Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Lawsuit against L.A. County deputies involved in fight outside Santa Clarita bar dismissed
A lawsuit claiming that a man was beaten outside a Santa Clarita bar by off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, who then conspired with a high-ranking sheriff's official to cover up the incident, was dismissed by a federal judge this week. In the lawsuit, Valencia resident Parker Seitz alleged that off-duty deputies Randy Austin and Nicholas Hernandez, along with a third man attacked him outside a bar called the Break Room in late November 2024.
Los Angeles Times
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Sotomayor bemoans failure to review prisoner filing fees
A divided U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in a case in which the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two indigent California inmates are each on the hook for a mandatory $350 filing fee associated with their joint civil rights complaint, drawing a dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor over concerns that the decision effectively closes the courthouse doors to the poorest of prisoners.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Deputy charged in bar fight denied mental health diversion
The Ventura County sheriff’s deputy charged with assaulting both his wife and a bouncer at a Camarillo bar in March 2025 will not have his prosecution set aside for mental health treatment, a judge ruled March 2. Deputies Dylan Davis and Anthony Malagon were arrested at the El Rey Cantina in Camarillo, early in the morning on March 30, 2025. The two men, while off duty, had attacked the bouncer at the bar after he tried to stop Davis from choking his wife, the bouncer later told The Star.
Ventura County Star
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California is sued by Jewish advocacy groups seeking to stop antisemitism in schools
The state of California, its Department of Education and officials were sued Thursday by two Jewish advocacy groups that alleged the state allowed antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students to go unchecked on campuses. The suit by Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights and StandWithUs - nonprofits focused on Jewish civil rights - was filed on behalf of at least 12 Jewish parents and students who say they have faced "pervasive anti-Semitism in their California public schools," court documents said.
Los Angeles Times
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Jury awards $3M in LAPD shooting of Air Force veteran
A federal jury in downtown Los Angeles has awarded $3 million to the daughter of an Air Force veteran who was unarmed when shot and seriously injured by Los Angeles Police Department officers in 2022, according to court papers obtained Thursday. The jury in Los Angeles federal court concluded Wednesday that the officers were not justified in their use of deadly force against Jermaine Petit, and that the shots fired against Petit were not necessary to defend human life.
MyNewsLA
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Supreme Court rules the Postal Service can't be sued, even when mail is intentionally not delivered
A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled against a Texas landlord, Lebene Konan, who alleges her mail was intentionally withheld for two years. Konan, who is Black, claims racial prejudice played a role in postal employees’ actions.
Associated Press
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Supreme Court considers case involving FBI operative ready to burn everyone
Craig Monteilh has gone rogue - again. The first time the undercover operative had a change of heart, years after the FBI deployed him to penetrate southern California’s Muslim community, his U-turn became a splitting headache for law enforcement and officials at the highest levels of the Justice Department. Monteilh’s latest about-face may even be flummoxing the Supreme Court.
Politico
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Supreme Court blocks law against schools outing transgender students to their parents in California
The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student's approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group. The order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns or gender expression at school.
Associated Press
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Former LASD psychologist wins $2.67 million in retaliation lawsuit
A jury has awarded $2.67 million to a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department psychologist who claimed that she suffered backlash for complaining about alleged disparate treatment that included leaving a dead rat in her work parking space and a deceased rabbit in her driveway. Christine Jones’ Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleged retaliation and gender discrimination.
City News Service
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Water polo abuse allegations detailed in civil suit filed against Harvard-Westlake
The mother of a Black Harvard-Westlake high school boys water polo player claims she met twice with Jack Grover, the team’s head coach, on March 29, 2023, to discuss in detail concerns she had about the culture of a program in which her son and other minority players were regularly subjected to racial slurs and behavior.
