Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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Judge considers request to toss lawsuit over LAPD headshots
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge heard oral arguments Thursday on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the city of LA in an attempt claw back thousands of photographs of police officers it says it "inadvertently" released to an independent journalist.
Courthouse News Service
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12-minute detention following traffic stop was excessive
Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 opinion, has reversed a man’s misdemeanor convictions for possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia because, after he was stopped for a traffic offense, 12 minutes elapsed before a drug-sniffing dog circled the suspect’s vehicle, detecting the presence of narcotics.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Pandemic did not justify sentencing absent defendant
A judge erred in sentencing a defendant who was not present in court and had not waived her presence in writing, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, spurning the assertion by the Office of Attorney General that the judge did precisely what an emergency statewide court rule, promulgated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, permitted.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Determination at resentencing hearing that rejects jury’s 1992 finding is reversed
A jury’s 1992 rejection of a sentencing-enhancement allegation that the defendant personally used a knife in a gang’s slaying of a man invalidates a judge’s 2022 pronouncement, in rejecting a resentencing petition, that the man did, in fact, fatally stab the victim, Div. Two of the Court of Appeal for this district has held.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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LA County courts to reduce reliance on cash bail in non-violent cases
The presiding judge of Los Angeles County's court system announced Tuesday the approval of a new set of bail schedules that will allow for the release of many people arrested for non-violent, non-serious felonies and misdemeanors before they are arraigned, saying a low-risk arrestee should not remain behind bars simply because they can't come up with the required bail.
City News Service
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13-year-old boy faces felony charges following Panorama City pursuit
A 13-year-old boy faces felony charges following a brief stolen car pursuit Thursday in Panorama City. The boy also crashed into a Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer and another vehicle. A resident approached an LAPD officer about a stolen vehicle around 3 p.m. Thursday, and when the officer caught up with the stolen car, a short chase began.
KCAL
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DA charges suspect in Jakes Way assault investigation
A 28-year-old Canyon Country man is facing two counts of assault with a deadly weapon after a neighborhood dispute over parking escalated. The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office filed a pair of charges against Darwin Montoya, who listed his occupation as EMT in the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station arrest logs.
The Signal
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Orange County DA declines to pursue case involving ‘Creep Catchers’ child predator sting
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file charges against a man who was the target of a sting operation by an underground group that exposes and helps apprehend online child predators. The case highlights the greater level of scrutiny the District Attorney’s office is now bringing to these cases.
KTLA
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Convictions/Sentences/Pleas/Appeals | |
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Newhall man receives multiple life sentences for deputy shooting
A San Fernando Superior Court judge handed a Newhall gang member convicted of a pair of shootings - one that involved an infant and another that targeted a Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s deputy - multiple life sentences plus 132 years in prison, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Monolito Guerra, 35, who’s been in L.A. County jail since his arrest following the shooting that left him wheelchair-bound, was a fugitive felon hiding in the back seat of a car in November 2017.
The Signal
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Three gang members plead guilty to RICO charge and admit roles in the robbery and fatal shooting of LAPD officer
Three members of a Los Angeles street gang have pleaded guilty to violating the federal racketeering statute for their roles in the robbery and fatal shooting last year of Los Angeles Police Officer Fernando Arroyos, the Justice Department announced today. According to three plea agreements filed Thursday afternoon, on the night of January 10, 2022, the defendants were driving in Rios’ truck around F13’s “territory” in the Florence-Firestone area of South Los Angeles, looking for people to rob.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Two men avoid prison in anti-Jewish hate attack outside restaurant
Two men who pleaded no contest in a hate crime attack on two Jewish men outside a Beverly Grove-area restaurant were ordered Wednesday to complete 80 hours of counseling focusing on bias and cultural sensitivity along with an eight-hour program at the Museum of Tolerance. Superior Court Judge Laura Priver also sentenced Samer Jayylusi, 37, and Xavier Pabon, 32, to two years of probation.
City News Service
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California man sentenced to life in prison for killing teens after a doorbell prank
A southern California man, who was convicted on murder charges in April for ramming into a vehicle of six teenagers who played a doorbell prank on him in 2020, will serve a life sentence in prison, authorities said. Anurag Chandra, 45, was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole nearly three months after a jury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.
USA Today
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Ashley Butts, daughter of Inglewood mayor, guilty of conspiracy in beating of landlord
Early one morning seven years ago, a masked man entered a home in South Los Angeles armed with a metal pipe and a gun. He beat the homeowner with the pipe and fired a shot into a wall before fleeing. A woman who was inside the house held a towel to homeowner’s head and called 911. “He’s bleeding!” she said, sounding panicked.
