Courts /Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Los Angeles DA challenges judge’s mental health diversion ruling in violent hate crime case
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has asked a state appellate court to overturn a judge’s controversial decision to grant mental health diversion to a man accused of carrying out a racially charged violent assault that left a 64-year-old homeless man permanently disabled. In a petition filed with the California Court of Appeal, prosecutors are seeking a peremptory writ of mandate to vacate Judge Lana Kim’s March 12 ruling that allowed Job Uriah Taylor, 27, to avoid trial under a California law that permits eligible defendants to undergo treatment for mental illness instead of facing criminal prosecution.
Santa Monica Daily Press
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Judge erred in awarding attorney fees to unsuccessful litigant
The Court of Appeal for this district has declared that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge misconstrued statutory and case law authority in awarding attorney fees amounting to $400,000, as well as costs totaling $52,043.65, in favor of a deputy sheriff who attained no monetary recovery or anything else of value in his action against the county for whistle-blower retaliation. It was the County of Los Angeles that was the victor in the litigation, not plaintiff D’Andre Lampkin, Presiding Justice Helen Zukin of Div. Four said in an opinion filed Tuesday.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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23andMe sale to proceed as California continues appeal
A federal district judge allowed 23andMe Holding Co.'s genetic material asset sale to proceed in the coming days, despite the state of California’s objections. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri allowed a brief administrative pause of the sale on July 7, shortly after a bankruptcy judge rejected California’s requested stay. But US District Judge Matthew T. Schelp held during a Thursday hearing that the state didn’t provide evidence that the bankruptcy judge abused his discretion by allowing the transaction.
Bloomberg Law
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US appeals court throws out 9/11 Guantánamo plea deals, clears path for death penalty cases
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Friday threw out plea agreements for three Guantánamo detainees accused of conspiring in the September 11 attacks, clearing the way for the government to pursue the death penalty more than two decades after the tragedy that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. The 2–1 ruling holds that then Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III lawfully exercised his authority when, in August 2024, he rescinded plea deals that had been accepted days earlier by the military commission’s convening authority.
JURISTnews
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Judge orders LA prosecutors to explain why Menendez brothers' conviction shouldn't be re-examined
A judge has ordered Los Angeles prosecutors to explain why Erik and Lyle Menendez's murder convictions should not be re-examined in light of new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father. The July 7 order by LA County Superior Court Judge William Ryan was in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by the Menendez brothers in May 2023 seeking a review of their 1996 convictions for the killings of their parents based on new evidence.
AP
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Man federally charged for allegedly pointing laser at LAPD helicopter during protest
A man has been federally charged for allegedly aiming and pointing a laser at a police helicopter during a protest in Los Angeles in June. Dominic Rios, 21, was arrested on July 7 following a federal criminal complaint filed on June 27. The complaint claims that on June 10, while a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter was flying over a protest in downtown LA, Rios aimed and pointed a green laser at it.
CBS News
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Charges dropped for YouTuber in stunt video showing fireworks launched at Lamborghini from helicopter
The U.S. attorney's office moved to dismiss charges against a Studio City YouTuber after a viral stunt video that showed fireworks being shot at a Lamborghini from a helicopter. Suk Min Choi, who goes by the name Alex Choi on social media, was charged in 2024 with causing the placement of an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft. The charges stem from a video Choi posted around July 4, 2023, titled "Destroying a Lamborghini With Fireworks," according to a federal criminal affidavit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
NBC Los Angeles
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Off-duty U.S. Border Patrol Agent charged with assaulting a police officer while resisting arrest in Long Beach
An armed off-duty U.S. Border Patrol Officer was charged with assaulting a Long Beach police officer and resisting arrest in the Shoreline Village parking lot in the city of Long Beach on July 7, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. “The conduct exhibited by Mr. Hodgson, a border patrol agent who has the duty to uphold the law and protect its citizens, is unacceptable and deeply troubling,” said District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
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New L.A. prosecutor shies away from politics, focuses on public safety
When President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to quell protests last month against immigration raids unfolding across Los Angeles County, he claimed widespread lawlessness forced him to send in the troops. Days later, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman stepped in front of news cameras to announce charges against people who allegedly attacked police during the demonstrations. He avoided mentioning Trump or the swarms of masked federal agents descending on parks, workplaces and schools, but tried to push back against the White House's chaos narrative.
