Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits

Ex-LA sheriff pushes Ninth Circuit for second shot at suit over county's 'do not rehire' designation

Former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva asked the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to revive his lawsuit filed against the Board of Supervisors over his placement on a “do not rehire” list following his sole four-year-term in office. Though he campaigned as a reformer, Villanueva tacked hard to the right once elected in 2018, refusing to enforce the county’s Covid-19 vaccination mandates and stonewalling investigations into deputy gangs.

Courthouse News Service

Judge erred in kicking ‘likely holdout’ against guilty verdict for not deliberating

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has reversed an alleged killer’s judgment of conviction relating to a decision by the trial court to kick a juror, who was the “likely” sole holdout against a finding of guilt on a second-degree murder charge, saying the dismissal was not supported when “looking at the conduct” at issue rather than the other panelists’ characterizations of her behavior.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

C.A. adheres to precedent, reaches result majority decries

The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday invalidated a sentence, in obedience to a recent California Supreme Court decision, with the majority indicating a belief that the wrong result was being reached. Retired Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert authored the opinion, sitting on assignment to Div. Six. Presiding Justice Elwood Lui joined in Gilbert’s opinion; Justice Anne Richardson agreed with the outcome, but said she does not share Gilbert’s concerns.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

C.A. says elder abuse victim is not due trebling of doubled damages award

Div. Five of this district’s Court of Appeal has rejected the assertion by a trustee, who accused a real estate firm of taking advantage of his elderly mother by convincing her to sell her home for less than it was worth shortly before she died, that a trial judge erred in declining to apply a Civil Code provision to triple the damages awarded to the trust, which were already doubled by way of a similar Probate Code section.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Judge allows Councilman Price ex-field deputy’s whistleblower suit can proceed

A lawsuit by a former senior field deputy to City Councilman Curren Price, in which she claims she was wrongfully fired in 2024 for being a whistleblower, can move forward, a judge has ruled. The City Attorney’s Office had maintained that Angie Reyes-English’s case should be tossed out because she was terminated for legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons. But on Wednesday, Judge William E. Weinberger denied the motion, finding there are triable issues.

MyNewsLA

Oversight body seeks subpoena enforcement against LASD

A civilian oversight body has filed a subpoena enforcement action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, alleging that the agency has withheld requested information relating to three use-of-force incidents in violation of California law on the advice of the Office of County Counsel on the asserted basis that the group must first engage in a meet-and-confer process with the unions representing the agency’s employees.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Justices will consider dispute over successive habeas challenges

The US Supreme Court agreed to consider a dispute over the parameters of a law that allows state prisoners to file a successive petition challenging their sentence only if the legal claim they’re making was previously unavailable. The case granted Monday centers on whether death-row defendant Dexter Johnson can pursue a second federal habeas application raising an Atkins claim, named for a 2002 Supreme Court decision that said executing an intellectually disabled person is unconstitutional.

Bloomberg Law

Mystery solved: Former businessman charged in 2009 execution-style killing of attorney Jeffrey Tidus and 2011 murder of ex-employee

For years, the murder of prominent attorney Jeffrey Tidus outside his home in the affluent Los Angeles area remained unsolved. On December 7, 2009, Tidus was gunned down in his driveway in what authorities described as an execution-style slaying. Now, more than 16 years later, prosecutors say they have identified the mastermind behind that killing-and a second brutal murder.

Santa Monica Observer

California raisin heir faces 9 years in antisemitic threats case

A California raisin company heir who allegedly made criminal threats against a rabbi neighbor is facing more than nine years in prison after being charged with three felony hate crimes, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors say 64-year-old Bruce Lion, whose family owns Lion Raisins based in Fresno County, threatened to kill the rabbi at his Pacific Palisades home while he was leading a Sabbath evening prayer service.

KTLA

Comedian Carlos Mencia charged with tax evasion and failing to report $8.7 million in income

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman today announced felony state tax evasion charges against comedian Carlos Mencia for failing to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income taxes between tax years 2019-2024. This is the first case filed by the Office’s newly established Business Tax Fraud Unit. 

