Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Warrantless search following 15-hour standoff was valid
Exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry by members of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department SWAT team into an apartment - after a 15-hour standoff - to apprehend a man who, earlier, fatally shot a Pomona police officer who was holding a ballistics shield while others used a battering ram, Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal declared yesterday.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Deputy district attorney wins LASC seat
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mariela Torres has been assured election to a Los Angeles Superior Court judgeship by virtue of two persons who filed declarations of intent to seek the same office, No. 141, opting to run for other seats. Her potential competitors were Administrative Law Judge Dieter Carlos Dammeier, who decided late Wednesday to seek Office No. 131, and Samuel Wolloch Krause, who became a candidate for Office No. 65.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Court has limited role in reviewing diversion rulings
Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal yesterday highlighted the limited role of appellate courts in reviewing a trial judge’s denial of mental health diversion to a defendant seeking to avoid criminal sanctions by seeking treatment for a diagnosed disorder that he says was a “significant factor” in his commission of the charged offense.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Cardrooms sue to block new California regulations they say threaten to upend their industry and surrounding cities
A group of California cardrooms Monday filed two lawsuits challenging new state regulations that would limit their ability to offer their most popular table games, which are also the target of a special lawsuit filed by the state’s gaming tribes.
Casino Reports
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Appellate decision sends storm clouds to California solar panel customers
California solar panel users won’t enjoy the sunny rates they once received under a prior credit system, a state appeals court panel ruled Monday. The decision is the latest in a string of decisions by the appellate and state Supreme Court on the issue of net-energy metering and a tariff linked to it. That system, created over 30 years ago, provided credit to customers with solar panels, as they exported excess energy to the grid.
Courthouse News Service
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No immunity for Utah cop that used leg sweep on man with intellectual disabilities
A federal judge in Utah sided with a man with intellectual disabilities who claims his rights were violated when he was stopped and thrown to the ground by a Clearfield Police Department officer while walking home from a bar late at night. In a Wednesday ruling, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, a Bill Clinton appointee, denied former Utah police officer Zachary Fratto’s motion to dismiss, concluding that the officer violated Shawn Nicholas’ Fourth Amendment rights when he arrested him without probable cause.
Courthouse News Service
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California asks Ninth Circuit to push feds for stricter regulations on ghost guns
A panel of Ninth Circuit judges questioned California’s push to ensure the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulates the production of ghost guns on Thursday. In 2020, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence sued ATF in order to force the agency to crack down on guns made outside of a regulated manufacturer, commonly from parts purchased online, that skirt laws requiring background checks and age verification.
Courthouse News Service
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California law to protect minors online gets another reprieve from Ninth Circuit
A California law that seeks to protect minors by restricting the collection, use and sale of their information by online businesses and services was given another reprieve by the Ninth Circuit on Thursday. The appellate panel vacated part of the preliminary injunction that a trial judge issued last year against enforcement of California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act.
Courthouse News Service
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Serial arson suspect charged with murder of 2 elderly sisters killed in Hollywood house fire
A suspected serial arsonist has pleaded not guilty after being charged with two murders in connection with a Hollywood house fire that killed two elderly sisters last month, prosecutors said Wednesday. Jovan Lamar Duverne, 39, was also charged with 11 counts of felony arson after allegedly setting a series of fires across Hollywood, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.
ABC7
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Young man's anger over RV dwellers fueled random killing, L.A. prosecutors charge
From his second-floor apartment that overlooked a stretch of road in Sylmar lined with broken-down RV's, Vincent Wolf fumed. "They s— and piss on the street," Wolf, 23, wrote on Instagram in August, according to a search warrant affidavit. "They do drugs in the middle of the night. They f—ing screamed for no reason. And most importantly violent."
Los Angeles Times
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Man convicted in shooting that had potential to cause LAPD helicopter crash
A South L.A. man was convicted of firing a rifle round through the tail of a Los Angeles police helicopter last year, in an incident prosecutors said could have caused a catastrophe. Douglass Byers, 62, was convicted of two counts of assault on a peace officer and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a four-day trial, according to L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall. He faces up to 43 years in prison at sentencing.
