Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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S.C. says case not final if resentencing pending on remand
A criminal case is not final, for purposes of whether new legislation may be retroactively applied to reduce the defendant’s liability or sentencing, when the conviction has been affirmed on direct appeal but the matter has been remanded to the trial court for reconsideration of sentencing-related issues, the California Supreme Court held yesterday.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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LA County’s courts pause past-due debt collections in response to wildfires
Court officials said in a statement that they recognize the effects the fires have had on countless residents. “Temporarily suspending active collection efforts on past-due court debt is one small way the court can provide meaningful, timely relief for members of our community,” Presiding Judge Sergio Tapia II said in a statement.
LAist
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Prisoners, filing jointly, must each pay mandated filing fee
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday, in a 2-1 decision, that the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which, to address concerns over the increasing number of detainee lawsuits, added a provision requiring prisoners proceeding in forma pauperis to pay a $350 filing fee in order to initiate legal action, allows inmates to join in a lawsuit together against a common defendant so long as each plaintiff pays the required charge.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Federal judge bars Oath Keepers from freely entering DC and US Capitol after commutations
A federal judge on Friday ordered the leaders of the far-right militia the Oath Keepers to obtain court permission before reentering Washington or the U.S. Capitol, a restriction that was imposed on scores of Capitol rioters after being sentenced on felony charges.
Courthouse News Service
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Order on admissibility of expert testimony by attorney is nonappealable, C.A. declares
An appeal does not lie from an order in limine allowing or disallowing testimony by an attorney as an expert witness, Div. Three of the First District Court of Appeal has held, repudiating a contrary 2004 decision by this district’s Div. Two. The fact situations in the two cases were identical - except that in 2004, a defendant-insurance company appealed from then-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Soussan G. Bruguera’s denial of its motion to bar testimony in favor of the plaintiff by a lawyer who previously represented it, and in the present case, Orange Superior Court Judge Andre De La Cruz excluded such testimony.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Ninth Circuit blocks California law protecting kids from social media addiction
The Ninth Circuit granted an injunction Tuesday preventing the California attorney general’s office from enforcing a new child safety social media law that critics claim violates the First Amendment. Senate Bill 976, also known as the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, prevents social media platforms from knowingly providing an addictive feed to minors without parental consent.
Courthouse News Service
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PG&E wins appeal in defamation case brought by ex-lineman
A $2.16 million damage award to a former Pacific Gas and Electric Co. lineman, who a jury found was falsely accused of cheating on his timecard while saying PG&E was installing unsafe equipment, was overturned Friday by a state appeals court. In a 2-1 ruling, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco did not challenge Todd Hearn’s claim that he had been defamed by the utility where he had worked for more than 20 years.
San Francisco Chronicle
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MacArthur Park shooting suspect is arraigned on five counts of attempted murder
A man with prior felony convictions was arrested on suspicion of being the gunman behind last week’s gang-related shooting in MacArthur Park that injured four men and a woman, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a news release Monday. Jose Daniel Amaya, 27, was arraigned Monday on five counts of attempted murder with five gun sentencing enhancements that add jail time for committing a felony using a firearm.
Los Angeles Times
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Hatami to head DA’s Complex Child Crimes Unit
District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the promotion of a Valencia attorney who’s built a reputation on prosecuting some of L.A. County’s most heinous crimes against its most vulnerable victims. Jonathan Hatami, who previously ran for the top D.A. job in the March primary, was named Friday as assistant head deputy of the Family Violence Division, which oversees the division’s Complex Child Abuse Section.
The Signal
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Southland children among those coerced by neo-Nazis into producing child pornography, feds say
Four members of an online neo-Nazi group ran an international child exploitation ring that coerced minors into producing sadistic and abusive pornography and then blackmailed victims if they refused to continue, according to a newly unsealed grand jury indictment. The four men are alleged members of CVLT (pronounced cult), which declared neo-Nazism, nihilism and pedophilia as its core principles.
Los Angeles Times
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Man posed as Child Services worker to lure, assault 15-year-old girl, police say
Police in Los Angeles arrested a man last week who they said posed as a Child Services worker to lure a 15-year-old girl into his SUV and assaulted her. Now, they say they're searching for more victims. Derrick Dwayne Thompson has been charged with rape and assault after his Jan. 15 arrest. The attack happened back on Nov. 30, 2024. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Thompson pulled up to a 15-year-old girl who was sitting at a bus stop.