Orange County Register
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Gascón’s chief of staff ordered to pay fees to ex-colleague
A trial judge has ordered that Tiffiny Blacknell, who served as chief of staff for one-term Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, pay more than $50,000 in attorney fees to Deputy District Attorney John Lewin after he successfully argued that her defamation lawsuit against him is a SLAPP, placing her on the hook for more than $100,000 so far in her legal action accusing the county and others of “intense and unfounded attacks” against her.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Woman will be held 'criminally responsible' after hitting homeowners with massive liens, DA says
Rita Ortiz, the woman dubbed the "Lien Queen," pleaded not guilty Monday after being charged with 25 counts of filing a false document. Her arraignment comes after weeks of reporting from the 7 On Your Side Investigates team on massive multimillion-dollar liens she hit against homeowners in Southern California. But on Monday, we learned from prosecutors that their concerns extend beyond just those liens.
ABC7
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Long Beach man charged with murder for crash that killed toddler, injured two others
A Long Beach man who was allegedly drunk when he reversed his car into a group of people sitting outside of a home earlier this week, killing a toddler and injuring two others, was charged with murder on Wednesday. Lamont Ivan Russell, 55, was arrested on Tuesday for the crash that happened early Monday in the 400 block of Maine Avenue, according to Long Beach police.
CBS LA
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Rolling Hills Estates man, woman charged in connection with shooting at a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy vehicle
Two people have been arrested in Hawaii and face various charges, ranging from attempted murder to accessory after the fact, for allegedly shooting at a Los Angeles Sheriff deputy's vehicle while the deputy was responding to a call of service in Rolling Hills Estates. Shane Michael Mahoney, 39, has been charged with one felony count each of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm upon a peace officer, and Arianna Charmaine Mitchell, 22, has been charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact.
CBS LA
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18th Street Gangsters, associates arrested on indictments alleging murder, extortion, drug trafficking in L.A.’s MacArthur Park area
Twelve members and associates of 18th Street - Los Angeles’s largest street gang - were arrested today on criminal charges, including the murder of a drug trafficker who failed to pay the gang’s extortionate “taxes,” and further alleging that the gang controlled the city’s MacArthur Park as an open-air drug marketplace, using tents to blend in with the homeless population and avoid detection by law enforcement.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Calabasas school teacher charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, molestation of female students
A 39-year-old man who worked as a teacher at Viewpoint School for TK through 12th grades has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse material and child molestation of multiple female students. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office believes there may be additional victims. “The accusations in this case are disgusting and deliberate violations of children’s safety, dignity and rights,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
L.A. County District Attorney’s News Release
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Former Downey police officer charged for on-duty crash that severely injured man
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a former Downey police officer after he allegedly severely injured a man during an on-duty crash three years ago. Mario Valles, 30, faces one felony count of reckless driving causing injury. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said he allegedly ran a red light at more than 80 mph before colliding with the other driver.
CBS LA
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Los Angeles man was charged with attempted murder in attacks on transgender shopkeeper
A 23-year-old Los Angeles man has been charged with attempted murder and multiple hate crime allegations in connection with a series of violent attacks targeting a transgender shopkeeper near MacArthur Park last year, prosecutors announced Thursday.
KTLA
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FBI scrutiny of Carvalho, LAUSD began with tip from N.Y. prosecutors examining fraud at AI firm
The investigation that led to last week's FBI raid at the home and office of schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho stemmed from a referral more than a year ago from New York prosecutors working a criminal fraud case involving a technology company with a Los Angeles Unified School District contract that went bust, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.
Los Angeles Times
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Orange County father charged after son hurt while illegally riding modified e-motorcycle
A Yorba Linda father was charged after his 12-year-old son was critically injured while illegally riding an e-motorcycle which he and his father had unlawfully modified, the Orange County District Attorney said. His son reportedly ran a red light while riding the e-motorcycle and was hit by a car. Richard John Eyssallenne, 39, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one felony count of child endangerment and abuse and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
KTLA
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Children's party DJ accused of sexually assaulting unconscious teenage girl: prosecutors
A California man who works as a DJ for local children’s parties is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl when she was unconscious, after she had been given “illicit drugs,” according to authorities. The DJ, Glenn Canyon Childers, was also caught with hundreds of files of child pornography during a law enforcement investigation, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a news release issued on Monday, March 2.