Los Angeles Times
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Former LASD deputy agrees to plead guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of skateboarder who was falsely imprisoned
A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to violate the civil rights of a 23-year-old man at a Compton skatepark by falsely imprisoning him and to then obstruct justice to cover up the illegal detention, the Justice Department announced today.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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L.A. politicians are joining picket lines. The city attorney wants them to stay away
Los Angeles City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Nithya Raman sat cross-legged in the middle of Century Boulevard last month, helping to block cars from reaching Los Angeles International Airport in a show of solidarity with the region’s hotel workers. That demonstration - and the subsequent arrest of Soto-Martínez, Raman and nearly 200 others - generated headlines for obvious reasons.
Los Angeles Times
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LAPD zeroes in on city council leaker
The LAPD may finally be close to arresting a suspect behind the recording and leaking of the City Council meetings last October that sparked one of the biggest scandals in recent Los Angeles political history. Multiple sources tell Los Angeles that a bookkeeper for the Los Angeles County Federation was the one who secretly recorded the racist backroom banter among the city’s most powerful politicians.
Los Angeles Magazine
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Inmate fatalities: In-custody death toll rises in LA County jails
The Los Angeles County jail system, the largest in the world, has been experiencing recent increases in in-custody deaths. Since the start of the year, 25 inmates have died within one of LA’s nine facilities, the most recent being a 55-year-old man who died in his cell at Men’s Central Jail in Downtown on June 28. According to a report by the LA County Office of Inspector General, 2022 recorded twice as many in-custody deaths as 2016, a year that recorded 20 deaths.
LA Downtown News
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California’s prison-to-homelessness pipeline
On a warm spring morning, a lone Los Angeles County probation officer stood across from a parking lot lined with cars full of homeless families. His goal was to meet with men who had recently left prison, some with no place to call home. Several county Probation Department colleagues had been scheduled to join the officer in the parking lot. As part of the agency’s efforts to reach former inmates struggling to find housing, officers staff vans that fan out across the county and serve as mobile resources centers.
NBC News
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City wants attorney's gender pay disparity case dismissed
The city of Los Angeles is seeking dismissal of a deputy city attorney's lawsuit over alleged unequal pay for women, stating in new court papers that she did not have the skills her higher-paid counterparts, most of whom were also females. Plaintiff Karen Majovski alleges she suffered a backlash after spending years demanding equal pay for herself and other female employees in her office.
City News Service
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Aggressive lawsuits target online sellers of counterfeit and infringing products
Online sellers offering counterfeit, fraudulent, or replica goods often manage to evade detection, account suspensions, and legal consequences. A growing trend known as "Schedule A Defendant" (SAD) lawsuits have emerged, causing distress among online sellers. According to a report by popular blogger eCommerceBytes, these lawsuits specifically target multiple online sellers simultaneously for alleged trademark infringement, leaving them facing dire consequences.
The Counterfeit Report
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Former Alameda County prosecutor working for SF DA could be disbarred after misdemeanor complaint
Former Alameda County prosecutor Amilcar "Butch" Ford, who currently works as a prosecutor for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, may be disbarred following a misdemeanor complaint filed against him in Alameda County. Ford on April 26 allegedly gave confidential information from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office to attorney Michael Rains, who is representing former San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher in a voluntary manslaughter case.
CBS News Bay Area
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News Analysis: Outrage over Times' journalism exposes LAPD's ignorance of a free press, experts say
In a routine act of journalism Saturday, two Times reporters went to the home of a Los Angeles police officer to see if she wanted to comment for a forthcoming news article. The article, they told her, would publicly name her for the first time as one of the LAPD bomb squad technicians whose botched fireworks detonation blew up a residential block in South L.A. in 2021.
Los Angeles Times
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Will George Gascón have to face the voters even sooner?
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is currently running for re-election, but he may be facing the voters sooner than expected. On Friday, the Committee to Support the Recall of District Attorney George Gascón filed a lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court against the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office and Registrar of Voters Dean Logan.
Los Angeles Daily News
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Azusa settles Gascon chief of staff lawsuit
The City of Azusa has filed a notice of settlement in the civil suit brought against it and one of its police officers by Joseph Iniguez, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s chief of staff. The notice does not detail the terms of the settlement but it does state that an as-yet unspecified payment will be made to Iniguez in the near future. Once the case has been completely finalized, the terms of the settlement will be public.
California Globe
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California Democrats resisted a child trafficking bill - until they couldn’t
It was a perfunctory committee hearing on a day full of them in the Legislature. The measure in question on Tuesday wasn’t novel, just another in a long list of attempts to reclassify a misdemeanor as a felony. Like most attempts before it, it met a quiet and undignified end. The bill was new, but what it sought to do was not.
