Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Homeless man who crushed victim’s skull in Santa Monica gets diversion, not prison
A homeless man who traveled to Santa Monica to attack Black residents has been sent to a diversion program instead of facing a criminal trial that could have resulted in a life sentence for the attempted murder of a sleeping victim. Job Uriah Taylor (27) was arrested on March 3, 2023 after using a pipe to crush the skull of a man who was sleeping in the same encampment adjacent to the 5th Street Expo station.
Westside Current
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Ninth Circuit upholds conviction of ex-Uber security chief in data breach cover-up
A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday upheld the conviction of Joseph Sullivan, the former chief security officer at Uber, on federal obstruction of justice and other charges after he covered up a 2016 data breach while he was at the company. Prosecutors accused Sullivan of covering up a data breach after two hackers broke into Uber’s Amazon data storage server and swiped the personal information of 57 million app users, including names, phone numbers, email addresses and 600,000 driver’s license numbers.
Courthouse News Service
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Court blocks California law on children's online safety
A federal judge said California cannot enforce a state law meant to shield children from online content that could harm them mentally or physically. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled on Thursday that the trade group NetChoice deserved a preliminary injunction because it was likely to show the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act violated its members' free speech rights under the Constitution's First Amendment.
Reuters
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California’s chief justice draws line between state, federal responsibility in immigration matters
California’s chief justice pointedly delineated the state’s role in immigration during her Tuesday state of the judiciary address, emphasizing that the federal government has no power to compel states in that realm. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero’s remarks came almost two months into President Donald Trump’s second term amid a wave of deportations and pushback rocking the nation.
Courthouse News Service
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$5 million still owed city of LA, years after settlement with maker of ‘ghost gun’ kits
Two years after reaching a $5 million settlement with a Nevada-based gun manufacturer, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a request to retain outside counsel for judgment enforcement and collection. In an 11-0 vote, the council authorized the City Attorney’s Office to secure a contract with Joel Selik, a licensed attorney who practices in Nevada and California.
Los Angeles Daily News
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SpaceX can redo retaliation suit against California Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission has prevailed in the first round of a lawsuit brought by SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket business. The company claims the commission engaged in "naked political discrimination" when it demanded for the first time ever last year that SpaceX obtain a coastal development permit for launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
Courthouse News Service
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US deports hundreds of Venezuelans despite court order
More than 200 Venezuelans alleged by the White House to be gang members have been deported from the US to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele wrote on social media that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had arrived in the Central American country, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, on Sunday morning.
BBC News
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Appeals court allows Trump to reinstate two executive orders targeting DEI
A federal appeals court has given President Donald Trump’s administration the go-ahead to enforce a pair of controversial executive orders that seek to root out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at federal agencies and government contractors. The three-member appeals panel - including two judges appointed by Democratic presidents - lifted a lower court’s injunction that had put the policy on hold last month.
Politico
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‘Vexatious litigant’ designation is inappropriate based on single relitigation attempt
A man who was declared to be vexatious litigant based on “repeatedly” attempting to relitigate a matter that had been decided has been relieved of that designation by the Third District Court of Appeal in an opinion that says that the filing of motions after a judgment was entered but before it became final don’t count and that bringing a single duplicative lawsuit later is not enough to satisfy the statute.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Starbucks ordered to pay $50 million to delivery driver burned by hot coffee
A jury in California on Friday ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million in damages to a delivery driver who was severely burned by an improperly secured lid on hot beverages. Michael Garcia was picking up drinks at a drive-through in Los Angeles when he "suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals when hot drinks ultimately spilled" onto his lap, according to the lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in 2020.
CNN
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After deputy killed in pursuit, suspect charged with murder in Victorville crash
A man suspected of killing a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy during a high-speed pursuit crash - less than six months after being released from prison after being convicted in another chase-related crash - was charged with murder Wednesday. Deputy Hector Cuevas Jr., 36, was one of multiple deputies chasing Ryan Dwayne Turner Jr., 22, on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle in Victorville Monday morning, authorities said.
KCAL News
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South LA gang leader and self-proclaimed community activist arrested for ‘mafia-like' crimes
A long-time leader of a notorious South Los Angeles-based street gang identified by authorities as an entertainment entrepreneur and a self-proclaimed community activist was charged in a federal complaint that alleges he ran a vast criminal enterprise, authorities announced Tuesday.
NBC4 Los Angeles
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Instagram influencer charged in fatal July 4th wreck on PCH ordered to wear an ankle monitor
Lifestyle influencer Summer Wheaton has built a brand on Instagram around beauty product recommendations and faith-based positive affirmations. On Monday, a superior court official ordered her to don an unattractive new accessory: an alcohol ankle monitor bracelet. The order was made in connection to the deadly car crash Wheaton is charged with causing when she collided with another driver on Pacific Coast Highway on July 4.
