Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
California Supreme Court reverses death sentence of man convicted of murder in 1991 gang-involved shootings
A man convicted and sentenced to death for multiple decades-old gang-involved shootings in Los Angeles had his sentence reversed by the California Supreme Court Monday, finding that the prosecution violated state law by using racially biased language during the trial.
Courthouse News Service
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California High Court’s new judicial removal process welcomed
A precedent-overturning decision on judicial disqualification from the California Supreme Court is being seen as a long-overdue fix to a system practitioners say was ripe for abuse. Some 325 disqualification challenges filed against Judge Erin Guy Castillo by one county counsel’s office prompted the state’s high court to address “blanket abuses” of the system.
Bloomberg Law
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C.A. affirms $2.3 million fee award against AIDS foundation
Div. Four of this district’s Court of Appeal has affirmed an order awarding a plaintiffs class nearly $2.3 million in attorney fees in a case accusing an AIDS advocacy group of failing to maintain habitable conditions in a Skid Row hotel owned by the foundation for the purported benefit of low-income residents, saying that the judge did not abuse his discretion by saying that he would “go gentle on the lodestar request” in light of certain reductions to the request.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Judge delivers mixed ruling to LACo prosecutor alleging wrongful demotion
A Los Angeles County prosecutor who along with a former colleague maintain they were wrongfully demoted after the election of current District Attorney Nathan Hochman due to their support of the re-sentencing of the Menendez brothers has received a mixed ruling in his lawsuit against the county. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed in April 2025 by Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford, the same day another prosecutor at the time, Nancy Theberge, filed a similar complaint as both felt they were wrongfully demoted.
MyNewsLA
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State’s highest court lets stand ruling that Los Angeles judge abused discretion in granting mental health diversion to charged attempted murderer
A man accused of a violent, racially motivated rampage in Santa Monica will face trial after the California Supreme Court declined to review an appellate court ruling agreeing with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office that the trial judge abused her discretion in granting pretrial mental health diversion.
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Judge had power to rescind order granting compassionate release
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a District Court judge had the inherent power to revoke an order granting a defendant a compassionate relief from prison and order his reincarceration. The decision came in a memorandum opinion signed by Circuit Judges Mark J. Bennett and Salvador Mendoza Jr., joined by Senior Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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California judge blocks Attorney General from eliminating blackjack from cardrooms
A California judge has blocked Attorney General Rob Bonta and the state's Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) from regulatory changes that would all but end blackjack-style games. This preliminary injunction ensures that blackjack tables will continue running at cardrooms as they have for decades. This is important since Californians can't just turn to legal casino apps like BetMGM to play blackjack.
Sportsline
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Judge unimpressed with SoCal Edison's cross-complaint against LA County over Eaton Fire
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge expressed deep skepticism Thursday over a cross-complaint filed by Southern California Edison against a range of governmental entities, including LA County, over the Eaton Fire. The 2025 fire, which killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 buildings and most of the Altadena neighborhood, has been largely blamed on the electrical utility’s faulty power lines - though the company denies any liability.
Courthouse News Service
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California court reverses ruling that relied on made-up case citation
A California appeals court has thrown out a lower court's ruling in a child abuse case after finding the judge relied on a made-up legal precedent that had been flagged as fake before the ruling was issued. In its ruling, the Fresno-based Fifth Appellate District said the judge's decision repeated a fictitious case citation from a brief filed by the defendant, a father accused of abusive conduct.
Reuters
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Judges may now deny bad-faith CCP §170.6 challenges
The blanket affidaviting of a judge by the San Joaquin Office of County Counsel based on her scolding of a deputy in that department has resulted in the California Supreme Court yesterday revisiting its 1977 decision in Solberg v. Superior Court, declaring that Code of Civil Procedure §170.6, to the extent it requires a judge to step aside based on a declaration of prejudice even if made in bad faith, is no longer supportable.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Gang member worked as ‘Peace Ambassador,' getting paid by LA city, DOJ alleges
A suspected gang member, who was paid by the city of Los Angeles to work as a "Peace Ambassador," was arrested for allegedly possessing illegal body armor plates near MacArthur Park, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday. Michael Angel Alvarez of Westlake is charged with possession of body armor by a violent felon as the 41-year-old is a felon, who spent 24 years behind bars for first-degree murder, according to the DOJ.