CalMatters
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Moms, not cops, are the biggest roadblock to California's new drug reform law
California is close to decriminalizing the use of drugs like magic mushrooms and mescaline, a historic move that would put the Golden State on the front lines of the global psychedelic reform movement. But a surprising roadblock in Sacramento could derail this latest drug reform law: moms.
SF Gate
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Jury awards $13 million to LAPD officers accused of drawing Hitler mustache on arrestee
A jury awarded $13.1 million in damages Wednesday to two male Los Angeles police officers who sued the city for gender discrimination, alleging they were singled out in an internal investigation into whoever drew a Hitler-like mustache on an arrestee. The case stems from a January 2017 incident in which officers Stephen Glick and Alfred Garcia and their two female police partners responded to a suspected drunk driving collision, according to their suit.
Los Angeles Times
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FBI investigating violent incidents by L.A. County deputies in Palmdale and Lancaster
The FBI has opened two criminal investigations into violent incidents involving Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Palmdale and Lancaster, both of which sparked criticism after video footage came to light in recent weeks. According to an email obtained by The Times, federal authorities have already visited the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department headquarters to take documents related to their probes.
Los Angeles Times
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Top L.A. police union official tells cops to go 'somewhere that understands your worth’
With negotiations over a new salary contract dragging on last month, the Los Angeles Police Protective League's vice president, Jerretta Sandoz, hopped on Facebook to speak her mind. In a comment that was apparently later deleted, the union leader for more than 9,000 LAPD officers laid out what she saw as the hardships of being a cop in L.A.: hostile City Council members, a ban on displaying the "thin blue line" flag and the lack of a "great" contract.
Los Angeles Times
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Judge orders Sylmar property with more than 20 RVs be vacated, including homeowner
A judge has ordered the home with 23 RVs in Sylmar be vacated by Sunday, including the house where the property owner lives. The development comes one day after utility crews cut the power to the controversial property, which has been causing a health and safety hazard to residents and neighbors for years.
ABC7
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CA Congressmembers lead bipartisan resolution to get LA public defender freed from Venezuela jail
A bipartisan resolution in Congress is urging the release of an L.A. County public defender who has been wrongfully detained in a Venezuelan jail since March of 2022. The resolution is led by Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who represents a district in Los Angeles County. "Eyvin Hernandez is my constituent. He is from Los Angeles. He is an angel from the city of angels, and it is time that we bring Eyvin home," she said at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday.
ABC7
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This is 30: How the Red Line revived my business
Earlier this year, Metro celebrated the Red (B) Line’s 30th birthday, prompting memories of its early days. The debut of LA’s first modern subway had a huge impact on Angelenos - it created thousands of jobs, spurred the construction of dozens of mixed-use developments, and played a major hand in the revitalization of Downtown. One of the Red Line’s most delicious beneficiaries was Langer’s Deli, LA’s beloved temple of pastrami, located less than one block from the Westlake / MacArthur Park Station.
Metro/The Source
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Fresno crime rates fall, even as California sees a rise. Police chief says he knows why
Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama was at a community event when a man came up to chat. “We have got to do something about this crime problem,” the man told the chief. Balderrama had a ready answer. Contrary to other cities in the state, Fresno’s main crime categories were down, he explained. The man was stunned. How could that be, he wondered. There are several answers.
Fresno Bee
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California DA Pamela Price compares recall effort to Jan. 6 riot as criticism mounts over progressive policies
A California prosecutor under fire from critics because of her progressive criminal justice policies has doubled down on comments she made, comparing a recall effort against her to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. In an interview with KTVU-TV, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price defended her restorative justice policies despite only being a few months in office. "These are election deniers," Price said.
Fox News
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Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery felonies
Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates that confirmed they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 people would face eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery.
AP
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Santa Monica City's Phil Brock turns tables on homeless man who attacked him at 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica City Councilman Phil Brock turned the tables on a homeless man who tried to attack him in broad daylight. Brock was targeted by a homeless man who was acting belligerent at the Third Street Promenade Sunday afternoon. The attack stemmed from the homeless man leaving a mess at the Santa Monica hotspot.
Fox11
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Iconic Venice Beach boardwalk continues to be occupied by homeless groups during spiraling crisis
Authorities in California have ceded prime real estate on the Venice Beach boardwalk to a rotating cast of vagrants - a microcosm of the insanity plaguing the Golden State amid its spiraling homeless crisis. For weeks, a vagrant surrounded himself beneath a pagoda along with boardwalk with a dump of grimy grocery carts, tarps and blankets, galling footage posted online showed.