Los Angeles Times
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DOJ joins Jewish students, professor in civil rights lawsuit vs. UCLA
Federal prosecutors have filed papers showing support for students and a professor at UCLA who say the university failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination during pro-Palestine protests on campus last year, according to documents obtained Tuesday.
City News Service
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Federal prosecutors charge filmmaker with stealing $11 million from Netflix over show that never aired
Federal authorities said filmmaker Carl Erik Rinsch was arrested Tuesday over charges he defrauded streaming giant Netflix out of $11 million in connection with a science fiction series he never completed. Prosecutors didn’t name Netflix in the indictment or the news release. But the dispute between Rinsch, 47, and Netflix has been well publicized since The New York Times first reported on the allegations against the filmmaker in a November 2023 article.
NBC News
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Scrap metal facility owners face 25-count indictment over hazardous waste violations
The owners of S&W Atlas Iron and Metal Corp. were ordered into county jail without bail Monday as they await a hearing on March 17, following a 25-count indictment related to a massive explosion at their Watts scrap metal facility last summer. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the arrests of Gary Weisenberg, 77, and Matthew Weisenberg, 37, who face multiple felony charges stemming from the August 12, 2024, blast that rocked the neighborhood, endangering students at nearby Jordan High School.
Westside Today
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DA files 3 charges in fatal Newhall crash
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed three felony charges against a man accused of driving under the influence in a fatal March 1 crash in Newhall. Sean Alexander O’Donnell, 44, of San Fernando, was arrested March 1 shortly after the crash, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department arrest records available online.
The Signal
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DA says he would reconsider resentencing only if Menendez brothers admit to ‘lies'
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he would reconsider resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez only if the brothers admitted to what he said are decades of lies, doubling down on his stance in a new interview with ABC News on Wednesday. "If they sincerely and unequivocally admit for the first time in over 30 years, the full range of their criminal activity and all the lies that they have told about it," Hochman told ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman that he would then be willing to recommend resentencing.
ABC7 News
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Promoting public safety, strengthening partnerships and creating a more just community: DA Nathan J. Hochman marks 100 days in office
Today marks 100 days since Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman took office, and we are highlighting key accomplishments that have already made a lasting impact on public safety and the administration of justice. “Today, March 13, 2025, is my 100th day in office,” District Attorney Hochman said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Roberts rejects Trump’s call for impeaching judge who ruled against his deportation plans
In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching judges Tuesday, shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of one who ruled against his deportation plans. The rebuke from the Supreme Court’s leader demonstrated how the controversy over recent deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members has inflamed tensions over the judiciary’s role, with a legal case challenging Trump’s actions now threatening to spiral into a clash of constitutional powers.
Associated Press
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The Leonard Files: After The Flames Ep. 11 - How could dead power line start Eaton Fire?
The investigation into the cause of the Eaton Fire is circling-in on the possibility an unused, or “decommissioned,” power line in the Angeles National Forest, might have become momentarily energized during the high winds on the night the fire ignited. Clues from cell phone and security video, along with official statements from Southern California Edison, seem to raise the possibility.
NBC4 Los Angeles
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OC investigation found elected assessor treated women as subservient, harassed employee over her disability
A workplace misconduct investigation found a top Orange County elected official violated gender discrimination and retaliation policies and harassed a subordinate over her medical disability, according to a confidential county-commissioned report obtained by LAist. The investigator’s final report, filed in 2023, also found that Parrish retaliated against the subordinate because of her disability by moving her to a different department for taking time off for her disability and medical condition.
LAist
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Report shows LA Deputies illegally accessing confidential databases thousands of times
A report released in January by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital civil liberties organization, found that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department improperly accessed databases with sensitive personal information thousands of times in 2023. According to annual reports submitted by the department to the California Department of Justice (DOJ), deputies flouted a rule against accessing the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System database, known as CLETS, to run background checks for concealed carry permits.
Los Angeles Public Press
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Ninth Circuit dismisses sanctions against Alan Dershowitz for Kari Lake election suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a state court’s imposition of monetary sanctions against Alan Dershowitz for his role in one of Kari Lake’s many election-related lawsuits. Though the three-judge panel rejected Dershowitz’s claim that the sanctions violated his First Amendment rights and affirmed the trial court’s right to impose sanctions in this case, the panel reversed the trial judge’s order because of a lack of precedent.
Courthouse News Service
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Caruso isn’t ready to throw Bass overboard
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ harshest critic today delivered a big blow to a wildfire-related recall effort, calling it “not a good idea.” Billionaire shopping mall developer Rick Caruso - who has hammered Bass for being out of the country when the fires began scorching portions of the city and surrounding county in January - said Los Angeles “needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions.” “It just doesn’t make sense,” Caruso told Playbook in an interview today.