NBC4 & City News Service
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Judge dismisses indictment against Orange County doctor accused of poisoning husband with Drano
An Orange County judge dismissed the indictment against a doctor who allegedly poisoned her husband with Drano on Friday. The judge dismissed the indictment after the prosecutors denied the jury's request to see evidence that supported Emily Yu's case. This is the second time charges against Yu have been dismissed. The first time happened in January after the Orange County District Attorney's Office wanted to add an attempted poisoning charge.
CBS LA
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Los Angeles prosecutors reviewing sex assault allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Los Angeles prosecutors are investigating sexual assault allegations made against disgraced artist and music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs, an official said Tuesday. When asked if Combs was the target of a probe concerning alleged attacks against a male victim in 2020 and 2021, a spokesperson for L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman confirmed the investigation.
NBC News
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Man charged with violently assaulting five women on UCLA campus in Westwood
A 29-year-old man has been charged with violently assaulting five different women at UCLA, four of them students, within the span of one hour. The defendant is not a student and did not have permission to be on campus. “These disturbing attacks strike at the core of campus safety, traumatizing five victims and unsettling campus life,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
L.A. District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Driver accused of plowing into crowd outside East Hollywood nightclub headed to trial
A judge Wednesday set an Oct. 5 trial date for an Orange County man who allegedly plowed his car into a crowd on a sidewalk near an East Hollywood nightclub, leaving more than 30 people injured last summer. Fernando Ramirez, now 30, of San Clemente, was ordered in March to stand trial on 45 counts of attempted murder and 39 counts of assault with a deadly weapon following a hearing that lasted just under 1 1/2 days.
City News Service
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CEO of Iran tech company arrested on federal charge of supplying U.S. equipment to Iran’s nuclear and military establishment
A dual U.S.-Iranian national and CEO of an Iran-based technology company was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by acquiring sophisticated U.S.-origin networking, security, and encryption equipment for Iranian customers - including the Iranian regime’s nuclear and military establishment.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Lawyers at L.A. firm involved in $4-billion sex abuse settlement face state bar charges
The State Bar of California has charged the partners of Downtown LA Law Group, a law firm at the center of a scandal that has consumed Los Angeles County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement, with signing up clients in states where they had no license to practice. The bar charged Farid Yaghoubtil and Daniel Azizi, two founding partners of the personal injury firm, and Igor Fradkin, a litigation attorney, on Monday with signing up accident victims across the U.S., despite having no attorneys who could litigate the cases outside California.
Los Angeles Times
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OC judge overturns $2.9 million verdict in Santa Ana police retaliation lawsuit defended by Everett Dorey LLP
In the alleged whistleblower case Rita Ramirez v. City of Santa Ana, Orange County Superior Court Judge Nathan Vu entered judgment in favor of the City of Santa Ana following post-trial proceedings. The Court vacated the previously entered $2.9 million jury verdict after a seven week jury trial and ordered that judgment be entered in favor of the City, writing, "The court orders that judgment shall be entered in favor of Defendant Santa Ana and against Plaintiff Rita Ramirez" and that "Plaintiff Rita Ramirez shall take nothing by way of Plaintiff Rita Ramirez's Complaint.”
Business Times Journal
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LA City Attorney race: Roy, McKinney take top spots while Feldstein Soto remains in third
Deputy Attorney General Marissa Roy led the race for Los Angeles city attorney Thursday and appeared likely to advance to a November runoff, while police union-backed candidate John McKinney held second place and incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto remained in third. With votes still being counted, Roy received 133,061 votes, or 37.79%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
City News Service
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LAPD ends gang unit after probe finds widespread misconduct
The LAPD internal investigation leveled a troubling allegation: Officers in a specialized unit tasked with combating street gangs had themselves behaved like a gang. In 2023, officers in the San Fernando Valley were accused of making dozens of improper traffic stops and attempting to hide their actions from their supervisors by switching off their body cameras.
Los Angeles Times
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Union invokes California's landmark environmental law to challenge Newsom's return-to-office mandate
In what appears to be a new application of California’s landmark - yet often criticized - environmental law, a union representing state legal workers invoked the statute to challenge Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2025 return-to-office mandate. The union argued that the state’s mandate of in-office work four days a week wasn’t properly reviewed under the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, according to a letter sent this week to more than 104 state agencies and departments.