Los Angeles Times
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A Florida woman has been charged in a shooting at Rihanna's LA home
Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children and her mother were all at home when a woman now charged with attempted murder and many other felony counts is alleged to have fired at the property, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, Florida, was charged with attempting to kill Rihanna, along with 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling, authorities said. No one was injured.
Associated Press
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23-year-old Los Angeles man faces DUI charges for deadly crash in Porter Ranch
A 23-year-old man faces DUI charges for a crash over the weekend in Porter Ranch, that killed one person and injured two others, according to Los Angeles police. The crash happened Sunday morning at around 10 p.m., when police say that a 2015 Acura was driving at a high rate of speed on Tampa Avenue, south of Tunney Street, according to a news release from LAPD.
CBS LA
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Orange County deputy fatally shot fiancée in head at close range, prosecutors say
A 28-year-old Orange County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to the county’s jail has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection to the fatal shooting death of her fiancée last year. Deputy Aimee Alexis Hidalgo, a resident of Tustin, turned herself in to Tustin police on Monday, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
KTLA
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Illegal alien from Mexico charged with carjacking in Orange County and with illegally reentering the U.S. following deportation
A twice-deported illegal immigrant from Mexico has been federally charged with carjacking a restaurant employee in Orange County last month - assaulting both the victim and her coworker who rushed to help her and nearly hitting them with the stolen vehicle – and with illegally reentering the United States, the Justice Department announced today.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Former California executives of top alcohol distributor charged in alleged bribery, obstruction scheme
A federal grand jury indicted five former California executives of U.S. alcohol distribution giant Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits for their alleged roles in a years-long bribery and obstruction scheme to control wine placement at grocery stores across the state, prosecutors announced.
CBS San Francisco
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State Bar files disciplinary charges against co-founder of Downtown LA Law Group
The State Bar has filed a notice of disciplinary charges against Salar Hendizadeh, a founding partner of the Downtown LA Law Group LLP, based on allegations that he helped the firm engage in the unauthorized practice of personal injury law across eight states by retaining clients without regard to where they lived or where they were harmed and without affiliating with local counsel.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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A Section 8 tenant is filing dozens of $100,000 lawsuits. Is it a discrimination fight or a shakedown?
A gaggle of scorned landlords and real estate agents across L.A. have a message: If Alexys Watson messages you on Zillow asking if you accept Section 8 vouchers, choose your next words very, very carefully. Over the last eight months, dozens of landlords and real estate agents have responded to Watson’s inquiries - and dozens have been sued for at least $100,000.
DNYUZ
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Growing claims of Uber driver identity fraud raise passenger safety concerns: "You never know who's picking you up"
An investigation by CBS News California Investigates has uncovered mounting allegations that stolen identities are being used to create fraudulent Uber driver accounts, raising questions about passenger safety and the company's driver verification process. California has more rideshare drivers than any other state, more than 800,000 as of late 2025, according to state data.
CBS LA
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How Donald Trump is pushing the Supreme Court to weaken federal judges
Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he and his allies have derided federal judges who ruled against his policies as "rogue," "crooked," "lunatic" and more, casting their actions not only as incorrect but illegitimate as well. Beyond the Republican president's vitriol in speeches and social media posts, his administration has launched a more systematic effort at the U.S. Supreme Court to diminish the power of the federal judiciary, a Reuters analysis shows.
Reuters
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Top Gascon prosecutor files amended suit vs. Hochman, DA’s office
A lawyer who says she was demoted for her support of former top prosecutor George Gascon’s reform policies has filed an amended complaint alleging that the adverse job action stripped her of the responsibilities and professional stature she held in the District Attorney’s Office. Filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Tiffiny Blacknell, who is Black, also alleges in the second amended complaint that she was targeted for discriminatory treatment in the District Attorney’s Office because of her age, gender and race.
MyNewsLA
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Burkle accuses power-broker protege of fraud
Billionaire Ronald Burkle is suing political power-broker Darius Anderson, accusing his former protege and friend of cheating him out of millions of dollars. Burkle alleges that Anderson used the billionaire’s network and a seed investment to build a powerful lobbying firm - only to later divert Burkle’s share of the profits to himself. The legal feud marks a dramatic falling-out between Anderson and his longtime mentor Burkle, who was the best man at Anderson’s wedding.