Los Angeles Times
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Samuel Haskell Jr. charged with 2023 murders of wife, in-laws dies by suicide before court hearing
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that 37-year-old Samuel Haskell Jr., who was accused of brutally murdering and dismembering his wife and her parents, killed himself over the weekend while in custody - days before he was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing. “Instead of standing before a judge and answering for the crimes he’s been charged with, the defendant managed to escape justice,” District Attorney Hochman said. “This is one last cruel act by someone who did the most horrific things for reasons we will never entirely know.”
Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
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21 children taken from Arcadia couple after arrest for child neglect; surrogacy business questioned
An Arcadia couple arrested two months ago on suspicion of child neglect after their 2-month-old baby boy was hospitalized and whose 21 other children were taken away, remain under investigation, police said. It wasn’t clear how many of the children, ranging in age from two months to 13 years old, were born from surrogate mothers. Several women told KTLA they bore children for Silvia Zhang and contracted with Mark Surrogacy Investment.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
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Prosecutor seeks dismissal of wrongful demotion suits from two attorneys assigned to Menendez resentencing
A high-profile prosecutor is seeking to be removed as a defendant from a pair of lawsuits filed by two prosecutors who allege they were wrongfully demoted for their support for resentencing of the Menendez brothers while George Gascon was district attorney. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuits were filed April 7 by Deputy District Attorneys Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford. The plaintiffs’ allegations include whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, harassment, both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and violations of the state Labor Code, as well as defamation and self-defamation.
mynewsLA.com
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Too many changes at once led to California bar exam mess, ex-director says
The State Bar of California pursued too many changes at once, setting the stage for the problem-plagued February attorney licensing exam, the agency’s former executive director said. Many of the February exam’s problems stemmed from the decision to change both the content and delivery system of the bar exam simultaneously, Leah Wilson told Reuters on Wednesday in an interview two days after stepping down as the state bar’s executive director. Reuters
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The erosion of the rule of law: Executive power and the American legal order
On July 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court discreetly issued an emergency order permitting the Trump administration to move forward with sweeping layoffs across federal agencies. The unsigned ruling did not include a vote count or formal opinion, which is standard for what is known as the “shadow docket.” A shadow docket refers to a break from ordinary procedure where cases receive very limited briefings and result in short, unsigned rulings. The implications of the emergency order are also far from routine.
Los Angeles Magazine
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US judge admonishes Amazon over disclosures in FTC lawsuit over Prime service
A U.S. judge formally admonished Amazon.com on Thursday for withholding documents from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in a lawsuit accusing the e-commerce giant of deceiving customers of its paid Prime service. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Chun in Seattle said Amazon’s withholding of thousands of documents from the agency during the evidence-sharing phase of the case was “tantamount to bad faith.”
Reuters
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The IRS Is building a vast system to share millions of taxpayers’ data with ICE
The Internal Revenue Service is building a computer program that would give deportation officers unprecedented access to confidential tax data. ProPublica has obtained a blueprint of the system, which would create an “on demand” process allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain the home addresses of people it’s seeking to deport. Last month, in a previously undisclosed dispute, the acting general counsel at the IRS, Andrew De Mello, refused to turn over the addresses of 7.3 million taxpayers sought by ICE.
ProPublica
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L.A. City Attorney joins lawsuits against Trump
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced on July 14 that the city of Los Angeles has joined two lawsuits against the Trump administration to protect federal funds and stop executive overreach. In King County v. Turner, the city joined a coalition of local governments led by King County, Washington to challenge unlawful conditions tied to funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation and Department of Health and Human Services.
Beverly Press Park La Brea News
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Trump officials tour Alcatraz in bid to reopen prison amid outcry from California leaders
A delegation of US officials toured Alcatraz on Thursday as part of Donald Trump’s pledge to reopen the shuttered federal prison and tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay, amid an outcry from California leaders who have called the plan “lunacy”. Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, who visited the island prison with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said the federal government was beginning “the work to renovate and reopen the site to house the most dangerous criminals and illegals”.