Los Angeles Times
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Rent gouging lawsuit
A couple who paid nearly $15,000 in monthly rent while displaced by the Eaton Fire are now taking their landlords to court, alleging they violated state and local bans on price gouging in the wake of a disaster. The context: The lawsuit filed Thursday arrives during the same week Los Angeles County is set to end its post-fire rent gouging protections. Over the last 16 months, prosecutors have filed a handful of criminal rent gouging charges.
LAist
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Alabama basketball player's libel lawsuit against New York Times can go to a jury
Plaintiff Kai Spears was a walk-on basketball player for The University of Alabama men's basketball team and developed close friendships with other teammates, including Brandon Miller. In the early hours of the morning on January 15, 2023, Mr. Spears and Mr. Miller visited Moe's Original BBQ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The Volokh Conspiracy
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CA assembly approves animal protection bill co-sponsored by LA County District Attorney’s Office
The California State Assembly unanimously approved Assembly Bill 2344, known as the Justice for Seized Animals Act, in a 78-0 vote earlier this week, advancing legislation aimed at strengthening protections for animals rescued in cruelty and neglect cases. The bill is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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L.A. city attorney’s role could be weakened under charter reform proposal
In a few days, Los Angeles voters will be casting ballots for city attorney - and in a few months, they could be voting to sharply diminish the city attorney’s authority. The city’s Charter Reform Commission has proposed splitting the city attorney’s office into two parts - an elected city prosecutor, charged with handling criminal misdemeanors, and a mayor-appointed and City Council-confirmed city attorney who would represent the city in civil cases and advise the mayor, city council and city departments.
Los Angeles Times
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California families sue over Texas-based demand for trans children's health data
The Trump administration has launched a baseless and intrusive criminal investigation into hospitals that treat transgender youths after judges refused to identify the youths or release their medical records, six California families alleged in a lawsuit this week.
San Francisco Chronicle
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DACA renewal delays leaving LAPD officers to turn in badges and guns
Two Los Angeles Police Department officers who are DACA recipients were forced to turn in their badges and guns this week after federal processing delays caused their work authorization to lapse, leaving them on unpaid leave with no timeline for their return. Officers Pacheco and Carrillo - who asked FOX 11 not to use their first names - both with the LAPD since 2023, filed their DACA renewal applications months in advance. It wasn't enough. A federal backlog that officials say has grown more than 360 percent in the past year has left their cases in limbo, costing them their paychecks and their ability to serve.
FOX 11 Los Angeles
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L.A.’s blurry crime picture
In an election year, crime is usually front and center. But in this year’s mayoral campaign the issue has barely broken through. In part, that might be because data indicates the city is safer than it was a year ago. That’s the good news. The bad news? There is a drought of detailed crime statistics in Los Angeles. That’s because for the past 26 months the Los Angeles Police Department has failed to publish accurate crime data.
Crosstown
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LA reports nearly 30,000 homes advancing under housing incentive program
Officials said the initiative also expands development capacity that could allow for the construction of nearly 500,000 homes in the coming years. Nearly 30,000 housing units are moving forward across Los Angeles through a city housing development program launched a year ago, Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday.
Yo! Venice
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13 arrested in narcotics enforcement operation at MacArthur Park, LAPD says
More than a dozen people were arrested as law enforcement officers descended on Los Angeles' MacArthur Park again Thursday afternoon, about a month after arrests in the same area in connection with a large-scale narcotics trafficking investigation. Thursday's anti-drug enforcement operation, involving dozens of Los Angeles Police Department officers and agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, began around 3 p.m.
NBC4
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Pacoima business owners say city cleared troubled street overrun by encampment after ABC7 probe
A stretch of Montague Street in Pacoima that locals say had been overrun for years by trailers, sewage, trash and barking dogs has been cleared after area business owners contacted ABC7's 7 On Your Side Investigates for help. Business owners told the station last month that the line of trailers outside their buildings was driving customers away. After ABC7 visited the street to document the conditions, city crews removed the trailers and cleaned the area.
ABC7
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Feds make another huge bust in LA’s most toxic park - with a terrifying discovery in backpack
Federal authorities have announced another major drug arrest tied to LA’s troubled MacArthur Park after officers allegedly discovered more than a kilogram of a fentanyl precursor inside a suspect’s backpack. Cheavis Cole Williamson, 43, of Westlake, has been charged federally with possession of a controlled substance after authorities say he was found in possession of more than 1.2 kilograms - about 2.7 pounds - of a chemical precursor used in the production of fentanyl.
