As a prosecutor, Anne Marie Schubert has thrived on being able to pull off what seemed impossible. Schubert, who has served as Sacramento County’s district attorney for eight years, has a reputation for poring over long-forgotten cases and detailed DNA evidence. Her work drew national attention when it led to an arrest and conviction in the infamous case of the Golden State Killer, a serial rapist and murderer who terrorized dozens of victims throughout California in the 1970s and ‘80s.

A new campaign was launched Wednesday to combat the rise in retail theft. The group, Californians Against Retail and Residential Theft (CARRT), said they plan on meeting with lawmakers to educate them on the impacts of a proposition they say is in part to blame for the rise in crime. “We represent over 800,000 Hispanic business owners and small businesses throughout California," Julian Canete with the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce said, "And we are proud to announce that we are part of the Californians Against Retail and Residential Theft.”

As California pushes the envelope with progressive, first-in-the-nation policies, the courts are pushing back. The latest casualty: a controversial law requiring all publicly held companies headquartered in the Golden State to have at least one woman on their board of directors. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy Lewis on Friday declared the law unconstitutional, ruling that it violates the equal protection clause of California’s constitution by explicitly distinguishing between individuals on the basis of gender, CalMatters economy reporter Grace Gedye writes.

A federal appeals court Monday vacated a man's gun conviction in a lower court in Northern California because COVID-19 protocols had precluded the public from observing his trial. In a 3-0 decision, a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the district court's restrictions last year - which provided the public with an audio stream of the trial, but not video - had violated defendant James David Allen II's right to a public trial under the 6th Amendment.

A non-practicing lawyer with a disciplinary record who leased a fire-damaged unit to a woman upon the promise he would restore power to it, but failed to do so, then disclaimed ever having made the commitment, must pay the former tenant nearly $40,000 in attorney fees, in addition to damages, under an opinion of this district’s Court of Appeal, filed yesterday. Presiding Justice Nora M. Manella of Div. Four authored the opinion, which was not certified for publication.

The state Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant clemency and an early parole hearing to Kenneth Clark, a pro football player’s father who was convicted of a 2004 murder in San Bernardino and sentenced to 55 years to life in prison. Clark, now 51, was found guilty of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Misael Rosales, who had driven into Clark’s car outside a convenience store.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge, in a tentative ruling on an anti-SLAPP motion filed by the county, put forth the proposition that the Legislature ought to require that parties “meet and confer” prior to a hearing on such a matter. “[T]his Court, for whatever it is worth, must express its frustration over the fact that there is no mandatory ‘meet and confer’ on a special motion to strike,” Judge Randolph Hammock said in a tentative ruling on Tuesday.

The Fourth Circuit erased a lower court injunction requiring the Baltimore Immigration Court to condunct new bond hearings for detainees who say their first hearings were flawed, ruling Thursday that federal judges are barred from entering classwide injunctions over immigration bond hearings.

A Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission’s reinstatement of a sheriff’s deputy the department had fired for allegedly repeatedly berating individuals during field duty in 2016 was an abuse of discretion, an attorney for the county states in new court papers. Last August, attorneys for the LASD brought a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, arguing that the commission abused its discretion by reversing the firing of Deputy Charles Kunz III in favor of suspending him for 30 days and reassigning him to his original position at the Pitchess Detention Center South Facility.

A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California’s landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional. The conservative legal group Judicial Watch sued over the law, saying it was illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a statute that violates the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota. The state attorney’s general office countered that the law didn’t create a quota because boards could add seats for female directors without stripping men of their positions.

The Supreme Court sided with Senator Ted Cruz on Monday morning in an idealogical split on how much money political candidates can recoup from their campaigns. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which highlights the important role that the First Amendment plays in allowing political candidates to finance campaign speech with their own funds. The majority found that the law limiting how much candidates can be reimbursed for loans after an election tramples their free exercise of speech.

The Supreme Court ruled against an Indian immigrant facing deportation on Monday morning, finding that federal courts can’t review certain executive-branch findings to determine if a noncitizen should be deported. Justice Amy Coney Barrett penned the decision for a 5-4 majority, with Justice Neil Gorsuch and the liberal wing of the court writing critically in dissent that the opinion shields the government from “the embarrassment of having to correct even its most obvious errors.”

A New Jersey man sentenced to 22 years in prison for the beating death of another man in Union County in 2016 could walk free after an appeals court ruled Wednesday that police unlawfully searched his possessions. Yves Marcellus pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the death of Matthew Murrell in Union Township. Murrell’s body was found by the side of a house on the morning after a Fourth of July party.

The 11th Circuit heard arguments Tuesday in an appeal seeking to vacate a sentence for conspiracy to rob a bank by force and using a firearm during a crime of violence. In August 2012, Deandre King and two others entered a PNC bank in Dunwoody, Georgia, where they brandished their guns at the tellers to force them into the vault and hand over $71,000.

