Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits

Judge issues ruling in LACo deputy tattoo spat

A judge has granted in part a request by the union representing many Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies a permanent injunction that bars the county from requiring deputies to show their tattoos to investigators with the Office of Inspector General in some cases.

City News Service

A $7 cheeseburger reopened debate over bail in California. Here’s what the Supreme Court found

The California Supreme Court held Thursday that judges should take someone’s financial circumstances into account when setting bail, a ruling that gives courts some flexibility to jail indigent defendants before trial. The case turned on a $7 cheeseburger purchased with another person’s credit card. The person charged with theft spent six months in jail on a bail he couldn’t afford. 

CalMatters

Ninth Circuit denies relief to TikTok whistleblower

The Ninth Circuit declined to vacate a sanction order against a whistleblower who claimed TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, stole content and shared data with the Chinese Communist Party. A lower court dismissed Yintao Yu’s 2023 wrongful termination lawsuit after finding he fabricated evidence and lied under oath, sanctioning and ordering him to abide by the contracts he says he never signed and enter arbitration over his termination.

Courthouse News Service

LA County Superior Court raises bail to $1.4M for man charged with kidnapping, rape

The Los Angeles County Superior Court raised bail to $1.4 million Monday for a man who allegedly kidnapped two UCLA students in March and raped a woman last year. Alexander Schecter, 26, pleaded not guilty to several charges, including kidnapping, robbery and rape by force. He was arrested March 12 following a UCPD investigation after he allegedly trapped two students in his vehicle for several minutes in Westwood. 

Daily Bruin

Judge erred in ordering demolition of portion of house

The Court of Appeal for this district has spared a homeowner the obligation of removing a portion of her Van Nuys home, built in 1937, based on a 2021 survey showing that it encroached by 7.2 inches on property owned by her neighbor, finding that the trial judge did not weigh the equities. Presiding Justice Lee Edmon authored the unpublished opinion, filed Thursday.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Resentencing might be appropriate, or not, in case of slaying of unintended victim

Div. Three of the Fourth District’s Court of Appeal has held that in a case with “very unusual facts,” it must reverse an order denying a bid for resentencing sought by a man convicted of the second-degree murder of his mother, declaring that the judge supplied a legally faulty reason for her ruling - but, in remanding for further proceedings, pointed to what would potentially be a valid basis for denying the petition.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

84-year-old Korean man beaten, set on fire in downtown LA attack

Bang Cho, an 84-year-old Korean man living with dementia, died after authorities say he was beaten and set on fire in downtown Los Angeles. Prosecutors allege Lavonta Martel Wilder carried out the attack shortly before midnight on April 19. Wilder, 40, now faces a murder charge that could result in a life sentence.

NextShark

Judge’s soft-on-crime record exposed in blistering appeal of accused ICE attacker’s case 

A federal judge who threw out a case against an illegal Mexican immigrant arrested for striking ICE agents with his car chose to let the accused criminal off “well before the parties ever stepped foot in his courtroom,” a bombshell appeal claims.

California Post

Prosecutors weigh charges in grenade blast that killed 3 L.A. sheriff’s detectives

Last summer, a grenade exploded at an L.A. County Sheriff's Department training facility, killing three bomb squad detectives. Now, the L.A. County district attorney's office is considering whether to file criminal charges in their deaths. The sheriff's arson and explosives unit retrieved two abandoned grenades from the garage of a Santa Monica apartment complex on July 17.

Officer.com

Former account manager at Beverly Hills business management firm charged with embezzling more than $2 million from celebrity client

A former account manager at a high-end Beverly Hills business management and tax firm was charged today in an eight-count federal indictment with embezzling more than $2 million from one of the firm’s celebrity clients. Frank Musoke, 38, formerly of Woodland Hills, is charged with five counts of wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion. 

U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

Justice Department investigation determines UCLA’s medical school discriminated based on race in admissions

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has completed a year-long investigation into the admissions policies and practices at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The Department uncovered evidence that UCLA’s leadership intentionally selected applicants based on their race. 