Los Angeles Times
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Jeff Shell sued by whistleblower who sparked Paramount investigation over TV deal
Jeff Shell has been sued by a former public relations adviser who says the Paramount Skydance president reneged on a deal involving a TV show. R.J. Cipriani, in a lawsuit filed on Monday in California state court, alleges Shell promised to pick up an English-language format of a Roku reality show he co-created and exec produced as payment for providing crisis communication services.
The Hollywood Reporter
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LA cops thwarted by woke reforms blocking them from tracking 80,000 gang suspects
The LAPD has revealed it can’t properly track street gang crime because the department been banned from using an internal intelligence database after pressure from police reform campaigners. Capt. Ahmad Zarekani, who is head of the LAPD Gang and Narcotics Division, said investigations into gang crime have been hamstrung since use of the CalGang database was blocked in 2020.
California Post
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City attorney takes her own swing at man sucker punched by LAPD in 2024
Alexander Donta Mitchell - the man who LAPD officer Joshua Sportiello pulled out of his car, searched, handcuffed, punched in the face, and hogtied for being double parked on a quiet side street in Watts in July of 2024 - will be back in court next month for yet another preliminary hearing on two misdemeanor charges of resisting, obstructing, and/or delaying a peace officer.
StreetsBlog LA
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Top LA pol emotionally claims police stopped him for being black - but cops tell very different story
The president of the Los Angeles City Council nearly broke down while describing a police traffic stop he claimed was racially motivated - only for cops to reveal the real reason for pulling him over. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is black, suggested last week at a council meeting that he was targeted by LAPD officers due to his race. The meeting had been focused on pretextual traffic stops, in which cops pull drivers over for minor traffic infractions in order to investigate separate, more serious crimes they suspect.
California Post
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LA awards $106M to nonprofit whose lawyers hinder city’s ability to clean up streets - and bill $1,025 an hour
Los Angeles just cut a whopping $106.6 million taxpayer check to a nonprofit law firm whose lawyers have spent years hindering the city’s ability to dismantle homeless camps and clean up city streets - with one attorney billing as much as $1,025 an hour for work tied to its activism.
California Post
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LA County struggles to get inmates to court as bus shortage fuels missed appearances
Los Angeles County announced what they call a bold new initiative, in September of last year, to streamline case resolution and create a more innovative court. That will be a hard task unless the county improves dramatically in one basic area - getting the accused to their scheduled court appearance. L.A. County sheriff's deputies transport, on average, 2,000 people every day to 37 courthouses and seven custody facilities.
ABC7
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LAPD officer under investigation for allegedly taking cash from unlocked Tesla
A Los Angeles police officer is under investigation after being accused of stealing more than $700 from an unlocked Tesla while responding to a call for service last week, according to an LAPD official familiar with the case. The official, who had been briefed on the case and requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said the officer was seen going in and out of the vehicle in video footage.
Los Angeles Times
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L.A. County deputy collected paychecks after felony excessive force conviction
A Los Angeles County deputy who was convicted of excessive force continued to collect a paycheck for months even though he was barred from carrying a badge in California, according to Sheriff's Department officials and county records. A federal jury convicted Trevor Kirk in February 2025 of a felony after he was recorded throwing a woman face first onto the ground outside a supermarket in Lancaster.
Los Angeles Times
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What's actually true about FBI warnings on Iranian drones in Californiaa
Federal authorities have warned California law enforcement agencies that the state could be a potential target of a drone attack tied to the escalating war between Iran, the United States and Israel - though officials stress there is no confirmed or imminent threat. The warning, first reported by ABC News, comes from a federal intelligence memo circulated to Joint Terrorism Task Force partners across the state in late February.