Los Angeles Post

Riverside County deputy charged in deadly on-duty crash

A Riverside County deputy was charged with an on-duty crash that killed a man and severely injured his fiancée last year. Deputy Glynn Wilburn faces one count of gross vehicular manslaughter, another count of felony reckless driving causing serious injury and a special enhancement for great bodily injury, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. 

CBS LA

Ex-LAFD union secretary charged with grand theft, forgery

A former secretary of the Los Angeles firefighters union and chairman of the organization's non-profit foundation has been arrested and charged with grand theft and forgery for allegedly transferring nearly $83,000 from the foundation to his personal account, authorities said Wednesday. Wednesday morning's announcement was made by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, whose offices worked together on the investigation.

City News Service

Man charged with attempted murder of police officers, assault during car chase in Los Angeles

A 35-year-old man is facing multiple attempted murder and assault charges after he shot at Los Angeles police officers during a car chase, catching civilians in the crossfire. Marco Antonio Flores Cardenas (dob 2/18/91) is charged with four felony counts of attempted murder, six felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm upon a peace officer, three felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, one felony count of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly and one felony count of possession of firearm by a felon with a prior.

L.A. District Attorney’s Office News Release

Gang members targeted victims at secluded L.A. lookout points, D.A. says. They face long prison sentences

Four gang members were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday for their roles in two armed robberies that resulted in the death of three people at lookout points in the Angeles National Forest and Rancho Palos Verdes in 2023. A fifth defendant, also a gang member, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years to life in jail.

Los Angeles Times

Arson expert: Palisades fire was continuation of Lachman blaze

A senior fire analyst today refuted defense arguments in the federal arson trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht that the Lachman and Palisades fires in January 2025 were two separate events. Testifying for the prosecution, certified fire investigator Derek Hill told the jury in downtown Los Angeles that the Lachman Fire that began on Jan. 1 that year burned underground after firefighters appeared to douse the flames. 

KESQ

DA vows justice after girl, 5, was found in Mexico following mom's killing

As authorities confirmed that a 5-year-old girl at the center of an AMBER Alert had been found safe in Mexico, Los Angeles County's district attorney vowed to seek justice for her slain mother. The Los Angeles Police Department announced on Monday, June 15, that Daleza Fregoso was located safe and is currently in the custody of Mexican officials.

People

Policy/Legal/Politics

Prosecutors union files labor charge against Hochman office, LA County

The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Thursday that it has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Los Angeles County and the District Attorney’s Office, alleging repeated failures to bargain in good faith during contract negotiations that have continued for more than a year. The Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), which represents more than 800 deputy district attorneys, said it filed the charge with the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission.

MyNewsLA

Local homeowner sues nationwide disaster response company for fraud and coercive tactics

A civil lawsuit has been filed against ServPro Global DRT and its ownership alleging fraud, elder abuse and coercive lien tactics in the wake of the 2024 Mountain Fire. The company was also hit with a citation by the Contractors State License Board and is also facing allegations of HAZMAT regulation fraud that are currently under investigation by state and federal regulators.

KEYT

Family of boy killed by tree branch paid $14M by MRCA

The family of a boy killed by a falling oak branch at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas last summer has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Mountains and Recreation Conservation Authority, operator of the property, and other defendants. The MRCA, which manages open space and parkland in local mountain ranges, agreed to pay more than $14 million as part of a settlement that was reached on April 24.

The Acorn

New commission takes aim at California’s broken public defense system

A new commission made up of legislators, public defenders, academics and advocates seeks to push California - one of just two states that don’t pay for basic public defense - to begin providing resources and enforcing minimum standards for county public defender systems.

CalMatters

L.A. County judge loses reelection bid in dramatic race

Los Angeles County Judge Robert Draper, who faces misconduct allegations and health concerns, lost his bid for reelection in a rare defeat for an incumbent. Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal Khan Valbuena defeated Draper with more than 56% of the vote in the June 2 primary election. Draper, an 84-year-old judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, captured roughly 43% of the vote, according to the county election results.

Los Angeles Times

California DOJ is still processing 85,000 unreported LA County criminal convictions

The California Department of Justice is still reviewing thousands of Los Angeles County criminal convictions inadvertently omitted from background checks for decades due to an error in the county Superior Court’s previous case management system. The DOJ has processed about 320,000 of the missing records over the past six months, but roughly 85,000 more cases are still under review, according to a spokesperson for the California Attorney General’s Office.