Los Angeles County's top prosecutor has reversed a policy barring his deputy district attorneys from seeking cash bail, which he wanted to eliminate, as criticism of his office continues to mount amid a rise in crime and calls for his ouster. A memo to prosecutors from Sharon Woo, the chief deputy district attorney and second-in-command to District Attorney George Gascon, outlined a plan to create develop a pre-trial services program that would balance "both the rights of the accused while protecting public safety" as an alternative to cash bail.

In an abrupt policy about-face amid an aggressive recall effort, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has lifted an order that prohibited prosecutors from seeking cash bail for defendants charged with nonviolent crimes. Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo said in a Thursday, May 13, memo that the District Attorney’s Office remains committed to the rapid development of a well-funded, robust, pretrial services program that “balances the rights of the accused while protecting public safety.”

In the wake of the recent mass shootings across the U.S., LA County DA George Gascón is calling for massive changes in gun laws. His plans include implementing reasonable gun control. He says people should not have access to assault rifles or ghost guns. Reinvest in struggling communities and address issues like poverty, homelessness and lack of economic opportunity and to fund programs that would help stop violence, like after-school programs.

Organizers hoping to remove Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Wednesday that they have collected a substantial portion of signatures and were on the "cusp" of qualifying the effort to bring the matter before voters. The Recall George Gascon campaign has so far collected more than 450,000 signatures as of Sunday, it said. That leaves the group with 50 days left to collect the remaining number of the 566,857 signatures needed from registered voters.

On the heels of racially and politically motivated mass shootings in Laguna Woods and elsewhere in the U.S., Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Wednesday, May 18, called for politicians to stop fanning the flames of hate and violence. “We are in this position today because we have leaders in our country who are willing to disregard public safety, sell assault rifles to 18-year-olds and spread racist hate if it helps them win elections,” Gascón said during a news conference to discuss gun violence and the nation’s need to change gun laws.

A Los Angeles real estate developer accused of bribing a former city councilman doesn’t want a jury to hear about the $4.2 million in cash the FBI found and seized at his office in an unrelated money laundering investigation. Dae Yong Lee, a.k.a. David Lee, is scheduled to go on trial next month on charges of paying former Councilman José Huizar $500,000 in cash in 2017 in exchange for Huizar’s help resolving a labor union challenge to Lee’s proposed 20-story condominium project in downtown LA.

Years before law enforcement seized the contents of Ian Rogers’ safe, he earned a reputation as a talented mechanic and successful Napa Valley business owner. Rogers catered to an elite clientele of Jaguar, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce owners inside a garage off Napa’s main drag, a street spotted with boutiques and high-end bed and breakfasts.

A San Fernando police officer has been charged after allegedly assaulting a man at a gas station last summer, officials announced Tuesday. Saul Garibay faces a misdemeanor count of assault under the color of authority in connection with an incident that occurred on June 15, 2021, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Garibay, 53, was responding to a disturbance call at the gas station along the 1700 block of Truman Street.

A Tujunga doctor was charged Tuesday for issuing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and allegedly injecting patients with blood plasma from donors. Donald Plance, 68, was charged with 10 felony counts of making a forged government seal, along with 10 misdemeanor counts of making a false medical record and one misdemeanor count each of making a drug without a license and possession of a contaminated medical device, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.

Hannah Tubbs, the convicted trans child molester now facing a murder charge in an unrelated case, committed a string of violent offenses before an arrest for the sexual assault of a young girl in a Los Angeles restaurant. Tubbs, 26, was involved in a series of crimes over the years during which she allegedly killed Michael Clark, for which she is now charged in Kern County, California, according to documents obtained by Fox News.

The man accused of attacking comedian Dave Chappelle during a performance in Los Angeles earlier this month is now facing attempted murder charges - for an entirely different incident. Isaiah Lee, 23, is accused of stabbing his roommate during a fight at a transitional housing apartment last December, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

A 68-year-old Chinese immigrant accused of opening fire on a Taiwanese congregation inside a Laguna Woods church, killing one person and injuring five others in an attack allegedly motivated by hatred for Taiwan, was charged today with capital murder and nine other felonies. David Wenwei Chou, of Las Vegas, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon on the charges stemming from the shooting, which occurred around 1:25 p.m. Sunday at the Geneva Presbyterian Church, 24301 El Toro Road.

Despite a surging fentanyl crisis that killed nearly 500 people last year in San Francisco, the office of District Attorney Chesa Boudin did not secure a single conviction for dealing the deadly opioid for cases filed during 2021, according to a review of court data. Case information The Standard obtained from San Francisco Superior Court shows Boudin’s office secured just three total convictions for “possession with intent to sell” drugs in 2021: two for methamphetamine and one for a case including heroin and cocaine.