Palm Springs Desert Sun
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Woman brutally beaten at MacArthur Park while feeding homeless
A woman known for feeding the homeless each week in MacArthur Park was savagely attacked with a metal pipe while serving meals, leaving her with a shattered jaw and six teeth knocked out, according to a fundraiser created to help cover her mounting medical bills. The GoFundMe page, organized by Catherine Schetina on behalf of longtime volunteer Eva Woods, says the violent attack happened during the group’s regular Sunday lunch service in the park in late February.
California Post
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Video from LA sheriff’s department shows fatal West Hills deputy shooting
A new video released by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department shows the fatal shooting of a suspect, and the moments leading up to it, during an attempted robbery at a West Hills shopping plaza on Jan. 22. The recently released security footage shows a woman walking in the parking lot at the 6600 block of Fallbrook Avenue, in front of a Michael’s craft store just after 8:30 p.m., when she is approached by a white sedan.
Los Angeles Daily News
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Cal State basketball player turned coach moonlighted as pimp, police say
A former student athlete turned assistant coach at California State University, Bakersfield is facing a slew of serious charges, including pimping, firearms trafficking and possession of child sexual abuse material, after an investigation last year led to his arrest. In Aug. 2025, the university launched an investigation into assistant men’s basketball coach Kevin Mays after longtime Roadrunners basketball coach Rod Barnes received an anonymous email claiming Mays was trafficking a young woman in California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, ESPN first reported.
KTLA
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Group from street takeover storms DTLA apartment building lobby, fights staff
A group of people associated with a street takeover stormed into an upscale apartment building lobby, causing significant damage and fighting with staff. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to KTLA that the incident occurred around 3 a.m. Sunday at the Circa LA Apartments, located at 1200 South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles.
KTLA
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Man who died after cutting off his penis on LA street identified as gruesome new details emerge
A man who died after cutting off his own penis on a downtown Los Angeles street has been identified. Ryan Sutherland, 31, died from “sharp force injuries” after police found him self-mutilating near the intersection of Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard early Saturday morning, according to the LA County Medical Examiner. His death was ruled a suicide.
California Post
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Owners of one of the largest towing businesses in Southern California arrested in nearly 6 million dollar fraud scheme
Brothers and tow company owners, Mark Hassan, 46, of Corona Del Mar, and Ahmed Hassan, 35 of Walnut, were arrested today on multiple counts of felony insurance fraud after allegedly underreporting employee payroll and paying portions of employees’ wages in cash to defraud workers’ compensation insurance companies out of nearly 6 million dollars of insurance premiums.
California Department of Insurance Press Release
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Live Nation reaches settlement with DOJ in antitrust fight
Live Nation has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in its high-stakes antitrust case less than a week after the trial began, according to three people familiar with the matter. The deal - expected to be announced Monday - requires Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, to pay roughly $200 million in damages to participating states.
Politico
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Why California cops and firefighters are pushing for a new perk on top of their pensions
A full career as a California Highway Patrol officer or a Cal Fire firefighter often ends with a six-figure pension that provides a comfortable retirement after countless hours spent in harm’s way. This year, the unions that represent CHP officers and state firefighters are seeking a different end-of-career incentive: The opportunity to accumulate one big check in addition to that annual pension.
CalMatters
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San Francisco video showing ballot initiative petition collectors offering $5 for signatures prompts fraud investigation
The California Secretary of State's office is investigating apparent ballot initiative petition fraud in San Francisco stemming from a video circulating online. The video was posted by a city street videographer known as JJ Smith. The video appears to show paid signature collectors offering $5 to people on the streets if they signed petitions using other people's voter registration information.
KCRA
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CA recovered $6 billion in COVID-era fraud. It’s getting harder to recoup more
COVID-19 - and the swell of jobless Californians that the virus’ spread produced - created two, separate billion-dollar problems for California’s Employment Development Department. Those issues have continued to plague the agency since the pandemic. The first problem was the massive amount of fraud that took place when California rushed to distribute federal, and some state, funds to an unprecedented number of people who were suddenly out of a job. The total amount of fraud is estimated to be at least $20 billion.