Office of Public Affairs Press Release

Policy/Legal/Politics

LAPD found not liable for officer's fatal shooting of 14-year-old girl in Burlington store

A jury in a civil trial found that the Los Angeles Police Department was not liable in connection with an officer's fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl in a Burlington store in North Hollywood. The verdict in favor of the LAPD was announced in court Thursday morning. The wrongful-death lawsuit centered on the death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta and was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by her family.

ABC7

Deputy public defender files motion to disqualify L.A. County judge from all her cases

In a heated courtroom exchange Monday, Deputy Public Defender Rhonda Haymon challenged the impartiality of a Los Angeles County judge in a burglary case, escalating the dispute by filing a motion to disqualify the judge from all of her cases. The accused is facing two counts of burglary and was set for a jury trial following a not guilty plea. 

Vanguard News Group

In a first, LAPD officers could lose their certification over an improper shooting

In a first, California’s police accreditation body is weighing whether to strip two LAPD officers of their license to carry a badge over a controversial shooting. The officers, José Zavala and Julio Quintanilla, shot and killed a suicidal man armed with a knife in 2021. A civilian advisory board for the Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training, or POST, determined there was "clear and convincing evidence" that Zavala and Quintanilla used excessive force on the man, Margarito Lopez Jr., who didn't appear to pose a danger to anyone other than himself.

Los Angeles Times

City Council votes to limit LAPD 'pretextual' stops blamed for racial discrimination

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of new restrictions on so-called "pretextual" traffic stops, signaling a growing impatience with the Police Commission's failure to rein in a controversial LAPD tactic that critics say enables racial discrimination. The vote requests that the department's all-civilian watchdog adopt new guidelines similar to San Francisco, which bars police officers from pulling people over for broken taillights and other minor equipment violations unless there is a safety threat.

Los Angeles Times

If 2028 LA Olympics were held today, LA would not be safe, LAPD union warns

Law enforcement leaders in Los Angeles are sounding the alarm, expressing concern about the number of police officers on the streets for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and how the figure could impact safety. After Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell shared his concerns about police funding for the Olympics, the LAPD officers' union said the police department is still severely understaff.

NBC4

Karen Bass sued over alleged smear campaign against LAFD union chief

Freddy Escobar, a 36-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles Local 112 (UFLAC), has filed a federal lawsuit against Mayor Karen Bass and the City of Los Angeles. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, accuses Mayor Bass of launching a smear campaign against Escobar after he criticized the city's lack of resources during the Los Angeles wildfires.

iHeartRadio

LA mayoral candidates square off on public safety, homelessness

The three leading mayoral candidates to lead the second-largest U.S. city feuded Wednesday evening in a live televised debate that frequently tended to be more heavy on rhetoric than substance. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass stressed repeatedly that the number of people living on the streets had come down for the first time for two years in a row under her watch.

Courthouse News Service

Push to oust L.A. city attorney grows as challenger gains support of D.A., police union

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman and the union that represents rank-and-file police officers offered a stinging rebuke of embattled City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto on Tuesday morning while endorsing one of her challengers in the upcoming election, county prosecutor John McKinney.

Los Angeles Times

Laura Chick: LA needs a real watchdog. That’s why I’m endorsing Zach Sokoloff  

I served as Los Angeles City Controller for eight years. In that time, I learned one fundamental truth about the job: it only works if you do the work. The Controller’s office has an important job in Los Angeles: to open the city’s books, expose problems, and protect the taxpayers who foot the bill. It is the citywide office specifically designed to ensure accountability and to ensure that Angelenos know exactly how their money is being spent. 

Los Angeles Daily News

Voting for an LA Superior Court Judge? Here’s what you should know

Voting in a judicial election can feel like an exercise in uncertainty. You open your sample ballot, flip through the pages, and notice there are dozens of candidates running for judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County - but not much information on them in the ballot. The information is partial, the stakes are high, and the time to research is often limited. It is tempting, under those conditions, to leave that section of the ballot blank and move on.