Pasadena Star News

California State Bar's proposed AI ethics rules put attorneys on notice

On March 13, 2026, California’s State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct approved several proposed amendments to the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Rules 1.1 (Competence,) 1.4 (Communication with Clients), 1.6 (Client Confidential Information), 3.3 (Candor), 5.1 (Responsibilities of Supervisory/Managerial Attorney), and 5.3 (Managing Non-Lawyers) (the “Rules”) (the specific amendments can be see on the Start Bar website).

Daily Journal

California admits using high-risk AI - including systems it failed to report last year

A year ago, California officials had to report under a new state law how they used automated systems to make important decisions about people’s lives. They said they never did - a startling answer for a number of reasons, sources told CalMatters at the time, including that there were several prominent examples to the contrary. Now, the state has issued a more expansive answer: It is currently using six automated systems to make consequential decisions about the lives of Californians.

CalMatters

UC Berkeley Law School bans most AI use following plagiarism issues

Artificial intelligence, a growing nightmare for the legal profession, is about to be banned for most purposes at UC Berkeley's law school. In a policy announced Thursday, and effective this summer, the law school will prohibit its 1,120 students from using artificial intelligence in preparing class assignments and in all exams - except for courses designed to teach students how to use AI, ethically and legally, while practicing law.

San Francisco Chronicle

Axed activist-investor takeover leaves Supreme Court at loggerheads over legislative intent

In a low-profile ruling quashing a lawsuit from activist investors on Thursday, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson went head-to-head over the role of Congress in their decisionmaking. The squabble between the court’s two junior members highlighted a larger conflict on the bench about how the justices referee policy disputes.

Courthouse News Service

Supreme Court declines to take up suspended 98-year-old judge's bid to hear cases again

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away Judge Pauline Newman's bid to return to service on a federal appeals court after she was suspended from hearing cases due to concerns about her fitness to serve. Newman, who is 98, has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since 1984. Established in 1982, the Federal Circuit hears appeals in cases involving international trade, patents, trademarks, veterans' benefits and money claims against the U.S. government. 

CBS News

Southern California

$4 billion LA sex abuse case in limbo: Victims ‘will die before they get paid,' attorney warns

With the first tranche of money from Los Angeles County's $4 billion sex abuse settlement scheduled to hit victims' bank accounts next week, the county's district attorney made a last-ditch effort Monday to stop the payouts, which he says are rife with fake claims. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman asked the judge presiding over the case to halt the historic payout, while the county's legal team fought to keep the deal on track.

Los Angeles Times

LA County Fraud: shell companies, big LA fraud cases

Shell companies have become a recurring mechanism in some of the largest fraud schemes to hit Los Angeles County. Taxpayers have lost hundreds of millions across healthcare, public contracting, and insurance programs, and recent federal and state actions show the problem is still active. The cases share a pattern: layered entities, straw owners, and quick dissolution that keep investigators a step behind the money.

Film Daily

California won’t consider LA's request for extra time on $100M in street improvement projects

California will not consider the city of Los Angeles’ request for a time extension on three mobility projects in underinvested communities that are largely funded by more than $100 million from the state. The exclusion of the request from the California Transportation Commission's June agenda spells an uncertain fate for the projects in Boyle Heights, Skid Row and Wilmington, which involve repairing sidewalks, adding bike lanes and installing traffic-calming measures to make streets friendlier to non-vehicular modes of transportation.

LAist

Civil grand jury finds that the Los Angeles Zoo is in crisis

A troubling grand jury report for the Los Angeles Zoo points to financial and other problems. The L.A. Zoo is the last major American zoo still run by city government, and the grand jury says that's part of the issue. The civil grand jury discusses some harsh realities in its report - declining membership and facilities in need of repair. It even points to signage that's out of date, sometimes identifying animals that aren't even in the zoo.

ABC7

In Orange County, six-figure salaries now qualify as ‘low income’

Topline: In much of the country, a six-figure salary is a benchmark for success. That sixth digit tends to symbolize professional achievement and a degree of financial security. But in Orange County, individuals earning up to $104,200 now qualify as “low income.” The numbers: California’s Department of Housing and Community Development released its official state income limits for 2026 on May 29.