Fox11
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Prosecutors claim defendant strangled, beheaded and buried homeless woman in Huntington Beach
Prosecutors claimed a man accused of killing a homeless woman in Huntington Beach over two years ago strangled her to death before decapitating and then burying her body. But Antonio Padilla’s defense attorney said the woman had been in poor health and her cause of death was never confirmed. He also attempted to cast suspicion on other possible suspects during opening statements Wednesday of Padilla’s trial.
Daily Pilot
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OC DA charges Westminster councilmember with trying to bribe parking officer
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that it was charging Westminster councilmember Amy Phan West with trying to bribe her way out of her husband’s Jeep getting towed. In 2023, parking control officers called for a tow truck to remove the Jeep registered to Phan West’s husband that was left abandoned on the street, prosecutors say. The DA’s office alleges that she identified herself and said she would move the vehicle instead of having it towed.
LAist
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Los Angeles cracks down on crime following lenient district attorney policies
Los Angeles residents are calling for a tougher stance on crime after four years of progressive policies. Nathan Hochman and incumbent George Gascón ran a tight race for the position of LA County’s district attorney in the 2024 general election, with the two candidates campaigning opposing visions for LA’s crime and public safety policies. Hochman’s victory reflects a shift in Californians’ prioritization of public safety over criminal justice reform following a nationwide trend.
Daily Bruin
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Eight defendants arrested on federal grand jury indictment alleging large-scale smuggling scheme from China through L.A.-area ports
Federal law enforcement has arrested eight defendants charged in an indictment alleging a conspiracy among logistic companies’ executives, warehouse owners and truck drivers to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit and other illegal goods from China into the United States via the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Justice Department announced today.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Marilyn Manson will not face charges in sexual assault probe
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Friday morning that prosecutors will not file charges against shock rock superstar Marilyn Manson following a four-year investigation of claims that Manson sexually assaulted and committed domestic violence against numerous women, some of whom filed civil lawsuits.
Courthouse News Service
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Trial begins for woman charged with husband's stabbing murder at Woodland Hills home
A prosecutor told jurors Friday that a woman who had been carrying on an affair behind her husband's back was the "mastermind" behind his stabbing death and was the only one who knew the narrow time frame that the prominent hairdresser would be alone at the couple's Woodland Hills home.
City News Service
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Two former DA bureau directors tentatively settle suit over demotions
Two deputy district attorneys have reached a tentative settlement in their suit against Los Angeles County in which they alleged they were demoted from their positions as bureau directors for opposing directives implemented by former District Attorney George Gascon. Prosecutors Maria Ramirez and Victor Rodriguez brought the lawsuit in March 2022 in Los Angeles Superior Court, when Gascon was still in office.
MyNewsLA
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Michele Hanisee steps down as President of ADDA following eight years of service
The union that represents approximately 800 Los Angeles County prosecutors announced yesterday that Michele Hanisee has stepped down as president after eight years on the job. Hanisee will be taking on a new role in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, serving as special assistant in charge of legislative affairs. She was elected to serve as president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (“ADDA”) for five consecutive terms, including the four years headed by former District Attorney George Gascón - a period marked by discontent and litigation against the office by the ADDA.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Angelenos face peril if Men’s Central Jail closes without a replacement
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted for an emergency declaration preventing the closure of Los Padrinos, the County’s last remaining Juvenile Detention Facility. Such emergencies are normally declared after natural disasters, giving the County far more power to quickly secure needed resources. In this case the Board issued its emergency order after the California Board of State and Community Corrections ordered closure of Los Padrinos.
Joseph P. Charney
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Trump’s orders take aim at critical race theory and antisemitism on college campuses
President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money. A separate plan announced Wednesday calls for aggressive action to fight antisemitism on college campuses, promising to prosecute offenders and revoke visas for international students found to be “Hamas sympathizers.”
AP
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SCOTUS declines to review ruling that police influenced Ohio woman when she ID’d attacker
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Sixth Circuit ruling that a police investigator improperly influenced an Ohio woman's testimony identifying a man accused of attacking her with a hammer. Justice Clarence Thomas, a George H.W. Bush appointee, dissented from the decision and said the appellate court’s decision failed to apply the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which limits the power of federal courts to review state criminal convictions.