US Weekly
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County counsel opens probe into DTLA law group over sexual abuse claims
Los Angeles County Counsel has launched a formal investigation into DTLA Law Group and others for possible fraud related to claims filed under California’s AB 218, the 2019 law that temporarily expanded the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse lawsuits. The probe, announced Feb. 25, is being conducted under Business and Professions Code Section 17200, the state’s Unfair Competition Law.
Palisades News
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She directed $2.7M to her husband’s company. The judge approved every penny
It was a successful year for Angelique Friend. The entrepreneur was at the pinnacle of her profession in Ventura County. State records show she was overseeing $20 million of her clients’ assets and directing a sizable chunk of that money back into her own household. As the 2022 holiday season approached, Friend celebrated in style and shared the snapshots on her company’s Facebook page.
CalMatters
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New airspace restrictions at LAX prohibiting law enforcement helicopters
New restrictions at LAX are prohibiting Los Angeles police helicopters from flying near the airport, cutting off air support for several stations. In a radio broadcast on Thursday, dispatchers advised officers at mostly South LA stations that they would not be able to receive air support.
CBS LA
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Kiesel ‘rejects’ State Bar’s charges relating to DWP billing scandal
Paul Kiesel, founder of the prominent Beverly Hills firm Kiesel Law LLP and a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, has responded to the State Bar filing disciplinary charges against him for his involvement in litigation relating to the city’s water and power billing scandal, saying that he rejects the allegations as “unfounded, misguided, and fundamentally wrong.”
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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LAPD stopped mid-meeting from sharing immigration enforcement data
The LAPD's first public presentation of its recent interactions with federal agents enforcing immigration law was interrupted Tuesday when a deputy chief providing details of such incidents was apparently instructed to stop sharing specifics. "They want us to hold off on some of this information," Deputy Chief German A. Hurtado told the Board of Police Commissioners, after a uniformed officer whispered something to the LAPD's constitutional policing director seated to his right, who in turn whispered to Hurtado mid-presentation.
NBC4
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UC regents ask court to pause Rose Bowl suit while ruling preventing arbitration is appealed
A lawsuit filed by the Rose Bowl Operating Co. alleging UCLA is wrongfully exploring options for a new home football venue, specifically SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, should be stayed pending an appeal of a judge’s ruling that the case should not be arbitrated, the UC Regents’ attorneys state in new court papers.
Pasadena Now
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Judge approves $345 million verdict against Greenpeace in pipeline suit
A North Dakota judge finalized a potentially fatal verdict against Greenpeace on Friday, affirming a $345 million jury award against the storied environmental group that Greenpeace has said may force it into bankruptcy in the United States. The verdict was reached last year after a bruising trial brought by the pipeline company Energy Transfer over Greenpeace’s role in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile pipeline that carries oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
New York Times
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Sheriff Jim Cooper says California's approach to public safety puts children at risk | California Politics 360
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper went viral on social media this week after expressing outrage over the approved early release of a serial child rapist. In an interview with California Politics 360, Cooper blasted the state parole board's decision to allow the convicted rapist, David Funston, to walk free under the state's elderly parole law. He said it's one of several laws that California lawmakers have been resistant to change despite the possibility those laws could end up harming children.
KCRA
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Trump administration U-turns on suits against law firms
In an abrupt volte-face, the US government has decided not to abandon plans to enforce executive orders punishing law firms perceived as hostile to President Trump. Just hours after it emerged that the justice department planned to discontinue its appeal against federal rulings that the orders violated the constitution, the department yesterday took action to press ahead.