The Guardian
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L.A. Mayor Karen Bass celebrates what she calls the retreat of National Guard (Video)
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has repeatedly decried the deployment, celebrated what she called the retreat of the federalized troops. At a press conference Tuesday evening, Bass said the troops were “deployed unnecessarily” and “used as props” by the Trump administration. “This is a victory and a victory that is a result of our city standing strong and standing united,” Bass said. “I am hoping that this is the beginning of a complete withdrawal.”
Los Angeles Times
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Behind the masks: Who are the people rounding up immigrants in California?
They appeared in plain clothes outside a San Diego hotel, wore camouflage as they raided a Los Angeles factory and arrived with military gear at a Ventura County farm. The presence of thousands of hard-to-identify federal agents is a new fact of life in Southern California this summer as the Trump administration carries out the president’s promised deportations. Many residents may assume these masked agents are officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But that’s not always the case.
CalMatters
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Nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been detained in LA area since early June, DHS says
Nearly 2,800 people have been detained in the Los Angeles area since immigration raids intensified in early June, federal officials said. Federal immigration officers have detained 2,792 undocumented immigrants in the Los Angeles area since June, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Officials didn’t specify in which counties or cities the arrests occurred. As of June 26, more than 70% of those who have been detained in recent months across the country have never been convicted of a crime, despite President Trump’s claims that immigration raids would target “the worst of the worst,” according to the Deportation Data Project.
Los Angeles Daily News
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3 L.A. County sheriff’s deputies killed in explosion ID’d; investigators search Santa Monica apartment
Three deputies were killed Friday in an explosion at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East L.A., the deadliest incident for the agency in more than 160 years. Deputies with the arson explosives detail, an elite unit within the Sheriff’s Department, were moving ordnance in the training center’s parking lot about 7:30 a.m. when the blast occurred. The deputies were identified Friday evening as Dets. Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn. They had served 19, 22 and 33 years with the department, respectively, authorities said.
Los Angeles Times
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County health leaders condemn federal policy denying undocumented access to vital services
Three Los Angeles County health officials on Friday sharply condemned a federal directive barring undocumented people in California from accessing federally funded health and social service programs, warning of sweeping threats to public health and community equity. In a joint statement issued by Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health; Dr. Christina Ghaly, Director of Health Services; and Dr. Lisa Wong, Director of Mental Health Services, the officials described the policy change as deeply saddening and said it “threatens to undermine” the county’s mission of providing care for all residents.
Pasadena Now
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Deputies beat her son bloody. Why is L.A. County keeping parts of the case secret?
Five years after her son was beaten so badly by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies that he needed more than 30 stitches and staples to his face and head, Vanessa Perez is still looking for answers. So are county officials tasked with holding the department accountable for misconduct. Despite a subpoena and an ongoing legal battle, obtaining a complete account of what happened to Vanessa's son Joseph Perez has proved impossible - at least so far.
Los Angeles Times
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Lawsuit blames California, Los Angeles for 'rekindling' of Palisades Fire
A lawsuit filed relating to the deadly Palisades Fire was amended Wednesday to now also target the State of California. "This is just sheer and utter incompetence by the government," said attorney Roger Behle. Behle is one of the attorneys representing more than 3,000 Palisades Fire victims. Monday marked six months since the fire erupted across the area on Jan. 7, 2025. On Wednesday, California was added to the lawsuit that already included the City of Los Angeles.
FOX News Los Angeles
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Comatose man seeks $85M after being struck by city garbage truck: watch full trial via CVN
A California state court jury heard opening statements Thursday in a lawsuit seeking up to $85 million for a comatose man who was struck by a City of Los Angeles garbage truck in a pedestrian crosswalk, and the full trial is being webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network. Plaintiff Kamran Hakimi, 60, suffered a devastating traumatic brain injury in the August 2024 accident, and he is currently comatose requiring 24/7 skilled nursing care.
Courtroom View Network
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Supervisors advance strategy to combat drug problems at juvenile facilities
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion directing the Probation Department to implement enhanced security measures and expand substance abuse treatment at juvenile detention centers following a series of drug-related incidents. The board voted 4-0 with one abstention on the emergency motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath.
