Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits

Failed bid to recall LA top cop George Gascón prompts suit over invalidated signatures

The bid to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, which fell just 46,000 signatures short of making the ballot last year, sued the county registrar Friday over what it says were tens of thousands of wrongly rejected signatures. "The voters of Los Angeles got completely screwed over, to put it lightly," said Tim Lineburger, spokesman for the recall campaign.

Courthouse News Service

Judge blocks inspection of LA deputy gang members' tattoos

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Monday issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped the LA County Sheriff from directing certain deputies, suspected of belonging to two law enforcement gangs, to appear for in-person interviews and inspections of their tattoos. Judge James C. Chalfant's 42-page order was not available until late Tuesday, and it said, "the application for a preliminary injunction is granted," citing the County's need to 'meet and confer' with the deputies' union before carrying out the interviews.

NBC4

Deputies had basis to detain for questioning persons who were not suspected of crimes

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declared that the detention by sheriff’s deputies of a husband and wife who were suspected of no wrongdoing but who apparently had information as to the whereabouts of their son who had threatened to commit a mass shooting at his high school was legally justified, but the handcuffing and rough treatment of the husband was not.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Suit over deadly police shooting on thin ice at 9th Circuit

An appeals panel seemed unlikely Wednesday to revive a lawsuit against three sheriff’s deputies, challenging the position on deadly force from the family of a man who was shot and killed as he walked toward police with a gun at his side. The case stems from a 2018 emergency call to a home in Mesa, Arizona, one winter morning. Lisa Yearick told the emergency dispatcher that her husband, Edward Rudham, was threatening to kill himself with a handgun.

Courthouse News Service

LAPD Metropolitan Division officer to stand trial in falsified gang data case

An LA Superior Court Judge ruled Friday there was enough evidence to put an LAPD officer on trial on charges he falsely labeled dozens of innocent people as gang members, and whose names were later added to a statewide police database. Judge Eleanor J. Hunter ordered officer Braxton Shaw to return to court later this month to enter new pleas to the charges of preparing false evidence and filing false police reports.

NBC4

Judge tosses $500K reward money lawsuit against Lady Gaga from woman involved with stealing her dogs

A woman who was involved in the 2021 theft of Lady Gaga's dogs has had her lawsuit - in which she said she was entitled to $500,000 in reward money - dismissed by a judge. As reported by TMZ, Jennifer McBride filed a lawsuit against Gaga earlier this year after she did not receive the promised $500,000 reward for the return of the the singer's two French Bulldogs. She was then charged in connection with the theft of Koji and Gustav, who were stolen from Gaga's dog walker at gunpoint. 

Complex

Gascon consultant dropped from deputy DA's lawsuit

A communications professional who was sued along with Los Angeles County and District Attorney George Gascón by a veteran prosecutor who alleges he has been defamed for being an outspoken critic of Gascón's reform directives has been dropped from the case. Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami's Los Angeles Superior Court suit had also alleged defamation and harassment against Maxwell Szabo, whose attorneys had previously brought an anti-SLAPP motion that was scheduled for hearing on July 17.

City News Service

Judge cites `defective’ notice for denying tenants’ injunction request

A judge Thursday denied a request by the Barrington Plaza Tenant Association for a preliminary injunction stopping any evictions at the rent-controlled apartment complex in West Los Angeles pending the outcome of their lawsuit against their landlords. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant said the notice given of the injunction application was “defective on procedural grounds” and that any future requests should be made with Judge Jill Feeney, who will hear the trial of the case.

MyNewsLA

Jurisdiction exists over out-of-state seller on Amazon.com 

Sellers in one state that take orders for products via Amazon.com and deliver those products to customers in another state, may be sued in the state of delivery by the manufacturer of the product based on unauthorized sales even if such sales in the forum are not voluminous, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday, reversing a dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendants. 

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Workers cannot sue over COVID spread to households, California court rules

Employers cannot be held liable when workers contract COVID-19 on the job and spread it to their household members, California's top court has ruled, siding with business groups that warned of a potential flood of litigation. The seven-member California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that allowing so-called "take-home COVID" claims could encourage businesses to adopt precautions that slow the delivery of services to the public or to shut down completely during pandemics.

