Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito blasts 9th Circuit in San Jose police shooting case
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. slammed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week over its handling of a California police shooting case, calling lower courts’ decision to award damages to the victim’s widow and children “a flagrant error.” “The courts below badly fumbled this basic tenet of our qualified immunity doctrine” by relying in part on a 2022 appellate decision to rule the officer was not shielded from liability in the 2017 shooting, Alito wrote, dissenting in the Supreme Court’s decision to not take the case.
Los Angeles Times
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Judge blocks Trump immigration policy allowing arrests in churches for some religious groups
A federal judge on Monday blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit challenging it plays out.
Associated Press
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Judge approves $27.5 million settlement against Thomson Reuters for selling Californians’ personal data
A federal judge gave final approval Friday morning to a $27.5 million settlement resolving claims that Thomson Reuters collected millions of California residents’ personal and confidential information and then sold access to it without their knowledge or consent. People living in California since Dec. 3, 2016, were qualified to file for relief, with most expected to receive between $19 and $48 from the settlement.
Courthouse News Service
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Ninth Circuit says officers can be sued for destroying a home while searching for a suspect
Here’s another appellate anomaly. Most circuits (including this one!) have concluded destroying someone’s home and property while engaging in law enforcement activity is just the sort of thing citizens are supposed to abide with good grace in exchange for living in a society. The Ninth Circuit isn’t most circuits. It covers a lot of ground and a lot of population.
TechDirt
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Waiver of jury requires explanation by judge of rights defendant is surrendering
A criminal defendant who said “yes sir” when asked if she gave up the right to a trial by jury did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive her entitlement to have her guilt determined by a panel of 12 persons, Div. Six of the Court of Appeal for this district has declared, saying that the judge was remiss in not explaining just what it was she was relinquishing.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Anti-DEI push could get a boon from Supreme Court ‘reverse discrimination’ case
The Supreme Court could boost President Donald Trump’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs next week when the justices review one Ohio woman’s “reverse discrimination” suit. Marlean Ames - who is heterosexual - claims that the Ohio Department of Youth Services passed her up for a promotion, instead hiring a lesbian who was “arguably less qualified.”
Courthouse News Service
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California Appeals Court revives challenge to Huntington Beach voter ID law
The California Court of Appeal ordered the Superior Court of Orange County to issue an appealable ruling in a challenge to the Huntington Beach voter ID measure after a trial judge said the case wasn’t ready to be decided. If the lower court doesn’t issue a ruling, then the appeals court will take over the case. Huntington Beach voters approved an initiative in March to amend the city charter to allow officials to enact a voter ID requirement for local elections.
Democracy Docket
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Judge dismisses LAPD sgt.’s retaliation suit against the city
A judge has dismissed a retaliation lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles police sergeant who sued the city, alleging he has experienced retaliation after reporting that he heard a captain make a racially insensitive remark to a fellow captain, both of whom are Latinos. Sgt. Rigoberto Vasquez is the officer in charge of the Foothill Division vice unit and his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed in July 2022.
MyNewsLA
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Order vacating child-abuse convictions was unjustified
Div. Three of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge erred in summarily granting a defense motion to vacate the convictions of a youth basketball coach, who sent messages soliciting sex from elementary school boys, based on the prosecutor’s failure to file any written response to the request, saying that requiring a reply would be inconsistent with the fact that the burden is on the defendant to show entitlement to relief.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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District court judge had power to block state court litigation
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a District Court judge did not act in excess of his powers in commanding that all litigation against Chicago Title and Nossaman LLP in San Diego Superior Court, in connection with a Ponzi scheme under which about $389 million was secured from more than 400 investors, must cease.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Federal judge denies AP plea for TRO over White House reporter blackout
A federal judge on Monday denied an emergency request by the Associated Press to lift the White House’s ban against its reporters to force the use of “Gulf of America” when referring to the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Donald Trump appointee, said from the bench that he did not think a temporary restraining order was appropriate at this early stage, and ordered a preliminary injunction hearing for March 20 - effectively extending the ban.