Santa Monica Daily Press
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LA region experiences decline in homelessness for second consecutive year
The Greater Los Angeles region experienced a second consecutive year-over-year decline in people experiencing homelessness, according to figures released Monday, but authorities warned that more housing will be needed to continue the downward trend. The LA County annual point-in-time homeless count showed there was a 4% decrease in homeless people across the county, while in the city of Los Angeles, there was a 3.4% drop, according to data released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which was created as a joint city-county organization overseeing funding and programming to address the homelessness crisis. Los Angeles County has since opted to pull funding from the agency and create its own homelessness department.
City News Service
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Los Angeles needs leadership, not just better numbers
The latest homelessness count released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) offers a glimmer of hope, but let’s not kid ourselves. The fact that homelessness in the City of Los Angeles dropped by 3.4% and that street encampments have slightly declined is not a victory. It's a marginal shift in the face of a decades-long humanitarian emergency that still leaves more than 72,000 of our neighbors without a permanent home. That’s not progress - it's a warning that we must stop accepting “less bad” as good enough.
City Watch
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LA County supervisors call for probe of error, solutions after ballot measure is accidentally repealed
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have ordered the county counsel and chief executive officer to investigate and correct, by any means, an administrative error that inadvertently repealed a voter-approved measure earmarking funds for community investments and alternatives to incarceration. Measure J, passed in 2020, required the county to dedicate at least 10% of its unrestricted funds toward youth development, job training, supportive housing and other programs furthering the county’s “Care First, Jails Last” stance.
Los Angeles Daily News
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He was wrongfully convicted of murder. Now L.A. County will pay him $14 million
Alexander Torres spent more than 20 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit. He landed there despite shaky witness testimony, the fact that he was wearing a cast at the time that would have made pulling a trigger unlikely, and multiple people saying he was at his mother’s birthday party at the time. On Tuesday morning, Torres was awarded $14 million as the L.A. County Board of Supervisors settled his federal civil lawsuit.
Los Angeles Times
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Burglary suspects arrested after leading officers on high-speed L.A. County pursuit
Three burglary suspects led officers on a high-speed chase in Los Angeles County Friday night. The suspects were in a Toyota Mirai sedan as they weaved dangerously between vehicles on the freeway. At one point, the passengers were seen tossing objects out the window. The chase began in the Westside area before the suspects entered the 405 and 105 Freeways. They eventually exited in El Segundo near the LAX area before being cornered by patrol units under a freeway overpass.
KTLA
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Sheriff’s deputies lose assault rifle on the streets of Los Angeles - and actually get it back
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies did something Sunday that some may have seen as fairly embarrassing: They misplaced a weapon. Not just any weapon but an assault rifle and five magazines, each holding 30 rounds of ammo. They took the high road, though, and fessed up. The Sheriff’s Department admitted in a news release that the gun might have actually fallen out of a squad car - thunk - onto the streets of Los Angeles. On Monday afternoon, the Sheriff’s Department got its gun back. No word yet on whether the deputies who lost track of the gun might now face discipline.
Los Angeles Times
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Shootings By LAPD officers surge in 2025: Chief
Los Angeles Police Department officers have opened fire on suspects 25 times so far this year, nearly matching the total for all of 2024, officials said Tuesday. During Tuesday's Police Commission meeting, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said he asked the department's Critical Incident Review Division to examine officer-involved shooting cases from 2024 and 2025. The review found a rise in what he called "intermediate force" weapons - such as beanbag rounds or stun guns - which are designed to incapacitate suspects.
City News Service
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"American Idol" executive Robin Kaye and her husband shot and killed at Encino home, suspect arrested, police say
Los Angeles Police Department officials said an arrest was made Tuesday in the killings of "American Idol" executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca, who were found dead Monday in their Encino home. Raymond Boodarian, 22, was arrested at his home and booked on suspicion of murder in the shooting deaths of Kaye and Deluca, both 70, who were identified by police on Tuesday afternoon. Kaye worked as a music supervisor on the singing competition series, according to a spokesperson for the show.
CBS News
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‘Bandit tow’ operation leads to seizure of 145 unlawfully impounded vehicles in Van Nuys, LAPD says
Police in Van Nuys recovered dozens of vehicles last week from an auto repair shop after an investigation into an alleged predatory “bandit towing” operation in which vehicles were towed away from minor traffic accidents under false pretenses and then unlawfully kept from their owners until they paid exorbitant fees. The 145 vehicles were seized by police executing a search warrant July 9 at Legends Auto, also known as Legend/Enterprise, an auto body and repair shop in Van Nuys.
