively. But Jones wasn’t looking to strategize over the latest headlines. Instead, Abel was met by a security guard and an attorney and handed a document to sign and told to relinquish her phone.
Variety
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