The man who fatally shot El Dorado County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Ishmael in October 2019 has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder, California’s statutory minimum for the crime. Juan Carlos Vasquez-Orozco, 22, was convicted last month by a jury for killing Ishmael as the deputy responded to a midnight 911 call at an illegal marijuana grow site near Somerset.

Residents are concerned about RV’s being parked on city streets. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News on Monday, May 16, 2022.

Los Angeles City Controller candidate Rob Wilcox, who currently serves as communications director for City Attorney Mike Feuer, has dropped out of the race and endorsed Councilman Paul Koretz. Ballots for the election were already sent out with Wilcox' name. Voting ends on June 7. "Nearly a year ago, I jumped into the race for Controller because I believed that I was the best candidate to get LA moving again," Wilcox said.

In Los Angeles County, the number of people forced to wear electronic ankle monitors as a condition of pretrial release has increased 5,250% in six years - from 24 people in 2015 to 1,284 people in 2021, according to a report from UCLA School of Law’s Criminal Justice Program. Over the course of 2021, five times as many people were placed on electronic monitoring (EM) pretrial as people monitored after a conviction.

New CDC data shows the number of murders involving guns has increased to the highest levels in decades across the country. Investigative reporter Eric Leonard reports on the NBC4 News at 5pm on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

The growing problem exploded during the pandemic, and now it’s not just an illegal problem - it’s a drought problem. An average marijuana plant needs 3 gallons of water per plant per day. Carolyn Johnson reports May 17, 2022.

A Beverly Hills police officer tackled an alleged thief who was attempting to run from authorities Wednesday afternoon, a video posted on social media showed. In the video, a motorcycle cop driving down the city’s luxurious Rodeo Drive jumps off of his bike and runs after the suspected criminal who attempts to evade him while carrying a large pink bag. Within seconds, though, the officer catches up to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him to the ground.

Community activists on Tuesday said they want justice for a double amputee fighting for his life after being shot outside a McDonald's in South LA's Westmont neighborhood. The Rev. Douglas Nelson, of True LA Church, asked for for prayer for the community as the unidentified victim fought for his life and police sought two women in connection with the the shooting. "And we're asking for prayer for these two young women who enacted this violent crime," Nelson said.

An attorney who briefly represented Marion “Suge” Knight in what was a murder case at the time failed to show up on time in court Tuesday, May 17, for sentencing on conspiracy and perjury charges, prompting a judge to issue a bench warrant for his arrest that was subsequently withdrawn after the defendant showed up four hours later.

Taking a new approach to bringing attention to how Amazon uses individuals' data, a shareholder is suing Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy and 17 other Amazon leaders he claims knowingly allowed the company to violate state laws. Amazon has already come under fire for how its uses biometric data, things like fingerprints and facial images. It's been accused of collecting and using individuals' images without their consent as well as violating state laws that prohibit companies from profiting off individuals' biometric data.

Are you tired of front license plates ruining the look of cars? Well, it may be time to move to California because the state is now offering an innovative alternative to metal front license plates. Instead of drilling holes in your front bumper or adding a plastic bracket, California will allow residents to add a sticker of their front license plate to the front of their cars. This means California residents no longer have to worry about ugly front plates ruining their car’s styling.

What the attorney general candidates are saying about smash and grab, organized looting, shoplifting, and personal theft crimes  

California makes international news almost every day. In the past it was mostly about Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the great weather, or some wacky new trend like intimate suntanning. But now the Golden State is known worldwide as a place to visit at your own peril, as Jamie McBride, head of the L.A. Police Protective League, warned tourists against visiting. The relatively recent changes in how laws are enforced - or not, as the case may be - has not only shifted the state’s image but seriously impacted the lives of every Californian. 

Monday’s news that a judge had struck down California’s landmark law requiring companies to have at least one woman in their boardrooms came as a disappointment to champions of gender parity. But it was not a surprise. When the bill passed in 2018, then-Gov. Jerry Brown acknowledged that the law would probably face challenges in court. But in his estimate, it was still worth a signature.

Four of the country's top prosecutors who are facing scrutiny - and even recall efforts - over their progressive agendas pushed back on their opponents Tuesday while defending their policies, which critics have blamed for an uptick in violent crime in each of their respective jurisdictions. The discussion on changing the criminal justice system was part of a virtual meeting moderated by Melina Abdullah, a civic leader and professor at California State University, Los Angeles. 

The city of Anaheim's planned sale of Angel Stadium to team owner Arte Moreno's company was halted for at least two months Tuesday by an Orange County Superior Court judge, who agreed to a request by the state to pause the deal amid a federal corruption probe of Mayor Harry Sidhu. Judge Glenn Salter granted the request by the state Attorney General's Office, which had previously brokered a settlement with the city over the use of funds from the sale to provide affordable housing throughout the city.