Reuters

New pretrial hearing set for ex-broker charged with murder of BofA-Merrill exec

The pretrial conference scheduled for July 10 for ex-broker Anthony Duwayne Turner, charged with the 2021 murder of his former colleague and ex-girlfriend, Bank of America-Merrill executive Michelle Avan, has been continued to Aug. 21, according to Venusse D. Navid, a spokesperson for Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. The pretrial conference will be held in Dept. G at the Van Nuys West Courthouse of Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys, California, Navid told ThinkAdvisor by email.

ALM Think Advisor

Two charged in drive-by shooting that killed 12-year-old boy

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 21 for a man and a woman charged with murder in connection with a drive-by shooting in Long Beach that killed a 12-year-old boy and injured a 14-year-old girl. Reshawn Jonae Strother, 20, of Cypress, is charged with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of conspiracy to commit a crime, one count of unlawful firearm activity, one count of carrying a loaded firearm, one count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

MyNewsLA

Two protesters who disrupted L.A. City Council meeting reach deal with prosecutors

Two protesters who went onto the floor of the City Council chamber during a chaotic meeting last year will be placed into a diversion program, setting the stage for the dismissal of their criminal charges. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge E. Carlos Dominguez ruled that Ricci Sergienko and Ms. Italy, who had been charged with a combined 13 misdemeanor counts for the Aug. 9 incident, should each be placed in diversion for one year and serve 36 hours of community service.

Los Angeles Times

First-grade teacher charged with sexually assaulting six students at East LA school

A first grade teacher at Sunrise Elementary School in East Los Angeles has been charged with sexually assaulting at least six female students, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. Martin Reyes Jr. 29, was arrested on Monday by Los Angeles Police Department detectives after an investigation found that he had sexually abused multiple students enrolled in his class during recess inside of a classroom, the District Attorney said. 

KCAL

50 Cent says Los Angeles is 'finished': Here's why

A no-bail policy reinstated by the city of Los Angeles doesn’t sit well with 50 Cent, who proclaims the city will be “finished” as a result. The rapper and entertainment mogul shared his opinion along with a video of a news report on the policy in a social media post Friday (July 7). In the caption of the Instagram post 50 Cent wrote, “LA is finished watch how bad it gets out there. SMH,” adding the hashtags for his Branson cognac and Le Chemin Duroi champagne brands. The post has received over 110,000 likes to date.

Hip Hop Wired

Hollywood buzzing after firm removes legendary lawyer’s name from door

Hollywood power players are buzzing after one of Tinseltown’s top law firms removed a famed attorney’s name from its doors. This week, Kinsella Weitzman removed beloved late co-founder Howard Weitzman’s name and rebranded as Kinsella Holley Iser Kump and Steinsapir - upping two close Weitzman protégés in the process. Weitzman, who died in 2021, co-founded the firm in 2006 and was famous for repping such clients as Michael Jackson, John DeLorean, O.J. Simpson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Justin Bieber, Chuck Lorre and others.

Page Six

George Soros’s bad bet

As George Soros exits the public stage, handing over control of his central nonprofit operation, the Open Society Foundation, to his son, it’s a good time to examine the results of the experiments he funded in the American criminal-justice system. Soros famously made his fortune by massively shorting the British pound, leading to more than $1 billion in profits for him and economic calamity for the United Kingdom’s central bank. With his riches, Soros eventually became politically active in America as a major donor.

City Journal

OCDA Spitzer blames LADA Gascon and Gov. Newsom for the release of a Manson killer

A member of the murderous Manson family is now free. Don’t blame the parole board. Blame Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon because he refuses to staff parole hearings and fulfill his duty to protect public safety. Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who was serving a life sentence for murder and conspiracy convictions in the Charles Manson “family” 1969 killings of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca that shocked Hollywood and the nation, was recommended by the parole board for early release five times since 2016, but she was denied three times by Newsom and twice by his predecessor, Jerry Brown.