LAist

Mayor Bass promises investigation into LAPD shooting of dog

Mayor Karen Bass vowed Wednesday that a full investigation would be conducted into the fatal shooting of a dog by Los Angeles police who responded to a report of a woman screaming - which turned out to be a Canoga Park resident celebrating the New York Knicks’ NBA championship. The shooting occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday in the 7000 block of Jordan Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

MyNewsLA

Public Safety

License plate cameras will soon track phones, wearables, infotainment, and even your pets

If data brokers can track the devices you take with you, they know where you live, where you go, and what you do. And the stakes are only poised to climb higher, now that surveillance companies that sell automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are getting in on the game. Defense contractor Leonardo is promoting a new technology called SignalTrace that will package plate cameras with sensors that can scrape unique identifiers tied to your smart devices and make that data available to law enforcement.

The Drive

Watch seller robbed during SoCal Facebook Marketplace meetup

Two 18-year-old suspects were arrested after a man attempting to sell a watch through Facebook Marketplace was robbed in Simi Valley on Wednesday night. Investigators said the unidentified victim arranged to meet the prospective buyer around 8 p.m. in the 1500 block of Emeric Avenue. “During the transaction, the suspect forcibly took possession of the watch and fled to a waiting vehicle driven by a second suspect,” the Simi Valley Police Department said in a news release late Wednesday night.

KTLA

Witness' call helps police arrest 3 commercial burglary suspects

A witness' call to police helped lead to the arrests of three people sought in a commercial burglary in Beverly Hills. Police received a call around 2 a.m. from someone who reported two cars with men wearing masks in the West Los Angeles area. By the time LAPD officer arrived, the men had left the scene. Officers later learned that the caller stopped a burglary before the men could enter a commercial building, law enforcement told NBC4 Investigates.

NBC4

5-year-old girl found safe, murder suspect arrested in Mexico 3 weeks after Amber Alert issued in LA

A 5-year-old girl was found safe in Mexico and her father was taken into custody nearly three weeks after an Amber Alert was issued for her disappearance from the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. The suspect, 40-year-old Ruben Fregoso, was taken into custody over the weekend in Mexico, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

ABC7

Data suggests ‘red flag’ laws are linked to sustained reductions in arrests

Individuals subject to extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), or “red flag” laws, were significantly less likely to be arrested - including for violent and firearm-related offenses - while the orders were in effect compared to the six months prior. Strikingly, the drop in arrests did not end when the orders expired and continued for months afterward. Those are the results of a new study published in PNAS Nexus.

UC Davis Health

FIFA World Cup 2026: FBI seizes 28 drones near SoFi Stadium, LA Coliseum

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway, and Southern California gets to see a piece of the action during the supersized tournament. The U.S. will host 78 matches, eight of which will take place at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium. The venue will be known as Los Angeles Stadium for the duration of the tournament.

ABC7

California’s Legislature is eager to close another prison. Newsom may not be

Part of California lawmakers’ adopted $356 billion state budget includes savings from the planned closure of another state prison - one of the few reliable ways to trim the state’s corrections spending. But the Legislature still needs to get Gov. Gavin Newsom on board. With the scheduled closure of a prison in Riverside County later this year, Newsom will have closed five prisons during his tenure.

Sacramento Bee

California Legislature in standoff with DMV over sharing driver license data with other states

The California Legislature wants to stall plans to share information about California drivers - including more than 1 million immigrant license holders who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. - with a little-known nonprofit agency made up of motor vehicle administrators across the nation. 

CalMatters

Pa. Supreme Court blasts DA Larry Krasner's office, saying it misled judges in seeking to vacate old murder convictions

In a forceful and scolding opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that District Attorney Larry Krasner's office misled the courts, "violated its duty of candor," and submitted false statements when asking a judge to vacate a 2004 murder conviction.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Louisiana jury awards $1.1bn to woman who sued over childhood molestation in 1960s

A north-west Louisiana jury recently awarded a staggering $1.1bn in damages to a woman who sued over childhood sexual molestation at the hands of her late stepfather in the 1960s and 1970s - a verdict that the plaintiff says “sends a message that children are precious” and “deserve protection”. The outcome in Pamela Elaine Lockridge’s lawsuit caused waves among Louisiana’s legal community, illustrating how much civil juries are willing to award to plaintiffs for cases tried under the state’s so-called “lookback law”.