The Law Society Gazette
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Surveillance company Flock generates controversy - and a roster of L.A. clients
Santa Cruz tried out the surveillance company Flock Safety for a little over a year before deciding it was time to move on. Cambridge, Mass., also had enough and tore up its contract in December. Now, some officials in San Diego have begun to have second thoughts of their own. In recent months, dozens of cities have cut ties with Flock - the nation's largest provider of automated digital license plate readers - over fears that data the company captures is helping power President Trump's mass deportation campaign.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County pays $4.9M to settle lawsuits stemming from Sheriff’s Department car crashes
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle four lawsuits by people who were injured in collisions with Sheriff’s Department patrol cars. The payouts come amid increased scrutiny of crashes by law enforcement officers. It has emerged as a major national issue, with cities across the country paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts because of vehicle collisions involving officers, deputies or agents.
LAist
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What’s behind the latest LAX People Mover delay?
An ongoing dispute over maintenance of parts of the system that powers the LAX Automated People Mover could be the reason the long-awaited train won’t open until next summer, or even later, according to public documents reviewed by LAist. The current dispute adds to a long series of disagreements between the city and LINXS, the group of companies contracted to design, build and operate the train, that have led to the ongoing saga of delays, hundreds of millions in cost overruns and diminishing public confidence that there’ll ever be a rail-only connection to LAX.
LAist
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Los Angeles cannot afford to ignore its aging infrastructure - especially in healthcare
Los Angeles is a city that prides itself on innovation. We are home to world-class universities, cutting-edge industries, and a culture that constantly reinvents itself. But beneath that forward-looking identity lies a quieter, less glamorous truth: much of the infrastructure that supports our communities is aging, and in some cases, it is failing the people who depend on it most.
CityWatch LA
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Traci Park: An exclusive interview about safety, homelessness, and the fight to restore public trust
Los Angeles stands at a defining moment. With global events approaching, disaster recovery underway, and persistent challenges in homelessness, public safety, and infrastructure, residents are asking a simple but urgent question: can the city deliver real results? In a recent conversation on The Bottom Line Show, Councilmember Traci Park outlined progress in Council District 11 while acknowledging the structural challenges confronting Los Angeles.
CityWatch LA
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Inside LA's notorious prostitution hot spot, the Figueroa Corridor
The Figueroa Corridor in Los Angeles is one of the most notorious and brazen human trafficking locations in the entire country. ABC7 on Your Side Investigates Reporter Kevin Ozebek spent late nights with police as they try to combat the traffickers and buyers, often making some eye-opening discoveries. In his special "Sex in Plain Sight: The Figueroa Corridor," Ozebek shows how women sell sex on street corners at all times, sometimes right in front of police, while men exploit them.
ABC7
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How a man’s death in Beverly Hills exposed a sprawling Hollywood drug delivery business
Ray Mascolo was spending a Sunday evening at home in Beverly Hills with his Chihuahua puppy, Versace, when his yearlong stretch of sobriety came to an end. “What’s good babe,” Mascolo, 37, texted a woman listed in his iPhone as “Mimi Snowie.” She replied with a menu offering acid ($40), ecstasy ($20), mushrooms ($120) and half a dozen other drugs. They cut a deal: a gram of cocaine and two oxycodone pills for $160, plus a $30 delivery fee.
DNYUZ
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Here’s what happened when people called LAPD to report potential ICE activity
Two masked men dragged a landscape worker into a vehicle and drove off. Another masked pair in green fatigues detained a man walking out of a grocery store. Four masked people in a black SUV circled a block. These were all calls LAPD received in January from people alarmed by what they were witnessing and unsure about who they could trust as immigration agents carried out operations across the city.
LAist
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California taxpayers are paying for Kamala Harris' security during her international book tour
California taxpayers have been paying for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ security detail as she travels out of state and, in some cases, out of the country to promote her book. Multiple sources who were unauthorized to speak publicly about security matters told KCRA 3 that dozens of California Highway Patrol officers have been traveling with her for all of the former vice president’s book tour appearances.