Los Angeles Public Press

LA councilmember wants to allow noncitizens to vote in city elections

A Los Angeles city councilmember is pushing to explore whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote in future city elections - a proposal still in its earliest stages but already drawing sharp criticism. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said he hopes his motion will make it onto the November ballot, claiming it could eventually open the door for noncitizen residents to participate in local elections.

ABC7

L.A. Charter shakeup: Panel moves to split city attorney’s power

Los Angeles’ once sleepy Charter Reform process just zeroed in on one of City Hall’s most powerful posts. The Charter Reform Commission is urging a fundamental rewrite of the City Attorney’s job, recommending that the civil law work move to a mayor-appointed law department while an elected city prosecutor handles misdemeanors.

Hoodline

State Bar releases 2025 Digital Annual Report

The State Bar published its 2025 Digital Annual Report today, outlining a year defined by operational resilience, major system challenges and improvements, and investments in public protection and access to justice. The report highlights the agency’s response to the issues impacting the February 2025 California Bar Exam, the distribution of record-breaking legal aid funding, and significant progress across core regulatory functions.

The State Bar of California

C.A. says hybrid work does not turn home into office at all times, for every purpose

Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that an employee’s hybrid schedule, under which she regularly worked from home, did not turn her residence into a second office for purposes of a rule allowing employer liability for accidents that happen between worksites but not for crashes that happen during commutes, saying the fact that she always appeared in person on the day of the week at issue meant that she was not acting in the course of her duties.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

$800K defamation damages in "Israeli Spy" allegations against consultant involved in examining Hunter Biden's laptop

See Monday's jury verdict, which awards $75K in compensatory damages plus $125K in punitive damages for each of two statements, and for each of two plaintiffs (Yaacov Apelbaum and his company XRVision). Here's an excerpt of the July decision allowing the case to go forward (Apelbaum v. Bloom): “Yaacov Apelbaum is the founder of XRVision, Ltd., a cybersecurity and analytics company...”

Reason

With rent relief and free lawyers, LA courts attempt to stop evictions before they get to trial

In an attempt to resolve evictions before they go to trial, the Los Angeles County Superior Court has launched new programs that seek to facilitate settlements by providing free attorneys to tenants and financial relief to landlords who are owed back rent. Presiding Judge Sergio Tapia said these pilot programs are designed to stem the tide of evictions, which have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic.

LAist

Apple asks Supreme Court to referee Epic app store fight

Apple asked the Supreme Court on Monday to drop in on a battle royale with Epic Games over anticompetitive practices on its app store. The tech giant was held in contempt for pocketing a hefty commission on purchases made through external links that it was forced to allow thanks to a lawsuit from Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite.

Courthouse News Service

Southern California

LAPD investigates body worn video allegations in South LA gang unit

The LAPD is investigating whether some officers assigned to its 77th Street Division's gang unit deliberately switched-off body worn video cameras in order to conceal certain events from review or from their supervisors, several law enforcement sources told NBC4 Investigates. The officers were removed from field duty this week, but have not been sent home or relieved of duty, the sources said.

NBC4

Calif. police chief fires 3 officers with prior military service over disabled veteran license plates

Three Riverside patrol officers who had disabled military veteran license plates on their personal vehicles were fired Tuesday, April 28, Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said Wednesday. The officers, Timothy Popplewell, Raymond Olivares and Richard Cranford, were given notices of intent to terminate on Feb. 25. They appeared April 21 at what is known as a Skelly hearing, where they were allowed to argue against termination to Gonzalez.

Riverside Press-Enterprise

Palisades Fire suspect was upset about past relationship, fixated on Luigi Mangione, prosecutors say

Disturbing new details have emerged about the man accused of setting the Jan. 1 fire that authorities say ultimately set off the deadly Palisades firestorm. In a trial memorandum, federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht was distraught over a relationship with a former co-worker and angry about not having any New Year's Eve plans.