Courthouse News Service
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If prosecutors ‘followed the science’ as they claim, we’d have less crime, not more
"Follow the science" is a common chorus among progressives. But often they, not those they moralize against, are the real science deniers. Take progressive prosecutors. Many, like George Gascon in Los Angeles, tout their soft-on-crime policies as "data driven" or "scientifically backed.” Yet this is a complete hoax. These prosecutors cite studies that are misleading, non-replicable, non-peer-reviewed, or entirely disproven.
The Tribune
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LAPD warns fire victims of wildfire relief fraudsters
The Los Angeles Police Department is warning victims impacted by recent Southern California fires to be cautious of potential relief scams. “During times of crisis, unscrupulous individuals often take advantage of vulnerable people, their insurance companies and the governmental aid intended to go to victims of this tragedy” LAPD Headquarters wrote in a statement on Facebook.
NBC4
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MRCA has blood on their hands’: Malibu residents demand accountability after fires
Residents who spoke during the meeting aired their frustrations - saying communication failures were caused by Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). PSPS occurs when a utility company preemptively shuts off power during fire-prone weather conditions, like high winds, to reduce the risk of power lines sparking a fire.
Pepperdine Graphic Media
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How widespread is post-fire rent gouging? These volunteer sleuths analyzed the data
The ash hadn’t yet settled on thousands of destroyed homes when eagle-eyed tenant advocates started noticing the massive rent increases posted on a popular real estate website. Within days of the historic fires in Los Angeles County, advocates began tracking listings for rental housing on Zillow that raised asking rents far above the 10% limit under California’s law banning post-disaster price gouging.
LAist
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Why Trump’s conditions on LA fire aid put California Republicans in a tough spot
As swaths of Southern California burn, the state’s Republican members of Congress find themselves facing a dilemma. Blaming the fires on California’s liberal policies, President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders have proposed attaching assorted conditions to federal disaster aid - a move that, if taken seriously, threatens to delay recovery efforts.
CalMatters
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Officials were warned of failing water system before Palisades fire. Fixes never happened
Los Angeles County officials missed dozens of opportunities for water infrastructure improvements that experts say probably would have enabled firefighters to save more homes during the Palisades fire, public records show. As crews battled the blaze, attempting to extinguish flames that burned huge swaths of L.A. County and killed at least 11 people, some hydrants ran dry.
Los Angeles Times
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DA Hochman promises hard crime crackdown related to Pali Fire, warns residents of scams
As the Pacific Palisades begins rebuilding efforts from the devastating wildfire, Los Angeles County’s new District Attorney Nathan Hochman says the disaster has introduced a surge of criminality which his office is prepared to sniff out and punish. Hochman joined several local elected officials, including Councilwoman Traci Park and Mayor Karen Bass, who provided updates on wildfire recovery efforts last Thursday during a virtual Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting.
Santa Monica Mirror
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R.I. police department collecting gift card donations for LAPD officers who lost homes in wildfires
The Warwick Police Department announced it has launched a fundraising campaign to assist Los Angeles Police Department officers who have been severely impacted by the recent wildfires in California, WLNE reported. According to LAPD Headquarters, more than 20 active officers have lost their homes and belongings due to the fires.
Police1
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LAPD mourns loss of two officers: Paul Jordan and Felicia Robinson
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is in mourning following the tragic deaths of two of its officers. Senior Lead Officer Paul Jordan and Sergeant Felicia Robinson both passed away under circumstances that have left the community and the department in shock. Officer Paul Jordan, who was nearing retirement after decades with the LAPD, died in a car accident while heading home from his shift. In a separate incident, Sergeant Felicia Robinson from the 77th Street Division also passed away.
CountryGhana News
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Edison denied causing destructive 2017 fire. Feds now believe utility suppressed evidence
When the Creek fire exploded in the Angeles National Forest in 2017, suspicions quickly fell on electric power lines as the cause. Witnesses reported seeing a snapped line on a high-voltage transmission tower in Little Tujunga Canyon around the time the fire started, and investigators focused their attention there. “There was fire concentrated over there and sparks coming off the pylon. ... It spread each direction,” one resident told The Times.