Politico
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Live Nation can’t dodge antitrust claims, judge says
A federal judge on Friday denied Ticketmaster and LiveNation’s bid to dismiss antitrust claims against them over their longstanding policy obligating artists to accept their concert-promotion services if they want to play at the companies’ largest amphitheaters. The Justice Department, along with 30 state and district attorneys general, last year filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, accusing the company of wielding monopolistic control over the presentation of nearly all major live concerts in America.
Courthouse News Service
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'Staffing crisis' leading to longer response times in LA County, deputies say
They are the crime fighters of Los Angeles County, and they say a severe shortage of deputies has them overworked like never before. Right now, according to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, there are 1,463 deputy positions that are not filled. When you take that and combine it with all the deputies who are out for reasons like medical leave, family leave or military duty, the sheriff's department says 23 percent of deputy positions are not available.
ABC7 News
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LA County Sheriff's recruit arrested for allegedly threatening man with a gun
A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department recruit, who was about 14 weeks through academy training to become a deputy, was arrested on suspicion of threatening a man with a handgun in Lynwood. Kiwan Newbell, 36, was arrested March 10 by the LASD's Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau on suspicion of assault with a firearm, a felony. Newbell posted a $30,000 bond and was released from custody.
NBC4 Los Angeles
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How Los Angeles' $1B budget shortfall could impact average Angelenos
As the city of Los Angeles faces a staggering budget gap of nearly $1 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, small and big changes are likely to come, impacting the lives of every day Angelenos. After Mayor Karen Bass promised to “leave no stone unturned” to make up for the budget shortfall, this is what’s likely to happen in the coming months. Laying off many city employees will be “inevitable,” according to Public Works Commissioner Matt Szabo, who said his team was looking at thousands of job cuts.
NBC4 Los Angeles
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Former interim LAPD Chief Martin Pomeroy dies
The Los Angeles Police Department on Friday mourned the death of Martin Pomeroy, a man who spent 32 years rising up the ranks to deputy chief and came out of retirement in 2002 to serve as interim police chief. While the LAPD did not confirm Pomeroy’s age, he was believed to be around 78. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of former Interim Chief and Deputy Chief Martin Pomeroy,” Chief Jim McDonnell said Friday.
City News Service
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California governor sends ‘burner’ phones to tech CEOs
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom sent prepaid phones to dozens of technology CEOs in the state over the last several months in an attempt to spark more communication with business leaders. The prepaid phones were programmed to include contact information for Newsom and were sent to around 100 people. The information was first reported by POLITICO. Prepaid phones are usually inexpensive, do not involve contracts, and are commonly referred to as ‘burner’ phones since they are often discarded after their short use.
Fox5 San Diego
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Thefts at athletes' homes underscore weakness in post-9/11 anti-terrorist program
Some of the people suspected of being members of a theft ring charged with slipping into the homes of famous athletes to rob them entered the United States legally. But their arrests have underscored problems with a post-9/11 program that is supposed to vet certain travelers to keep out criminals and terrorists. Authorities in Florida have charged seven Chileans in connection with a string of million-dollar burglaries of homes of professional athletes across the country.
NBC News
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Gavin Newsom responds to claims he secretly helped fund his own bronze bust: 'Free tinfoil hat’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded to claims that he secretly helped fund a nearly $100,000 bronze bust of himself that sits inside San Francisco City Hall, calling them "categorically false.” "To imply the Governor personally funded or proposed this effort is categorically false," a spokesperson for Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "As is customary in the city, the effort was independently proposed by a nonprofit and funded by private donors - not taxpayers. This was reported at the time and isn’t news now."
Fox News
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San Diego State police sergeant, father of three, named in child-porn case
The investigation of Paul McClain began in July 2024 when a federal agent using the Internet detected child pornography downloads on a computer that led him to a home in Menifee, California. Investigators said they later learned that the home was owned by McClain, a sergeant with the San Diego State University Campus Police Department. “Investigators found multiple videos depicting child pornography,” according to a criminal complaint filed against McClain, “including pre-pubescent child pornography.”
NBC7 San Diego
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Alabama House bill would allow arrest of those directing abusive language at first responders
An Alabama House committee Wednesday held a hearing on a bill that would allow law enforcement to arrest people who direct abusive language at first responders, make obscene gestures or linger at a response scene after being ordered to leave. HB 224, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, prohibits someone from remaining within 25 feet of a first responder, such as firefighters and police, if they are ordered to keep their distance or vacate the scene.
Alabama Reflector
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Killer says ex-lover had no role in her husband’s slaying: ‘I murdered him because I wanted her’
To hear convicted murderer Robert Baker tell it from the witness stand, his ex-lover Monica Sementilli was never part of a conspiracy to fatally stab her famous hairstylist husband and make it look like a home invasion gone wrong. “I murdered him because I wanted her,” Baker told jurors recently in her high-profile Los Angeles murder trial. “She had nothing to do with it,” the star defense witness testified before a packed downtown L.A. courtroom.