New York Post
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Hollywood residents frustrated with growing homeless encampment near school
A homeless encampment in Hollywood is growing, with tents and trash lining the block near Selma Park. Neighbors are outraged and say nothing is being done about it. The encampment is outside of Larchmont Charter School on Selma Avenue. "It looks like a junkyard on our block, and it's just not safe," resident Jeannie Vasquez said.
ABC7
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RV fire in Sherman Oaks prompts concern over growing RV encampments: 'It's not safe’
An RV went up in flames Thursday in Sherman Oaks, leaving residents concerned as more people are living in the vehicles along Los Angeles County streets. The fire was reported just after 7 p.m. in the 4500 block of Sylmar Avenue. Video obtained by Eyewitness News captured a man opening a door on the RV as the fire was raging.
ABC7
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‘Sophisticated burglary crew’ arrested for home burglaries in Irvine, Thousand Oaks, Sheriff’s Department says
Two Angelenos were arrested for their alleged involvement in a “sophisticated burglary crew” that targeted a gated community in Newbury Park, then tried to burglarize a home in Irvine. Juan Carlos Oviedo Vargas, 42, and Claritza Oviedo Vasquez, 57, both of South Los Angeles, were arrested Friday as they “appeared to case a community in the city of Irvine,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
KTLA
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Police officers pelted with bottles, pipes after responding to shooting in South LA
A woman was taken into custody after she was seen standing on a rooftop and pelting LAPD officers below with glass bottles and metal pipes after police responded to a shooting in South Los Angeles. The bizarre incident began after the shooting was reported late Thursday night near the intersection of East 51st Street and Avalon Boulevard.
ABC7
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Lawyers accused in courthouse altercation offer 'starkly conflicting accounts' of incident
Did a lawyer knock the eyeglasses off his attorney opponent while spinning him around during an altercation outside a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday? Or was the dispute merely a verbal argument between friends? Lawyers offered “starkly conflicting accounts” of the altercation during a hearing before a judge Wednesday, Law360 reports.
ABA Journal
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Top California court backs physicians suing Aetna for unfair competition
The California Supreme Court breathed new life Monday into a lawsuit that accuses Aetna of having fired or threatened to fire physicians who referred patients to out-of-network providers. Aetna had previously defeated the suit from the California Medical Association for lack of standing, but Associate Justice Kelli Evans wrote for the unanimous high court Monday that this was in error.
Courthouse News Service
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Feinstein says late husband’s trust not paying her medical bills, asks court for more control
After acute health problems that kept her away from Washington for months earlier this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is now engaged in a legal effort to gain more control of the finances from her late husband’s trust. The 90-year-old California Democrat filed a petition asking a court to make her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, a successor trustee of Richard Blum’s trust, arguing that the people serving as trustees “have refused to make distributions to reimburse Senator Feinstein’s medical expenses.”
Los Angeles Times
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Ex-officers at federal women's prison in California plead guilty to multiple sex abuse counts
Two former officers of a federal women’s prison in California pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple counts of sexual abuse, the latest to be prosecuted following an Associated Press investigation last year resulting in prison sentences for the former warden and chaplain. Andrew Jones, a former cook supervisor at Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, pleaded guilty to six felony charges of sexual abuse of three women he supervised, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.
AP
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Jury convicts California prison guard in 'code of silence' trial - but deadlocks on 4 counts
A Sacramento jury convicted a former California prison guard late Monday of lying to a federal grand jury investigating an assault on an inmate, but deadlocked on four other counts accusing her of trying to get other guards to cover up the attack. Brenda Villa was convicted in federal court of perjury before the grand jury, but jurors could not reach unanimous verdicts on one count of conspiracy to commit falsification of records and three counts of falsification of records.
Fresno Bee
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CalPERS board gives update on data hack that exposed social security numbers, birth dates
The California Public Employee and Retirement System launched its three-day offsite meeting in Monterey with a long-awaited update on a June data breach that exposed Social Security numbers, birth dates and other personal information on nearly 1.2 million retirees and other beneficiaries. The update follows a call from California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who sits on both the CalPERS and CalSTRS boards, for the nation’s two largest public pension funds to hold special meetings and provide members with an update on the organization’s response to the breach.
Sacramento Bee
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US public pension funds unlikely to hit investment targets this year
State and municipal pension funds will likely miss their investment targets this year and will probably not see meaningful improvements in their unfunded liabilities or funding ratios, according to Equable Institute's "State of Pensions 2023" report released on Tuesday. Unfunded liabilities climbed to $1.57 trillion in 2022, bringing the national aggregate funding ratio to 75.4% due to negative investment returns, Equable said in a release issued in conjunction with the report.
Pensions & Investments
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