California Post
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15-year-old arrested in connection with death of another teenager in Long Beach
A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting another teenager of the same age, the Long Beach Police Department said on Saturday. According to detectives' preliminary information, they believe the victim to also be 15 years old, but the official identification of the victim and notification to the next of kin by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is still pending.
NBC4
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Suspect who took 10 people hostage in Calif. standoff has been shot and killed, police say
A man was shot and killed by the FBI early Wednesday after taking 10 school employees hostage inside a Southern California office building and warning that he had strapped explosives to himself and some of the hostages, police said. Authorities stormed the building in downtown Bakersfield overnight, ending a nearly 16-hour standoff during which the suspect tied up half the hostages, police said.
Associated Press
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Sacramento trauma recovery center loses funding as Prop. 36 shifts dollars
After Oakland resident James Michael was released from the hospital following a gunshot wound in 2024, he said he was in a "dark, dark place.” His friends weren't saying the right things, and seeing his family hurting made him guilty that he'd gotten everyone into the situation. The 18 year-old had been shot in the leg by accident at the after-party of an event he'd hosted, and was getting around with a walker.
Sacramento Bee
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Judge blocks closure of Kennedy Center and orders removal of Trump's name
A federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center from temporarily closing its doors during proposed renovations, and ruled that the institution's board acted unlawfully when it added President Trump's name to the building and official title. Mr. Trump reacted by appearing to cede control of the Kennedy Center, saying on Truth Social he now wants Congress to take responsibility for its operation "unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else."
CBS News
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Four states ban Glock pistols over conversion concerns
California became the first state to ban Glock pistols in October 2025, followed by Maryland, Connecticut, and New York. Illinois is weighing a similar proposal after a House committee advanced a bill in May, though it has yet to reach a full vote. Supporters cite the ease of converting the pistols into fully automatic firearms with illegal 'Glock switches,' while opponents highlight research showing such crimes are extremely rare.
Daily Caller
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House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Jimmy Gomez over sexual misconduct allegations, sources say
The House Ethics Committee is investigating Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez over allegations of sexual misconduct, three sources told CNN. The sources, who asked not to be named to protect their identities, said the panel had made early reach outs in its attempt to follow up on a New York Post story, which alleged Gomez had been spotted kissing an aide, who worked for a different member of Congress, outside a backyard party in 2023.
CNN
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ICE agent charged with assault in shooting during Minneapolis immigration crackdown is arrested in Texas
An ICE agent facing several assault charges in connection with a shooting involving two Venezuelan people in Minnesota earlier this year has been arrested in Texas, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said. Christian Castro was charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. He was arrested Friday morning in Harlingen, Texas, “without incident,” a spokesperson for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told CNN.
CNN
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FBI director's girlfriend sues MS NOW, accuses cable network of ‘false portrayal’
FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend has filed a lawsuit against MS NOW, accusing the news organization of using “sham” anonymous sources to “push knowingly or recklessly false allegations” that she abused bureau resources. Alexis Wilkins’ suit, filed in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday, names MS NOW as a defendant alongside Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig, two of the cable news channel’s reporters.
NBC News
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Smuggling tunnel found connecting San Diego and Tijuana
An underground tunnel has been found connecting San Diego and a property in Tijuana, Mexico. Mexican authorities say it was used as a storage, logistics, and trafficking center for weapons, explosives and illegal drugs, according to the federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) in Tijuana. The excavated tunnel is 265 meters long and 6.30 meters underground, with lights, ventilation and an electronic sliding mechanism that goes across the floor in both directions from Mexico to the U.S. According to the investigation, the tunnel is believed to connect to a well-known street in San Diego.
KSWB
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Fraudsters bought game-worn Kobe Bryant sneakers and Ferraris with taxpayer funds
In a secret federal law enforcement warehouse in Southern California, dozens of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and stacks of coveted sports memorabilia - like Mickey Mantle rookie cards and game-worn Kobe Bryant sneakers - offer a modest testament to the mountains of taxpayer money being illegally diverted through fraud, law enforcement officials told CBS News.