Courthouse News Service
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9 Mexican nationals face federal charges for alleged train burglary
A federal grand jury indicted 11 suspects, nine of whom were undocumented Mexican nationals, for allegedly burglarizing a train destined for California. The heist happened on Jan. 13 in a remote area of northern Arizona after Noe Cecena-Castro and 10 other suspects allegedly cut an air hose on a BNSF train, forcing it to make an emergency stop.
KCAL News
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Simi Valley couple smuggled asylum seekers into US, forced them to work for free, DOJ says
Justice Department officials arrested a Simi Valley couple this week, accused of smuggling asylum-seeking immigrants into the country, then forcing them to work at the couple's home for free. The couple also allegedly collected their victims' paychecks once they got jobs, in order to "pay off" their entry into the country, the DOJ said.
Fox11
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LA County sheriff's deputy, 17 others indicted for jail smuggling operation
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy was among the 18 people who were indicted for their alleged part in a drug smuggling operation at county jails on Tuesday. The indictment, which stems from a joint investigation involving LASD and FBI personnel that began in 2022 regarding reports of drugs that were being smuggled into the Los Angeles County jail system and also alleges the attack on an inmate, was announced by District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
KCAL News
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L.A. DA does not support overturning Menendez brothers' murder convictions
Los Angeles' top prosecutor rejected a bid by Erik and Lyle Menendez to challenge their murder convictions, telling reporters Friday that evidence cited by the brothers did not meet the standards required for a judge to order a new trial. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said prosecutors had filed a response Friday opposing a petition filed by the brothers in May 2023 that sought a new trial.
NBC News
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Woman in “Palisades Strong” T-shirt charged with looting a home burned in wildfire
A woman wearing a “Palisades Strong” T-shirt - part of a campaign to promote solidarity and resilience among fire victims - was arrested Friday on suspicion of looting a home destroyed in last month’s devastating wildfire, authorities said. Authorities say the woman, whom they identified as Karen Mastey, stole numerous antiques from a residence burned in the Jan. 7 fire, which destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and other structures and killed at least 12.
Los Angeles Times
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2 Riverside officers charged after resident’s skateboard smashed in viral video
Two Riverside police officers are facing charges after a viral video surfaced last month showing an officer smashing a resident’s skateboard while another officer looks on. Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez announced Friday that the county district attorney decided to file charges against the officers for misdemeanor vandalism.
Los Angeles Times
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Trump criticizes Bass over support of ex-felon illegal alien
President Donald Trump yesterday took to task Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass over a posting by her the previous day on “X,” formerly known as Twitter. A press release issued by the White House says: “President Donald J. Trump is removing illegal immigrant killers, rapists, and drug dealers from our streets and sending them back where they belong - but if politicians in so-called ‘sanctuary’ locales had it their way, these vicious criminals would still be free to roam our streets.”
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Prop. 36 poses cash problem for local governments.
California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a new law that stiffened penalties for certain drug and theft charges, and pledged to provide “mass treatment” for those facing drug charges. But since the law took effect, some counties have been scrambling to implement the measure without new funding or, according to people involved in enforcing the law, sufficient resources.
CalMatters
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AP sues 3 Trump administration officials, citing freedom of speech
The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists. “We’ll see them in court,” the White House press secretary said in response. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., 10 days after the White House began restricting access to the news agency.
Associated Press
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Diddy's lawyers challenge search warrants, aim to suppress evidence in new filing
Evidence federal prosecutors obtained through searches of Sean "Diddy" Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami and elsewhere must be suppressed because the warrants that authorized those searches were unconstitutional, defense attorneys argued Sunday in a new court filing. The defense argued the warrant applications for the Diddy's houses, iCloud accounts, phones and hotel room were overbroad, excluded facts that could have been favorable to Combs and "presented a grossly distorted picture of reality."
ABC News
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NBC settles defamation lawsuit with doctor falsely labeled "uterus collector”
NBC Universal has agreed to settle a federal defamation lawsuit filed by a Georgia gynecologist over coverage of allegations that he performed mass hysterectomies on female detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. The stories aired in September 2020 on MSNBC shows hosted by stars Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow.