Los Angeles Daily News
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Sick of loud ads on Netflix? A proposed California law would turn down the volume
Ever been streaming a show or a movie and been jolted out of your entertainment reverie by an ad so loud it felt like it rattled the windows? If California’s lawmakers have their way, those blaring commercials on streaming platforms might soon have the volume turned down. A bill sailing through the Legislature with bipartisan support would prohibit online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu from cranking up the volume during commercials.
CalMatters
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Justice Department purge continues; firings include Trump classified document case investigators and Jan. 6 prosecutors
The ongoing purge of Justice Department officials who investigated President Trump and his allies continued this week, with the Justice Department firing more than 20 employees who worked on the investigations, sources told CBS News. The firings, one source familiar with the terminations said, included more than 20 people who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against Mr. Trump and Smith's investigation into Mr. Trump's attempts to overturn election results in 2020.
CBS News
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Bay Area sheriff's scandal spills into public view after legal team's filing blunder
Explosive documents detailing the effort to oust San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus became public this week, not through a leak, but because her own attorneys filed them unsealed in court. The files include a 59-page investigative report by San Francisco law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. The report includes hundreds of pages of supporting material - along with a transcript of Corpus’ own defense during a June 28 court hearing - outlining sweeping allegations of corruption, retaliation and misuse of power within the sheriff’s office.
SFGate
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California secessionists foiled again by signature shortfall
A movement to make California its own nation didn’t get enough signatures to meet a July 22 deadline for a ballot initiative, though its leaders say they’ll continue to push for sovereignty. CalExit hoped to gather the necessary 546,651 signatures to get a nonbinding question on the 2028 ballot. Just over a week away from the California secretary of state’s deadline to submit those signatures, CalExit announced that it won’t turn in any names.
Courthouse News Service
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
One LASD deputy charged, another pleads guilty to conspiring to violate civil rights while providing off-duty security for clients
Federal prosecutors today secured a guilty plea from a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy and charged and filed a plea agreement with another LASD deputy - both of whom used their positions in law enforcement while acting as private security for their off-duty clients, including a now-jailed cryptocurrency businessman who proclaimed himself “The Godfather.” David Anthony Rodriguez, 43, of La Verne, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy against rights.
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
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Convicted child murderer denied parole again by parole board: DA
A convicted child murderer was denied parole on July 10, 2025, due to the California Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) citing that he continues to pose a current and unreasonable risk to public safety, announced the Kern County District Attorney's Office. George Tyler, who lived in the Rosamond area, was convicted of the brutal murder of his girlfriend's 5-year-old son in 2006. At the time of the murder, Tyler was under a court order prohibiting contact with the child and his siblings.
FOX26 News
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Incarcerated person apprehended hours after walking away from Francisquito Conservation Camp
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials announced that an incarcerated person who walked away from Francisquito Conservation Camp in Los Angeles County on July 15, 2025, was apprehended a few hours later. At approximately 10:00 a.m., officials were alerted that incarcerated person Adrian Gonzalez had walked away from the conservation camp. An emergency count of the facility was conducted immediately, confirming Gonzalez was missing.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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Executions surge in 2025 while new death sentences continue to decline, report finds
The United States carried out as many executions in the first half of 2025 as it did in all of 2024, according to a mid-year review released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). But while executions are up, the number of new death sentences remains near historic lows, underscoring what the DPIC calls a profound disconnect between political decisions and public sentiment. Twenty-five executions have already taken place this year, with 60 percent of them concentrated in just three states - Florida, Texas, and South Carolina.
Vanguard
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Manhattan prosecutor who handled Epstein cases is fired
Maurene Comey, a Manhattan federal prosecutor who worked on the criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, was abruptly fired on Wednesday by the Trump administration, according to six people with knowledge of the matter. Though the reason for Ms. Comey’s firing was not immediately clear, her dismissal immediately raised questions, given her involvement in the Epstein-related cases that have roiled the White House in recent days.
New York Times
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