Los Angeles Times
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LAPD reports safer streets: Crime stats show major improvements in 2024
Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell announced a significant drop in homicides and violent crimes in 2024, vowing to sustain aggressive efforts to ensure public safety. The announcement, made alongside members of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and community representatives from the Hollenbeck Division - where homicides dropped by 65% - underscored the city’s progress and ongoing commitment to crime reduction.
Westside Today
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Teen’s e-bike stunt for police backfires
A teenager riding an electric bike in Southern California is paying the price after learning it wasn’t such a great idea to show off in front of police officers. “Picture this: A kid popped a wheelie right in front of our officers and decided to give them a little mockery. Classic move, right?” the Huntington Beach Police Department posted on Facebook Monday along with an image of the stunt. Unfortunately for the rider, police decided to investigate and identified the teen with “a little help from technology.”
KTLA
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13 arrested in large-scale operation targeting Los Angeles County gang members
Thirteen suspects were arrested during a large-scale operation targeting gang members in Los Angeles County. Detectives with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department were investigating an Antelope Valley street gang accused of violent crimes. Several members of the gang were identified, along with their residences. With help from several agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), search warrants were served at 18 locations throughout Lancaster and Palmdale on Thursday.
KTLA
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Suspect in brutal L.A. County murder likely fled overseas, officials say
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has identified the prime suspect in a murder case in Arcadia, but the man - who is considered armed and dangerous by authorities - is believed to have fled the country. According to the sheriff’s department, deputies were first dispatched to the 50 block of Woodland Lane at 6:26 p.m. on Mar. 11 regarding a caller who stated that an intruder - later identified as Zehao Lu - had entered their home and shot their father.
KTLA
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Arrest made after Orange County deputy stabbed in neck
An arrest has been made in the stabbing of an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy on Tuesday. Moses Paulisin, 35,was found and arrested at San Onofre State Beach by California State Park rangers, the OCSD said on X, formerly Twitter. “He will be booked for attempted murder, resisting arrest, and assault w/ deadly weapon,” the department added. “Deputy was treated at hospital and is expected to fully recover.”
KTLA
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Encampments and drug trade fuel costly destruction of Los Angeles parks
Public parks are meant to be shared spaces - places where families gather, children play and communities come together. But across Los Angeles, many parks have become battlegrounds in the city’s ongoing crisis over homelessness, addiction and public safety. Once considered refuges from the chaos of urban life, these green spaces are now at the center of growing frustration among residents who say they no longer feel safe in their own neighborhoods.
Westside Current
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | | |
Suspect in court in $1M watch robbery case, criminal crew had Christopher Dorner’s gun
On Tuesday, a suspect pleaded guilty to his role in an armed robbery at a Beverly Hills hotel, which was an incident tied to a robbery crew in possession of a firearm once registered to the infamous former Los Angeles police officer-turned-fugitive Christopher Dorner. Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, a Colombian national, admitted in federal court to one count of interference with commerce by robbery under the Hobbs Act.
Westside Today
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In LA's wealthiest ZIP code, a historic orange grove that feeds the city
On a small parcel of land tucked into a Los Angeles canyon, surrounded by $20 million to $30 million Beverly Hills mansions, a piece of Southern California history lives on behind a chain-link fence. The Franklin Canyon Orange Grove is one of the last orange groves in Los Angeles, a remnant of the time when citrus sprawled out across Southern California. Last year, city officials approved plans to uproot Bothwell Ranch, the last commercial grove in the San Fernando Valley, for 21 homes, making Franklin Canyon all the more rare - especially given its high-end location.
SF Gate
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He calls himself L.A.’s rags-to-riches pot billionaire. Investors allege in court their money disappeared
To investors, Vincent Mehdizadeh pitched himself as a rags-to-riches Los Angeles success story - a man whose family fled religious fundamentalism in Iran and who later grew up to transform the legal cannabis industry through technology. As the founder of Medbox, a company that pioneered the use of biometric sensors in pot vending machines, Mehdizadeh wrote that he had “pushed the conversation about cannabis, an amazing wonder plant, into the mainstream public’s psyche.”
Los Angeles Times
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Former Activision Blizzard CEO sues over news articles accusing him of workplace harassment, discrimination
Former CEO of video game company Activision Blizzard Robert Kotick says news company G/O Media defamed him in news publications that knowingly lied about nonexistent widespread workplace misconduct under his leadership. During Kotick’s tenure as CEO, Activision Blizzard faced immense scrutiny in 2021 when the California Civil Rights Department began investigating the company for potential workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.
Courthouse News Service
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