NPR
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Elizabeth Holmes fails to overturn her Theranos fraud conviction
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, will remain in prison after losing a bid Monday to overturn her fraud conviction, with a federal appeals court saying she hadn’t proved there were legal missteps during her trial for defrauding investors with false claims of what her blood-testing startup could achieve.
Associated Press
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Death penalty DNA debacle sparks broader questions over compliance with court orders
The public debate over following court orders bled into the Supreme Court’s review of a Texas man’s decades-old fight for DNA testing on Monday. During a protracted 90-minute oral argument session, the justices weighed whether the Fifth Circuit erred in finding that Ruben Gutierrez lacked standing to pursue post-conviction DNA testing.
Courthouse News Service
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Show me the money: Wildfire recovery czar tangles with L.A. mayor over lost salary
The relationship between Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and the city’s chief recovery officer, Steve Soboroff, who she appointed in January to lead the first phase of the city’s wildfire rebuilding effort, is starting to fray. At an event last week, Soboroff, a real estate developer and a former Los Angeles police commissioner, addressed public pushback over his announced salary for the position, which was created to help rebuild the city after the devastation caused by the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires.
The Hollywood Reporter
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Officials warn of tow-truck scam targeting Eaton Fire victims
Local officials are sounding the alarm on another scam targeting victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. This time, predatory tow-truck operators are towing fire victims' cars and then holding them for exorbitant fees. L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger is now urging Eaton Fire survivors to come forward if they were targeted by fraudulent tow companies.
ABC7
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No news is good news for the county assessor
The Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office is in the process of being slammed with a massive number of requests from residents and businesses to reassess their properties that have been adversely impacted by wildfires. In the Palisades alone, over 5,000 homes and numerous apartment buildings and commercial establishments were destroyed. The damage in the Palisades alone is estimated to be in the range of $25 to $30 billion.
CityWatch
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LAPD watchdog pushes for more transparency amid outcry over officers’ alleged racist remarks
They are the civilian bosses of the Los Angeles police, tasked with oversight of the department, yet members of the Police Commission say they’ve been left in the dark recently about high-profile incidents - including an occasion when officers allegedly made racist and sexist remarks about new recruits that spurred searing condemnation.
Los Angeles Times
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At least 20 L.A. County probation officers face criminal indictment, sources say
At least 20 L.A. County probation officers face criminal indictments after an investigation by the California attorney general’s office into their work with youth in the county’s beleaguered juvenile halls, two law enforcement sources told The Times on Friday. The union representing rank-and-file probation officers confirmed in a statement that several of its members “have received notices from the California Department of Justice (DOJ) requiring them to appear in criminal court.”
Los Angeles Times
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Karen Bass has faced tough questions. The city is making her answers hard to find
The reporter from CBS delivered a stinging question - one that got under the skin of Mayor Karen Bass. Bass had flown home from Ghana the day before to a city engulfed in crisis, with firefighters battling out-of-control wildfires, hydrants that were dry and residents reeling from a chaotic evacuation. Standing in the city’s Emergency Operations Center, the reporter wanted to know: What did Bass have to say to critics who were demanding she step down?
Los Angeles Times
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Funding proposal in Congress could expand police use of drones in Southern California
Police and other local law enforcement agencies could for the first time tap into federal grant money to buy and operate unmanned drones under legislation recently introduced in Congress by a Southern California lawmaker. The plan aims to expand local law enforcement’s use of remotely operated aircraft, often equipped with cameras and other technology, to respond to emergencies, traffic collisions, and crime scenes, and for help with crowd surveillance, among other uses.
Orange County Register
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California lawmakers seek to stop surveillance pricing
A new version of redlining has arrived. Redlining - denying financial services to minority neighborhoods - has existed for decades. It’s now got a new face in the form of predatory pricing, a system some retailers use that charges people more based on their personal information. “Many of you remember redlining,” said California Assemblymember Liz Ortega, a San Leandro Democrat, as she discussed the legislation she co-wrote.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firing of federal workers
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit pitting unions representing thousands of federal workers against the Office of Personnel Management, which the plaintiffs say recently ordered federal agencies to terminate all probationary employees on the pretext of poor job performance.