New Santa Ana

California spent $600 million to house and rehab former prisoners - but can’t say whether it helped

As Gov. Gavin Newsom retools the state’s prison system to emphasize rehabilitation, his administration has little evidence that a privately run program for parolees costing taxpayers $100 million a year works to prevent future crime. The state does not collect data on whether parolees who participate in the program have found jobs or whether they are returned to prison for another crime. What state data does show is that only 40% of participants completed at least one of the services they were offered.

CalMatters

Torrance police officials explain 2018 officer involved shooting (Video)

Torrance police break down bodycam footage from a 2018 police-involved shooting that left a suspected car thief dead. The officers were initially cleared after an investigation, but charged in 2023 under new LA District Attorney George Gascon. 

Fox News

California laws make it hard to get info on police disciplinary records (Video)

Despite recent high-profile cases of police use of force, California laws make it difficult for the public to have information about law enforcement officers’ disciplinary records. Eric Leonard reports July 13, 2023.

NBC4

Tulare DA warns of bill to release ‘worst-of-the-worst’ murderers after 25 years

‘These are murderers who killed multiple victims or killed in concert with a rape, robbery, kidnapping or torture’ One of the worst anti-victim, soft-on-crime bills looks as if it will be passed by the California Legislature under the guise of criminal justice “reforms,” Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward told the Globe Wednesday.

California Political Review

Why my pyromaniac neighbor lives outside the law

The first fire started last August, in the tent of a man living at the base of the public stairwell beside my house near Echo Park. It consumed much of the surrounding hill and came within a few feet of my yard before the fire department arrived. Another individual moved in soon after, and the second fire began in a shopping cart where he stored some possessions. I don't know what caused the third and fourth fires, but I found J., an unhoused resident of the neighborhood, starting the fifth a few months back, while on my 3:30 a.m. commute to the bakery where I work.

Los Angeles Times

Gavin Newsom wants S.F. to enforce the ‘damn laws.’ What does that mean?

“I can’t take it anymore,” Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said of rampant open-air drug dealing and property crime in San Francisco. The problem, he suggested, was not one of lenient laws but of lenient prosecution. “There are plenty of laws on the books, and it’d be nice to see some of these damn laws enforced for a change.” Newsom made the comments in late June when he announced that he would be doubling the number of state police officers deployed in San Francisco to disrupt fentanyl dealing. 

San Francisco Chronicle

Los Angeles City/County

Gascón’s top aide agrees to drop lawsuit against Azusa over public intoxication arrest

Joseph Iniguez, the top aide to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, agreed this week to drop his federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Azusa stemming from his 2021 arrest for public intoxication in exchange for a monetary settlement. Terms of the pending settlement were not disclosed in a notice filed Tuesday, July 11, in U.S. District Court. Iniguez, who is Gascon’s chief of staff, has agreed to dismiss Azusa and police Cpl. R. Martinez as defendants after the settlement is paid, according to the notice.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

LA County board to consider ordering jail inmates’ access to thermal underwear

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider requiring the sheriff’s department to provide thermal underwear to any jail inmate who requests it. According to the motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis, the latest Inspector General quarterly report, “Reform and Oversight Efforts: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” uncovered the department’s “reprehensible practice of not providing thermal undergarments to people in custody despite complaints of freezing temperatures in county jails.”

City News Service

Arson suspect arrested after fire at L.A. City Hall, officials say

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a fire that broke out Saturday night after an object was thrown through L.A. City Hall’s second-floor window. In a tweet, the Los Angeles Police Department said that officers apprehended the suspect in downtown Los Angeles around 6:15 p.m. Sunday “without incident.” The suspect, Carlos Tercero-Maradiaga, 36, is accused of using an accelerant to commit arson. The LAPD statement did not provide a motive for the crime but said “there is no indication that this arson is related to any other arson or crime series.”

Los Angeles Times

Lack of qualified applicants stifling LAPD plan to expand mental health unit (Video)

The Los Angeles Police Department says it’s ready to expand its mental health crisis unit, but there aren’t yet enough mental health clinicians available. Eric Leonard reports July 12, 2023.