Los Angeles Times
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DEA in LA says it's cooperating with feds on immigration enforcement efforts
The Los Angeles-based Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters said it’s cooperating with federal law enforcement entities on immigration enforcement efforts. In social media posts, the agency said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s LA field division, is assisting the Department of Homeland Security with the matter. The post was paired with images of uniformed law enforcement agents in a Los Angeles neighborhood.
NBC4
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City settles lawsuit in alleged sexual abuse by LBPD officer 30 years ago
The city this week settled a civil lawsuit with a woman who alleged that a now-retired police officer sexually assaulted her at 17, and the police department said Friday it has referred a criminal case against the officer to prosecutors. The Long Beach Police Department opened an investigation into Ali Assef in 2023 after a woman filed the lawsuit alleging Assef assaulted her on multiple occasions 30 years ago when she worked as a waitress at Dale’s Diner.
Long Beach Post
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CalMatters lawsuit forces LA officials to turn over secret homeless shelter complaints
Los Angeles officials have begun releasing thousands of internal records related to conditions inside homeless shelters in response to a CalMatters lawsuit challenging their repeated public records denials. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, better known as LAHSA, agreed to a settlement with CalMatters in Superior Court last month, committing to release at least 175 incident reports every other week until the public records request is fulfilled.
CalMatters
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Gavin Newsom's Bay Area ravaged by surging crime as LA burns: ‘It's a war zone!’
California residents in the Bay Area are fed up with the mounting crime and calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to send help as Los Angeles continues to battle wildfires that have destroyed several communities. As looting is on the rise in Southern California as communities work to pick up the pieces left by wildfires, Newsom is calling for looting in fire evacuation zones to be a felony after prosecutors urged him to issue harsher penalties.
Fox News
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Trump Justice Department says it has fired employees involved in prosecutions of the president
The Justice Department said that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, moving rapidly to pursue retribution against lawyers involved in the investigations and signaling an early willingness to take action favorable to the president’s personal interests.
AP
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Trump wants to break California’s sanctuary state law: 5 things to know
Back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump is once again trying to break a policy California Democrats adopted during his first term to protect certain undocumented immigrants from being deported. One of his first executive orders targets the state’s so-called sanctuary law, which generally limits how local cops interact with federal immigration officers.
CapRadio
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4 Chilean nationals arrested in Oregon for multi-state home burglary ring
A multi-state home burglary ring, on the East Coast, ended in Oregon with local and federal authorities arresting four of the seven accused Chilean nationals on Jan. 8 in Carlton, right outside of McMinnville. The Attorney General’s Office in Newark, NJ reported the seven men are accused of targeting homeowners in New Jersey and Massachusetts, walking away with at least $100,000 in designer handbags, jewelry, watches, perfume, and more.
KPTV Portland
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Prosecutors say woman charged in killing of Border Patrol agent was in contact with homicide suspect
A Washington state woman charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a U.S. border patrol agent in Vermont had been in frequent contact with someone whom authorities have linked to homicides in Pennsylvania and California, a federal prosecutor said in court documents Monday. Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the death of Border Patrol Agent David Maland, 44, who died Jan. 20 during the shootout in Coventry, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
AP
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As he awaits release from federal prision, Leonard Peltier is still in danger, advocates say
There are happy endings. There are Hollywood endings. And then there is the ending to the new film Free Leonard Peltier. Peltier had been imprisoned for well over 45 years when David France and Jesse Short Bull decided to make a documentary about him. The Native American activist is serving two life sentences in federal prison for killing a pair of FBI agents in a shootout at South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975, even as he maintains he didn’t do it.
The Hollywood Reporter
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New police chase technology aims to make pursuits safer (Video)
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than one person dies every day on average in the U.S. due to a police pursuit, with innocent bystanders making up more than one-third of those deaths. Now police departments are starting to use darts with GPS technology to make pursuits safer. NBC News' Steven Romo has more.
NBC News
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Pursuit suspect slams into LAPD vehicle, injuring 2 officers
Two Los Angeles police officers were hospitalized after a pursuit suspect crashed into their patrol vehicle in the Vermont Square neighborhood overnight. The LAPD began pursuing a reckless driving suspect who was speeding with no lights in the area of West 41st Street and South Figueroa Street around 12:10 a.m., a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed.