ABC7

Arbitrator sides with union claiming LAX People Mover subcontractor owes workers back pay

A subcontractor on the LAX Automated People Mover project owes a group of workers unpaid wages and benefits, according to a grievance filed by the union representing the workers. An arbitrator held a hearing on the matter last December and formally sided with the union in his decision, which was released in March.

LAist

L.A. installs signs to limit ICE use of city property

Los Angeles has installed nearly 500 signs across the city declaring public property off-limits for federal immigration enforcement. These signs, part of Executive Directive 17 issued by Mayor Karen Bass earlier this year, are located at parks, libraries, parking lots, and transit hubs, including MacArthur Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. The signs state that city property cannot be used as staging areas, processing sites, or operational bases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities.

iHeartRadio

LA Council president Marqueece Harris-Dawson flashes subtle message to cops at crucial hearing

A subtle detail in a Los Angeles City Council photo is drawing outsized attention. At the center dais in council chambers, where power is concentrated and billions in taxpayer dollars are steered, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson was seen holding a mug that reads: “Stay Woke.” The image lands at a moment when Harris-Dawson has publicly called for unity.

California Post

Public Safety

Feds smash huge drug ring fueling MacArthur Park fentanyl trade - as accused narco queen caught in desperate final act

A suspected stash house tied to gang members accused of drug dealing in notoriously crime-ridden MacArthur Park was raided by federal agents Wednesday morning - with the suspects allegedly caught trying to flush deadly fentanyl down the toilet.

California Post

Cargo theft bust in Vernon nets about $4 million in stolen goods

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced a major cargo theft bust after serving a search warrant in Vernon that led to the recovery of stolen merchandise valued at about $4 million. Investigators said the suspect was found in possession of a wide range of goods, including TVs, shoes, printers, nicotine pouches and skin care products.

ABC7

Police trap dozens of motorcyclists during illegal street takeover on California bridge

Nearly 80 dirt bikes and ATVs were seized during a coordinated law enforcement operation that trapped dozens of sideshow participants on the Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco and Oakland. Officials with the Oakland Police Department said that on May 3, dozens of suspects first arrived in San Leandro, where they offloaded the motorcycles and ATVs at a park.

KTLA

Deadly triple shooting outside L.A. County strip mall

One man died and two were wounded early Sunday in a shootout outside a strip mall in unincorporated Florence-Firestone. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Century Station responded to a report of a gunshot victim around 1:57 a.m. in the 1600 block of Firestone Boulevard, the department said. Responding deputies found two victims who had suffered gunshots while standing in the strip mall parking lot.

Los Angeles Times

Attempted murder suspect in custody after hours-long standoff in Beverly Hills; hostage released

An allegedly armed man suspected in the attempted murder of a sheriff's deputy was taken into custody Monday morning following an hours-long standoff in Beverly Hills. Video from overnight shows authorities shooting flash bangs at the barricaded suspect. Just before 2:30 a.m., The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the suspect was taken into custody.

ABC7

5th man connected to O.C. burglary ring still sought as 4th defendant who fled to Mexico sentenced  

Authorities announced that a fourth man was given a lengthy prison sentence for his role in an Orange County residential burglary ring, but a fifth man connected to the ring remains a fugitive. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Erick Daniel Soria is a third-striker who helped run a scheme responsible for the theft of $1.9 million in designer watches and purses, jewelry, guns, and cash across 44 residential burglaries in Orange and San Bernardino counties between August 2019 and February 2020. 

KTLA

California eyes bond measure for billions in science research

Ryan Manriquez told a crowd gathered Monday outside the California State Capitol that he was alive because scientists refused to accept that he’d die in infancy. Suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, Manriquez said the condition in 2000 - the year of his birth - was the main cause of infant death. Scientific research led to federal approval for the first-ever treatment for SMA in 2016. It helped him attend college and currently serve with AmeriCorps.