Courthouse News Service
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Musk’s blitzkrieg is unnerving many of Trump’s senior advisers
Top Treasury officials have complained about disruption. The secretary of state has pushed back on staff cuts. Inside the Education and Health and Human Services departments, political appointees have been informed - not consulted - about canceled grants and contracts, sometimes learning about decisions from the media.
Washington Post
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Mexico deports 29 drug cartel figures to the U.S. as officials meet with Trump team
More than two dozen drug cartel suspects from Mexico - including the man charged in the 1985 slaying of a U.S. drug agent - are in U.S. custody after Mexican officials agreed to send them to the United States, four sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The 29 people accused of violence and drug trafficking were deported as the Trump administration has turned up pressure on Mexico to curb illegal immigration, cartel activity and fentanyl production with a promised 25% tariff on all Mexican imports set to start next week.
NBC News
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Felon released following officer involved shooting
On February 20, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Wilshire Gang Enforcement Detail, assisted in a pursuit of a burglary suspect. According to the LAPD press release, the suspect, later identified as 19-year-old, Kwentin Monk turned his vehicle around and charged toward the officers which resulted in an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS). Monk crashed into the police car and attempted to flee on foot, but was taken down quickly.
Canyon News
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Inside the Mojave Desert train heists targeting Nike sneakers
The thieves stealthily board eastbound freight trains, hiding out until they reach lonely stretches of the Mojave Desert or high plains far from towns. They slash an air brake hose, causing the mile-long line of railcars to screech to an emergency stop. Then, they go shopping. That’s the modus operandi described by investigators in a string of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in California and Arizona since last March.
Los Angeles Times
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3 California residents arrested in reported ‘pig butchering’ investment schemes totaling $13 million
Three people were arrested Tuesday, Feb. 25, after reportedly creating shell companies that stole more than $13 million from victims of investment scams tied to “pig butchering,” according to federal prosecutors. A Mingzhi Li, 24 and Zeyue Jia, 23, of Downtown Los Angeles and a Jun Shi, 55, of San Gabriel were charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, a felony offense with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced.
Southern California News Group
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Driver arrested after crashing into pole during Simi Valley pursuit
A suspect driver was arrested after crashing during a pursuit in Simi Valley. On Feb. 14, officers were patrolling near Sequoia Avenue and Coastal Oak Drive at around 11 p.m. when they noticed a driver run a stop sign. As police attempted to pull the driver over, the suspect backed up before speeding away, leading officers on a pursuit. The suspect hit high speeds and they drove recklessly on surface streets before eventually crashing into a pole near the onramp to the eastbound 118 Freeway.
KTLA
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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Hollywood robbery crew that posted exploits on Instagram plead guilty
A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Monday for his role in a series of armed robberies targeting a CVS store and several 7-Eleven stores across Los Angeles County. D'Angelo Spencer, 27, of South Los Angeles, is the third member of his robbery crew to plead guilty to the two-month crime spree, according to the United States Justice Department.
Hollywood Patch
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SoCal man pleads guilty to stealing trade secrets for Chinese company
A Southern California man pleaded guilty to one count of possession of trade secrets Thursday and admitted to stealing trade secrets from a longtime employer and then handing them over to a China-based company for financial gain. Liming Li, 66, of Rancho Cucamonga, roughly 40 miles east of LA, worked for an unnamed company from 1996 to 2018, first as a software engineer, then a program manager and finally a chief technologist.
Courthouse News Service
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Buena Park teen to plead guilty to armed carjackings
A 19-year-old from Buena Park is expected to plead guilty Friday to taking part in a series of armed carjackings and store thefts in which five vehicles and two large-screen televisions were stolen. Andres Silva Cerrillos has agreed to enter a plea in downtown Los Angeles to eight federal charges, including conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking, attempted carjacking, and interference with commerce by robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
MyNewsLA
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