KTLA
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Former SoCal correctional officer arrested for alleged sexual relationship with juvenile inmate
A former Riverside County correctional officer was arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a juvenile inmate. The suspect was identified as Cecilia Pulido, 42, of Moreno Valley, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Pulido is accused of having sexual contact and an inappropriate relationship with a male juvenile who was in custody.
KTLA
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A slimmed-down LAPD seems here to stay. What happens to crime with fewer cops?
When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gave pay raises to the city’s rank-and-file police officers last year, she sold it as a sensible investment toward regrowing the LAPD to the 9,500-member force it was before her election in 2022. In the months since, Bass and leaders in the Los Angeles Police Department have continued to project optimism about reaching that goal.
Los Angeles Times
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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Man pleads no contest to biting off LAPD sergeant's finger
A man accused of biting off part of an LAPD sergeant's finger during an attack at a Metro B (Red) Line station has pleaded no contest to an assault charge. Ephraim Okorie, now 38, entered his plea Monday to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury on a peace officer in the performance of his duties, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
City News Service
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Suspected gang member pleads no contest in 2019 killing of USC music student
An alleged gang member pleaded no contest Monday to first-degree murder charges in the killing of a 21-year-old USC student and jazz drummer during an attempted robbery. Prosecutors accuse Ivan Hernandez, 29, of fatally shooting Victor McElhaney while walking into a robbery with a group of friends at a liquor store near the USC campus.
NBC4
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Multi-convicted felon sentenced to more than 5 years in federal prison for illegally possessing ammunition
A Los Angeles-area man with multiple prior felony convictions has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for illegally possessing ammunition during an incident last year in which pointed a firearm at a victim and also threatened to shoot the victim’s dog, the Justice Department announced today. Edward Conway, 47, who was a transient at the time of the offense, was sentenced Monday afternoon by United States District Judge Percy Anderson.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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California strikes plea deal in Planned Parenthood undercover video case
California prosecutors on Monday agreed to drop all charges against anti-abortion activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, concluding years of litigation stemming from their undercover videos targeting Planned Parenthood. The Center for Medical Progress, led by Daleiden, announced that both activists reached a plea agreement with Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta's office.
Washington Examiner
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‘Devastating’ layoff notices hit California disabled prison contractors after union dispute
Dozens of disabled workers hired through the nonprofit PRIDE Industries are losing their jobs at a California prison after a union outsourcing dispute. For over 55 years, PRIDE has provided training for disabled and challenged workers and places them in jobs established through contracts with various businesses and government agencies.
CalMatters
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Former Rep. Gallegly, CLU enter settlement discussions amid lawyer shakeup
Settlement discussions between Ventura County’s longest-serving congressman, Elton Gallegly, and California Lutheran University were disclosed during a hearing held Monday, Jan. 27, at the Ventura County courthouse. “There have been multiple meetings between the parties,” Gallegly’s attorney Charles Slyngstad of Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP. said in court. “As recently as last week.”
Ojai Valley News
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Final secret files are coming out on the murders that shattered the 60s. What we may learn on JFK, MLK and RFK
When President Donald Trump announced an executive order Thursday to release the remaining government files in three of the country’s most notorious assassinations, it immediately grabbed public attention and raised intrigue. “And everything will be revealed,” Trump said as his Sharpie applied his famously angular signature.
CNN
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Google braces to fight $4.5 billion EU antitrust fine over Android competition quashing
Google launched a bid at Europe's top court on Tuesday to overturn the company’s biggest-ever EU antitrust fine over its Android operating system. The European Commission fined Google $4.5 billion seven years ago for what it said was unfair use of its market dominance to force device manufacturers to direct traffic to Google’s own search engine through pre-installation deals.
Courthouse News Service
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The life cycle of a P.R. disaster
Hollywood breakups are commonplace, yet occasionally a partnership crumbles so spectacularly that it calls for a full-scale mobilization of lawyers, spin doctors, and shrinks. Such was the case in 2019, when John P. Middleton, the scion of a tobacco empire and part-owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, sued Roy Lee, the producer behind hits like The Departed, It, and this weekend’s Companion.
Puck
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