NBC4

Veterinarian files lawsuit against LASD, former Sheriff Villanueva over K-9's death

Fallout continues over the death of a beloved Los Angeles County sheriff's K-9.

Spike was a 6-year-old, specially-trained Labrador who was left in his handler's SUV on a hot day in 2020. Spike's death did not become public for more than two years and there were allegations of a cover-up, including a memo where investigators claimed to have spoken with the veterinarian who tried to save Spike's life.

ABC7

Downey juvenile hall to reopen, replacing 2 ‘unsuitable’ facilities

State regulators have officially approved the reopening of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey to serve as a replacement for two other county facilities deemed to be unsuitable for housing youth, county officials said Friday. According to the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the Board of State and Community Corrections has notified the county that Los Padrinos passed its pre-opening inspection, clearing it to house up to 317 “pre-disposition” youth - those whose criminal cases are still pending.

City News Service

Former LAPD captain accepts reduced emotional-distress award of $4.5 million

A retired Los Angeles police captain has accepted a 50% reduction of her $9 million jury verdict in a discrimination-retaliation lawsuit against the city, avoiding a new trial. Former Capt. Stacey Vince was granted $9 million in past and future emotional distress damages by a jury on March 17, an amount Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Lui found excessive and the “product of passion or prejudice.”

City News Service

Lawsuit accuses L.A. jailers of firing 58 tear gas canisters into correctional facility dorm

Some men began to pray. Some just screamed. A few began to vomit while others, according to court filings, slipped and fell on the floors slick with chemical spray that jailers had unleashed inside the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. That was April 21, 2022. Now, some of the men who endured that “brutal event” are suing the county, claiming that deputies fired more than 50 canisters of tear gas at a dorm housing several dozen inmates - allegedly because two of them were mouthy and uncooperative when staff ordered them to get off the phone for the evening.

Los Angeles Times

Affluent Calif. city accused of tearing down beach access signs

A feud is playing out between two public agencies in Southern California this week over beach access. The accusations started on Friday evening when the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) - a public agency dedicated to preserving parklands and coastal access in and around Los Angeles - accused the city of Malibu of tearing down its signs directing visitors to “hidden” public beaches along the famous coastline. 

SF Gate

City of LA has $50M sitting in idle funds

A new report identified more than $50 million of unspent money held by the city of Los Angeles in idle special funds, of which $10 million could be used for housing and homelessness functions, according to the city's Controller's Office. In analyzing $5.43 billion held in 661 different special funds, the controller's office discovered special funds that have had no activity for at least two years - and 62 have been untouched for more than 10 years.

CBS News

Annual crime report shows Californians’ fears of increasing crime is justified

Political officeholders at all levels and of all ideological stripes habitually pursue a time-dishonored practice when releasing data. If it’s positive, politicians try to maximize its importance with lavish news conferences and self-congratulatory declarations. If, on the other hand, the data have a negative cast, they will be released quietly, often late on a Friday afternoon, to minimize media coverage.

CalMatters

Manson family killer Leslie Van Houten will be paroled, lawyer says, after Gov. Newsom drops fight

Leslie Van Houten, a follower of Charles Manson who was convicted in two killings, will be paroled in weeks, her attorney said Friday after California’s governor said he would not challenge it at the State Supreme Court. “She’s thrilled,” Van Houten’s attorney Nancy Tetreault said. Van Houten, now 73, will be paroled in the next several weeks after spending more than five decades in prison, Tetreault said.

NBC News

11 million CA criminal records expunged in first 6 months of new law

The Golden State has permanently expunged an unprecedented 11 million criminal arrest records in the first six months after the implementation of a criminal-justice reform bill - according to data just released by the California Department of Justice. Assembly Bill 1076 required the state DOJ to automatically clear eligible records for people with arrests but not convictions, for people with convictions on most crimes that did not carry a prison sentence, and for those who have successfully completed their sentence.