Courthouse News Service

State Farm launches all out war on California in blistering statement after bombshell wildfire exposé

California’s largest home insurance company tore into state regulators Monday as it faces potential multi-million dollar fines and a suspension of its license. “Wildfire survivors deserve real solutions - not a distorted picture of State Farm’s response. We strongly disagree with the Department’s characterization,” State Farm General Insurance Company said in a statement.

California Post

US will start revoking passports for thousands of parents who owe child support

The U.S. State Department will begin revoking the U.S. passports of thousands of parents who owe a significant amount of unpaid child support. The department told The Associated Press on Thursday that the revocations would begin Friday and be focused on those who owe $100,000 or more. That would apply to about 2,700 American passport holders, according to figures supplied to the State Department by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Associated Press

My darling boy was slain in cold blood. Now, thanks to Newsom, his killer will go free

A grieving SoCal mother says the killer of her 14-year-old son will go free - thanks to a woke criminal justice law backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Maria Gill, whose football star son Jeremy Rosales, nicknamed “Tank,” was gunned down near the family’s Victorville home in January, told The Post that one of her boy’s alleged assailants, aged 16, will be released by the time he’s 25 under California’s Proposition 57.

California Post

Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole

O.C. medical scan provider agrees to pay $8.3 million to resolve false claims allegations it unlawfully paid doctors kickbacks

An Orange County-based provider of medical scans has agreed to pay $8.3 million plus additional money based on future revenue to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it violated federal law by paying referring cardiologists excessive fees to supervise positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Modern Nuclear Inc. (MNI), a La Habra-based mobile PET scan company, agreed to pay a total of $8,334,350. 

U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

He took a Molotov cocktail to an ICE protest. Now the SoCal man is going to prison.

A Long Beach man was sentence to prison for bringing a Molotov cocktail during an anti-immigration enforcement protest last year in downtown Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang sentenced Wrackkie Quiogue to 30 months in federal prison. Quiogue, 28, pleaded guilty in November to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device. He has been in federal custody since last summer.

Los Angeles Times

Huntington Park medical practice and doctor to pay more than $6.7 million to settle allegations of billing Medicare for unnecessary procedures

A Huntington Park-based medical practice and its physician have agreed to pay more than $6.73 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for medically unnecessary vascular interventional procedures on 20 Medicare beneficiaries.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

Rick Caruso snaps up Sherwood Lake Club in quiet Thousand Oaks power play

Rick Caruso has quietly scooped up Sherwood Lake Club, the Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole par-3 course tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains near Thousand Oaks. His team is already at work on the property, pitching changes to the clubhouse and pool to give the club a more family-friendly feel. The deal marks another step in the developer’s gradual shift away from big malls and toward private clubs and residential projects outside central Los Angeles.

Hoodline

UC Regent Jay Sures blasts ‘disgusting’ appearance by Palestinian car bomber at Berkeley

UC Regent Jay Sures slammed a virtual appearance last week by a failed Palestinian suicide bomber at the University of California, Berkeley. Sures, who is Jewish and the vice chairman of United Talent Agency, called the event “disgusting and abhorrent.”

California Post

The Supreme Court keeps overturning precedent. It swears that it’s not

As the Supreme Court was barreling toward the final weeks of its term last year, Chief Justice John Roberts made a rare public appearance to defend his colleagues from criticism that they were all too eager to kick decades-old precedent to the curb. Still bruising from anger on the left over the court’s monumental decision three years earlier to overturn Roe v. Wade, Roberts rattled off a series of stats underscoring that his court - the Roberts court - had taken aim at far fewer precedents than any of its modern predecessors, an average of less than two “overrulings” each year.

CNN

Food in L.A. is expensive… so why not have SoCal sports teams chip in?

Here are three examples: If the Dodgers strike out seven batters - get a free Jumbo Jack with the purchase of a large drink. If LAFC scores in the first half at home - get a $6 lunch chicken plate at Ono Hawaiian BBQ. Angels win? Get free fries with a $2 purchase. This stuff is happening all the time… but it’s hard to keep track of what deals are happening where. Many times, you only have 24 hours to take advantage of them. And most deals require their own apps.

Los Angeles Times