Sacramento Bee
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Federal action forces California DMV to cancel 13,000 'non-domiciled' CDLs
The federal government is requiring the California Department of Motor Vehicles to cancel around 13,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses on Friday. A non-domiciled individual is a person who does not have citizenship or lawful permanent resident status and includes holders of various visas, refugees and asylees, according to the DMV. The DMV said it found the CDLs were issued incorrectly.
Fox40 Sacramento
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Feds face lawsuit over travel ban for foreign misinformation researchers
A coalition of technology researchers sued the Trump administration on Monday to challenge a travel ban placed on individuals combatting disinformation and hate speech on social media platforms that the coalition describes as a “censorship policy.” The Coalition for Independent Technology Research filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, rejecting the government’s assertion that the policy is a response to the “censorship” of right-wing Americans and is instead a “flagrant violation” of the First Amendment.
Courthouse New Service
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S.F. man who fought Mayor Lurie’s security must stay in jail, DA says
The man who scrapped with a San Francisco police officer working in Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail last week in a filmed interaction was at the same intersection he was legally ordered to stay away from, court records show - and has a lengthy history of defying such orders. The district attorney’s office is seeking to keep Tony Shervaughn Phillips, 44, in jail. Phillips was expected to appear in court this afternoon, but his arraignment was delayed to Wednesday morning.
Mission Local
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Former Whittier officer pleads guilty in shooting that left unarmed man paralyzed
A former Whittier police officer reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, ending a criminal case that stemmed from a 2020 shooting that left an unarmed man paralyzed, officials said. Salvador Murillo, 44, stood trial in November on multiple counts of assault by a peace officer and assault with a deadly weapon, but a mistrial was declared after three days of deliberation when the jury pool announced they were deadlocked.
Los Angeles Times
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Ex-LA County Sheriff's custodian pleads no contest to evidence tampering
A former evidence custodian at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department pleaded no contest to destroying a blood sample taken from his DUI arrest in 2024. Tommy Ray Trimble was immediately sentenced to two days in county jail, two years of probation, and 30 days of community labor for one count of preparing false evidence and a misdemeanor count of destroying evidence, according to the LA County District Attorney's Office.
CBS LA
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Man sentenced to prison for threatening to kill Orange County judge in his child custody case
A man was sentenced to over seven years in prison for threatening to kill an Orange County judge who had presided over a child custody case involving his young son. Byrom Zuniga Sanchez, 34, a former Laguna Niguel resident, was found guilty by a jury of the crimes in December 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
KTLA
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Panel rejects diversion for man in hate crimes case
Following the defense’s request for a re-hearing, a state appeals court panel has again ordered a judge to vacate an order that granted mental health diversion for a man who is charged with racially motivated attacks in Santa Monica about three years ago.
MyNewsLA
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California attorney convicted in DC Solar $1 billion Ponzi scheme gets 11 years in prison
A former San Francisco Bay Area attorney has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after being convicted in connection with the $1 billion DC Solar Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California announced Monday that 61-year-old Ari J. Lauer of Lafayette received a sentence of 11 years and five months.
CBS San Francisco
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Four Pomona gang members and Mexican Mafia associates sentenced to life in federal prison for murder, racketeering
A member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who controlled and extorted Latino street gangs in the Pomona area and three of his underlings were sentenced today to life in federal prison for racketeering-related crimes, including the June 2020 murder of a federal inmate in Los Angeles. Michael Lerma, 69, a.k.a. “Pomona Mike” and “Big Mike,” was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered him and the three other defendants to pay $10,365 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Why do we pay more for gas in California?
First, the war in Iran. Fighting in the Persian Gulf has disrupted oil shipments through one of the world’s most important energy routes, pushing up the global price of crude oil. Second, California’s fuel rules and taxes. The state requires a cleaner-burning gasoline blend that’s more expensive to produce, and taxes on fuel are higher than in most other states. And third, supply problems inside California.
Los Angeles Times
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Lawsuit over response to first grader’s drawing is revived
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a District Court judge erred in granting summary judgment in favor of an Orange County elementary school principal in an action accusing the school of forcing a first grader to sit out recess after she handed a Black classmate a drawing with the words “Black Lives Mater any life” following a reading of a story about Martin Luther King Jr.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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