CBS News
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Amid leadership shakeup, California High-Speed Rail Authority continues struggle with transparency
Despite preaching about the need to be more transparent, leaders overseeing the California High-Speed Rail Project would not speak to reporters after its board of directors meeting for the second month in a row. The rail authority's board of directors on Monday unanimously voted to elect newly appointed member Steve Kawa as the chairman of the board.
KCRA
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
South L.A. man sentenced to more than 25 years in prison for St. Valentine’s Day armed robbery of armored truck in Hawthorne
A South Los Angeles man was sentenced today to 308 months in federal prison for committing the armed robbery of an armored truck in Hawthorne on St. Valentine’s Day in 2022, a heist in which more than $166,000 in cash and customer checks were stolen and a firearm was discharged after the truck’s driver was held on the ground at gunpoint.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Former California mayor admits to secretly working for China, spreading Beijing propaganda in US
The former mayor of a Southern California city admitted in federal court Friday that she acted as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, formally pleading guilty in a case prosecutors have described as a brazen effort to spread Beijing-backed propaganda inside the United States.
Fox News
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3 companies to pay over $4M after gender reveal ignited deadly SoCal wildfire
An Ohio-based smoke bomb designer and two other companies have agreed to pay more than $4 million to the United States to settle a lawsuit over a gender reveal that literally went up in smoke back in 2020, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A pyrotechnic device at a couple’s gender reveal party in Yucapia’s El Dorado Ranch Park on Sept. 5, 2020 sparked the El Dorado Fire, which burned nearly 23,000 acres and caused a firefighter’s death.
KTLA
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Five gang members found guilty for their roles in pair of 2023 robberies in which three people were killed
Five gang members were convicted today for two robberies at local lookout points that occurred less than 48 hours apart, leaving three people dead. “The victims in this case were simply enjoying some of the most scenic views that Los Angeles County has to offer, hoping to have a peaceful moment with the people they cared about,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman. “
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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LA jury awards $176 million to parents of two brothers killed in hit-and-run by socialite
A Los Angeles County jury on Wednesday awarded $176 million to the family of two brothers who were killed in a hit-and-run crash in 2020 by Rebecca Grossman, the wife of a renowned plastic surgeon, as they were crossing the street with their mother. Grossman, 62, is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence in state prison after she was convicted in 2024 of two felony counts of murder, two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.
Courthouse News Service
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L.A. MS-13 clique guilty in 3 grisly machete murders, bodies dumped in forest
Four Los Angeles-based MS-13 gang members have been convicted in three vicious murders in which the victims’ remains were disposed of in the Angeles National Forest, federal officials announced. Authorities said the killings occurred in 2017 and were tied to the Fulton clique of MS-13, a San Fernando Valley faction accused of enforcing increasingly violent gang rules that rewarded members for committing murders.
KTLA
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Duo robbed more than a dozen SoCal casino winners, until their luck ran out
Two men pleaded guilty Thursday to committing more than a dozen armed robberies targeting casino winners in Southern California. Derek Nathan Lopez, 22, and Juan Gabriel Gonzalez, 23, both of South Gate, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery. Federal prosecutors said the men entered casinos in Los Angeles County with fake identities to scout for victims who looked like winners or who were about to cash in their chips.
Los Angeles Times
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Murder indictment dismissed against ex-LAPD cop in 2015 killing of unarmed homeless man
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed a murder indictment Friday against a former Los Angeles police officer in the 2015 killing of an unarmed homeless man. Judge Ronald S. Coen granted a defense motion Friday to spike the case, saying prosecutors failed to meet the standard for a murder charge and failed to present exculpatory evidence to the 2024 grand jury that indicted ex-LAPD cop Clifford Proctor, who shot and killed Brendon Glenn during an attempted arrest in Venice Beach in 2015.
Los Angeles Times
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Eric Schmidt scores victory in case brought by ex-girlfriend who accused him of rape - as arbitrator decides she must pay him $10M+
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s ex-mistress’ allegations of rape against the billionaire have sensationally been ruled as “false” - and she will have to pay him more than $10 million in damages following an arbitration ruling, Page Six can reveal.
Page Six
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Stricter CalFresh work rules take effect as federal SNAP changes begin
Stricter CalFresh program rules are going into effect Monday as changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) roll out. The new work requirement-related changes, which are part of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” could impact hundreds of thousands of people across Southern California, including about 260,000 Los Angeles County residents.
KTLA
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