Public News Service

Homeless Issue

Homeless man found living in underground vault in downtown Los Angeles

A man was found living in an underground utility vault in downtown Los Angeles, underscoring the dire homelessness crisis in the city. The vault is located near the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo district. Museum officials are now taking action against the homeless man after the shocking discovery. Typically, underground utility vaults are secured for safety, yet as L.A.’s homelessness crisis worsens, unhoused individuals are becoming desperate, with some even taking advantage of subterranean spaces.

KTLA

LA City cracks down on store's sign placement but won't address homeless encampments, business owner says

A San Fernando Valley-based business owner accuses Los Angeles City's code enforcement of going over the top in monitoring the store's sign placement. All this while Southern California sees homeless encampments blocking the sidewalks. Arik Air tells FOX 11 he has been in Granada Hills for about 15 years. He says he's so tired of being harassed by code enforcement that he's considering leaving California.

Fox11

Sylmar RV lot owner finally confronted; LA Mayor Bass vows to tackle city's growing camper issue

It's been 10 days since Eyewitness News broke the story on the over 20 RVs on one property in Sylmar and the hazardous conditions inside. On Monday, frustrated neighbors voiced their anger at a neighborhood meeting and ABC7 confronted the owner, Cruz Florian Godoy, who responded: "Hey, this is a private property. You shouldn't be filming here. I own this place.” Godoy has been charged with two misdemeanors: parking of RVs and maintenance of trash.

ABC7

Crime

Los Angeles police arrest suspect in apparent random shootings at 3 locations with 1 person wounded

Police in Los Angeles arrested a suspect following what appeared to be a series of random shootings that wounded one victim Saturday morning, a news report said. The suspect allegedly fired randomly at people in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, with shootings reported between 6:20 a.m. and 7:20 a.m., KTLA-TV reported. The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was taken into custody after the Los Angeles Police Department located an unoccupied vehicle believed to have been used in the attacks.

ABC News

Pasadena doctor accused of driving family off cliff requests mental health treatment instead of prison

A Pasadena doctor, Dharmesh Patel, is seeking a mental health diversion program instead of prison after being accused of attempting to kill his family by driving his Tesla off Pacific Coast Highway in Northern California. The incident occurred on January 3 near California Highway 1, when Patel drove the vehicle off Devil’s Slide with his wife and two children in the car. All occupants survived the crash. Patel, 41, has been charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder.

Pasadena Now

Four street vendors robbed in less than an hour in South Los Angeles

In just under an hour, four street vendors in South Los Angeles were robbed at gunpoint Sunday night, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Although police declined to elaborate on the crimes, the robberies are the latest of what appears to be an increase in crimes against street vendors in the last few months. At 9:46 p.m., three young men in dark hooded sweatshirts robbed a taco stand near 51st Street and Avalon Boulevard, stealing an unknown amount of cash.

Los Angeles Times

Convictions/Sentences/Pleas/Appeals

Ex-police chief who spread conspiracies about Jan. 6 found guilty in Capitol attack

A former California police chief who called for the execution of Donald Trump's political enemies after the 2020 election and spread conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 after having taken part in the Capitol attack was found guilty of four charges Thursday. Alan Hostetter, who was arrested in June 2021, was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering or remaining on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

NBC News

Calif. man accused of killing Canadian hair executive in backyard pleads no contest and is sentenced to life

A former porn actor - accused of fatally stabbing a Canadian haircare executive in his Los Angeles area backyard in 2017 - has pleaded no contest. Robert Baker, 61, entered the no contest plea to killing 49-year-old Fabio Sementilli during a hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Friday. The convicted sex offender was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors alleged that Baker and his lover, Sementilli’s wife Monica Sementilli, concocted the plan to kill Fabio in order to collect more than $1 million in life insurance money. 