A new bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security says agents have been tracking an increasing number of threats of violence related to the expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may overturn Roe vs Wade. Investigative reporter Eric Leonard reports for the NBC 4 News at 6.

A federal corrections officer who worked at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles has agreed to plead guilty to allegations he raped a female inmate who was in an isolation cell while recovering from COVID. Jose Viera could face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced later this year. According to a plea agreement filed this week in U.S. District Court Viera, got into bed with the inmate on December 20, 2020, fondled her body, and, “penetrated her.”

The 21-year-old is a part of the first group sentenced for his role in the riot. Eric Leonard reports May 13, 2022.

A man, Ramon Escobar, has pleaded guilty to killing five men and injuring an additional seven others as reported by ABC News 4.com, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life on May 6. The sentence comes with no possibility of parole. The 50-year-old immigrant from El Salvador was sentenced to multiple life sentences for the murders that came with additional charges of special circumstances and attempted murder.

Two Chilean nationals charged with organized retail theft in Ventura County pleaded guilty Tuesday, according to District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. Esperanza Venejas, 25, and Hugo Perez Martinez, 26, pleaded guilty to the charges that stemmed from an April arrest in Thousand Oaks. The two Chileans were arrested on April 15, after deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a vehicle break-in at the Oaks shopping mall.

A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced today to 115 months in federal prison for burglarizing self-storage units in Southern California, stealing dozens of firearms, and selling some of the weapons to convicted felons. Rick Eric Herst, 36, a.k.a. “Loyal,” of Reseda, was sentenced by United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald.

After serving a 22-year sentence in a California prison, James Morgan, 51, found himself facing a world of opportunities that he did not imagine he would have as an ex-convict once sentenced to life for attempted murder. Morgan, a Carson native, says he is grateful for a second chance at life, and he has taken full advantage of opportunities presented him through California state reentry and rehabilitation programs.

California could be seeing a reduction in its number of prisons over the next three years as Governor Newsom’s May Revision outlined plans to close three California state prisons by 2025. Currently, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) oversees 34 adult prisons. According to the governor, the reason for the continued closure of state-operated prisons is the steady decline of the adult prison populations over the last several years.

Consider that somewhere in your city or town, in some cramped apartment or neighborhood coffee shop, there sits an aspiring young comedian pecking at a laptop or scribbling on a legal pad as he prepares the set he is soon to perform at a local comedy club. And as he pecks or scribbles, he looks over his five or ten minutes of material, moving bits up or down in the order in his desire to open and close with his strongest material.

Dave Chapelle doesn’t care if you’re mad. Apparently, neither does Netflix. The trailblazing streaming service issued a new corporate memo this week, telling employees it will not censor or end partnerships with entertainers just because some staffers deem their work personally offensive. “If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you,” reads the memo, which is part of a new “artistic expression” section of the company’s policy, according to Variety.

John Durham’s investigation into the FBI’s 2016 Trump-Russia collusion probe entered its third year on Friday, three days before the closely watched court case between the Trump-era special counsel and Democrat-linked lawyer Michael Sussmann will be in front of a federal jury in Washington. Since being tapped in May 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to look into the FBI’s handling of the 2016 probe, the Connecticut federal prosecutor has secured one conviction and is hoping Monday’s jury trial will result in another.

Edelson PC says allegedly untimely fee agreement shouldn't foreclose contract and conversion claims against two former Girardi Keese attorneys accused of helping firm founder Thomas V. Girardi steal $2 million from plane crash victims' families.

A federal judge has ruled St. Tammany Parish sheriff's deputies illegally arrested former federal agent Jerry Rogers in 2019 after Rogers criticized the Sheriff's Office investigation into the high-profile homicide of Nanette Krentel. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo on Friday agreed with Rogers' claims that two of St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith's top deputies had no probable cause to arrest and detain him after he sent a series of anonymous emails to the dead woman's sister lambasting the investigation.

A former Lake County, Ind., police officer who accused the county of improperly reserving certain pension perks for non-disabled retirees lost his lawsuit but won’t have to pay costs and attorneys’ fees of more than $220,000, the Seventh Circuit ruled. The county had a legitimate interest in providing cost-of-living pension adjustments to retirees but not to disabled former workers, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Wednesday.

Some companies and government organizations provide a pension to their employees, which typically provides a lifetime monthly income. Your employer will usually fund the plan and then guarantee that you will receive a certain amount during retirement. When you retire, you will get a monthly income that can be used to support your cost of living. The pension income you receive is often based on the number of years you spend with the employer, your age and your salary.

A newly published report by Fossil Free California finds California’s pension fund managers are circulating divestment “misinformation” by exaggerating the costs involved in shedding their fossil fuel investments in documents prepared for state lawmakers. California lawmakers are currently considering Senate Bill 1173 (SB-1173), California’s Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, which would require the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), to stop investing in fossil fuels before the decade is out.

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