KCRA
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Chevron warns of irreversible harm to California’s economy and energy security in letter to gov. Newsom
Chevron just sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board warning them of deep concerns and strong opposition to the CARB- proposed amendments to the Cap-and-Invest (formerly cap and trade) regulation, that the state’s few remaining refineries can’t survive, and the California economy could be crippled.
California Globe
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California bill would force lawmakers to start talking about controversial Capitol Annex project
California lawmakers will consider a bill that could force public conversations on the secretive California Capitol Annex project for the first time in years. Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, filed AB 2445 which would invalidate the nondisclosure agreements that have been shielding basic information from the public about the taxpayer funded project.
KCRA
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California must let immigrant truck drivers keep their licenses, judge rules
More than 20,000 immigrant truck drivers will be able to keep their licenses in California, at least temporarily, despite efforts by the Trump administration and the state of California to revoke them, according to a tentative ruling Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court. The decision puts the state of California in a bind.
CalMatters
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Who are the California state workers doubling their salaries through overtime?
Last year, over 1,000 state employees doubled their salaries by working overtime, an analysis of California state employees’ payroll data found. Those state employees, who predominantly work for law enforcement and public safety-related agencies, all made more than $100,000 in overtime in 2025 in addition to their regular salaries.
Sacramento Bee
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California lawmakers push 4 a.m. last call to help revive struggling downtowns
In an effort to revitalize California's dying downtowns, state lawmakers are looking at ways to stop restaurants and retailers from going out of business and to fill vacant and boarded-up spaces. Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) says reviving nightlife is a key step. "The nightlife economy is responsible in our state without a doubt for tens of billions of dollars in revenue, hundreds of thousands of jobs," Haney said.
CBS Sacramento
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Former LAPD officer convicted in $350,000 bitcoin kidnapping and home invasion
A Los Angeles County jury has found former Los Angeles Police Department officer Eric Halem guilty of kidnapping and bitcoin robbery in a 2024 home invasion that targeted a teenage cryptocurrency holder. The verdict followed a two-week trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where prosecutors argued that Halem, 38, and three alleged accomplices posed as police officers to gain entry to a high-rise apartment in Koreatown.
Bitcoin Magazine
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Colorado woman who followed ICE agent home, livestreamed confrontation, convicted of stalking
Ashleigh Brown, a 38-year-old Aurora resident, was one of two women convicted Friday by a federal jury of following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent from his office to his home in California last year. Brown and 37-year-old Cynthia Raygoza of Riverside, Cali., were found guilty of stalking the agent.
CBS Colorado
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South L.A. follow-home robber hit with 10-year federal stretch
A South L.A. man who tailed shoppers from malls to their driveways across Los Angeles and Orange counties late last year has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for a string of armed "follow-home" robberies that stretched from the Valley to Norwalk. Elijah Isaiah Potts, 21, pleaded guilty in December to interference with commerce by robbery and on Friday received a 120-month federal term from U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb, who also set a separate hearing to decide restitution, as reported by Los Angeles Daily News.
Hoodline
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Pasadena commercial real estate broker sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for years-long pattern of obstructing the IRS
A San Gabriel Valley man and commercial real estate broker was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for engaging in a years-long pattern of obstructing the IRS from collecting taxes he owed, leading that agency to collect $770 in tax liabilities when he earned approximately $1 million from his employment during that time.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Former San Diego sheriff’s deputy convicted of civil rights violation in fatal 2020 shooting
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted former San Diego County sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Richard Russell of a civil rights violation for the 2020 shooting death of Nicholas Bils, who was unarmed and running away from law enforcement officers outside the downtown jail when Russell shot him several times, including at least once in the back.
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Woman awarded $5.4 million after dog, who had a history of biting other people, attacked her at L.A. animal shelter
A woman who was injured after getting mauled by a dog at an animal shelter in Los Angeles has been awarded millions of dollars in damages. Genice Horta, 51, was awarded $5.4 million by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury following a 10-day trial, over three years after she filed a lawsuit claiming that she was attacked by an animal shelter dog who had a history of injuring others, according to the Los Angeles Times.
People
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