People

Convicted murderer who ran $1.5 million COVID jobless benefits fraud from behind bars sentenced to 7 years in federal prison

A woman serving a life sentence in state prison for murder was sentenced today in federal court to 84 months in federal prison for leading a ring that fraudulently obtained more than $1.5 million in California unemployment insurance (UI) benefits - mostly pandemic-related relief - by using other people’s identities, some of which belonged to her fellow California prison inmates.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

Man in California pleads guilty to murder in fentanyl death of 15-year-old

A local prosecutor in California has secured what he says is the state’s first murder conviction in connection with a fatal fentanyl overdose, marking a legal milestone in the efforts to curb sales of the increasingly deadly drug. The prosecutor, District Attorney Morgan Gire of Placer County, said that a 21-year-old man pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder for providing fentanyl to a 15-year-old girl who died shortly after consuming it in June 2022.

New York Times

Car crash victim awarded $8.9M, beating 25K settlement offer, following rare directed verdict win

A California state court jury has awarded $8.9 million to a man struck by a drunk driver, after his attorneys secured a rare directed verdict win on the question of liability and comparative fault against the driver’s insurer, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network. The Los Angeles County jury returned the verdict for Plaintiff Victor Montez on July 5 in a trial that kicked off on June 22.

Courtroom View Network

Ninth Circuit declares harassment based on ‘perceived sexual orientation’ unconstitutional under Title IX

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on June 13 that Title IX protections apply to a new category: “perceived sexual orientation.” Michael Grabowski was a first-year student in 2017 at the University of Arizona. He enrolled in Cross Country and Track and Field, and during that year’s pre-season training in August, he reported his teammates mistook him for a homosexual and callled him unwelcome names.

Campus Reform

Newsom calls on DOJ to investigate Florida over migrant transports

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday called on the Justice Department to investigate the Florida program responsible for transporting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Sacramento. The California Democratic officials, along with a sheriff in Texas, urged Attorney General Merrick Garland in a letter to open criminal and civil investigations into Florida’s “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program,” arguing that contractors hired by the state have used fraudulent tactics to coerce asylum seekers into accepting trips to liberal cities.

Politico

Theory that there’s no ‘prevailing party’ where each side gets all it seeks rejected

Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal yesterday rejected a litigant’s theory that where both the plaintiff and cross-complainant, suing on an agreement, receives an award of the full amount being sought, there is no prevailing party and an award of attorney fees, pursuant to a contractual provision, is inappropriate. Acting Presiding Justice William W. Bedsworth authored the unpublished opinion. It affirms a $78,484 attorney-fee award of in favor of defendant/cross-complainant New England Country Foods, LLC (“NECF”) and against the plaintiff/cross-defendant VanLaw Food Products, Inc.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Mexico says it doesn’t have a fentanyl problem. New data reveal a hidden epidemic

As fentanyl has ravaged the United States, killing tens of thousands of Americans each year, Mexican leaders have insisted their country has been virtually untouched by the opioid. Mexico officially recorded just 19 deaths from all opioids in 2020, the most recent year for which data are available, with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador contending fentanyl is exclusively a U.S. problem - one he blames on American “social decay.”

Los Angeles Times

Trump can be held liable in writer's defamation lawsuit after Justice Department reverses course

The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape - a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks. In a letter filed with the judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit that columnist E. Jean Carroll brought in Manhattan federal court in 2020, the department says it no longer has "a sufficient basis" to conclude that Trump was motivated in his statements about Carroll's claims by more than an insignificant desire to serve the United States.

AP

Consumer

New protections for online shoppers from stolen or counterfeit products

"It's electrical. Do you want to put a 220-volt bomb in your house?" asked Let Joe Know volunteer, Grant. He bought a new heater for an indoor hot tub, but when it arrived, he realized it wasn't right. Grant was sent a counterfeit, knock-off product. Now he's warning others, "there's a scam out there for all of us and this one got me.” Grant did his research. He found a reputable company, Coates, which produces the equipment he needed. Then, Grant went to Amazon and bought what he thought was a Coates heater for a deal from a third-party seller.

ABC15 Arizona

Bank of America caught opening accounts without consent, withholding customer reward bonuses and ‘double-dipping’ on overdraft fees

Bank of America will reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent. Combined, it is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income and financial trickery.

Fortune