The Guardian

Some people are making guns with 3D printers. A new law seeks to cancel their print jobs

A first-of-its-kind law in New York could force 3D printers sold for homes and business to come equipped with technology blocking them from making guns. The new requirement, also under consideration in California, attempts to thwart the latest technique for producing untraceable “ghost guns” that have turned up in crimes. But there are questions about whether the technology can work and concerns about its effect on personal privacy and constitutional rights.

Associated Press

California Senate Democrats threaten to hold up Newsom priorities over climate deal

California senate democrats want to put the brakes on a new program by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration that steers free pollution permits to oil refineries and other major polluters - and they’re using the state budget to force the issue. In the spending proposal they released last month, the senators moved to block the program until the state funds a three-party climate deal the governor struck with the Legislature last year, an agreement they say Newsom is now breaking.

CalMatters

Gavin Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife and blames Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he and his wife are being investigated by the Justice Department and accused President Donald Trump of targeting him for political reasons. “Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us,” he said in a post on X, referring to his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Agents have “knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees.

NBC News

Gavin Newsom burned with big ethics fine over LA wildfire charity cash

Gov. Gavin Newsom - who is facing a federal investigation - has agreed to pay a $31,500 ethics fine after California’s political watchdogs found the governor failed to timely disclose millions of dollars in donations he solicited, many of which were tied to Los Angeles wildfire relief. The Fair Political Practices Commission’s enforcement division said Newsom failed to file 36 behested payment reports on time in 2024 and 2025, covering more than $5.5 million in payments from corporations, foundations, and other donors.

California Post

San Quentin’s $239M learning center sits empty amid staffing, budget constraints

$239 million state-of-the-art learning center was empty over the weekend at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center as part of a statewide change in operations due to “staffing shortages” at prisons with open positions that currently cannot be filled due to state budget constraints. “The institution is on a modified program,” a correctional officer announced over the intercom in the north block housing unit at San Quentin early Saturday morning.

Bay City News

Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole

DTLA killer convicted: Man faces life for multiple murders of unhoused people

A jury has found a 45-year-old man guilty on all counts for murdering two unhoused people, and attempting to kill a third, in Downtown Los Angeles in April 2024. Clifford Chaun Loyer was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of premeditated attempted murder, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count each of grand theft of a firearm and grand theft auto.

LA Downtown News

Judge upholds the conviction of former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for helping immigrant evade ICE

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to overturn a Wisconsin judge’s obstruction of justice conviction for helping a man evade immigration officers who showed up at a courtroom looking to detain him. The case against Hannah Dugan, who resigned from the Milwaukee County Circuit Court following her conviction, was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

Associated Press

Former Irvine dog trainers convicted in deaths of 11 dogs; D.A. calls actions 'unbelievably cruel’

An Irvine dog trainer who operated Happy K9 Academy was convicted of killing 11 dogs by keeping them in small crates in a hot van and lying to the pets’ owners about the deaths, authorities said. The trainer, Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit, 54, was convicted on 11 felony counts of animal cruelty, seven misdemeanor counts of attempting to destroy evidence and one misdemeanor count of destroying evidence, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a press release.

Los Angeles Times

A defining year for defamation: Key decisions and emerging trends

The past year saw several high-profile rulings reinforcing core defamation principles, including the Supreme Court’s refusal to revisit Alex Jones’s $1.4 billion verdict, new guidance on actual malice standards and changes to anti-SLAPP motion procedures in the Ninth Circuit - all of which are reshaping the legal landscape for media, public figures and their counsel.

JD Supra

Penn & Teller call out 'flim-flam' in Supreme Court death penalty case

As master manipulators of perception, magicians Penn & Teller say they have an obligation to “expose flim-flam when they see it.” And they’ve told the Supreme Court in a filing they see such deceptive nonsense in the case of a Texas man facing a death sentence for murder after “investigative hypnosis” was used on a key witness before his trial. The court is considering whether to hear an appeal from Charles Flores who was found guilty of shooting a suburban Dallas woman in 1998 during an attempted robbery of her home.

USA Today