Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
There can be no sealing of arrest records where prosecution is still possible
A woman who was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, arising from an encounter with a former boyfriend against whom she had earlier sought a protective order, has lost in her bid to have the Fifth District Court of Appeal reverse an order denying the sealing of police records, with the justices reasoning that although the alleged victim has said he does not want to press the matter, he might change his mind.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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California bail surety must pay extradition costs, court rules
A California appeals court has confirmed that a bail surety must reimburse prosecutors’ extradition costs when a fugitive defendant is returned from Texas. The Court of Appeal for California’s Fourth Appellate District, Division One, issued a published decision on April 28, 2026, affirming a trial court order that required The North River Insurance Company to pay $7,492.40 to cover the costs of returning a defendant from Texas to San Diego County.
Insurance Business
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Supreme Court limits Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court significantly narrowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in a 6-3 ruling Wednesday, further eroding the impact of the landmark civil rights-era law. For decades, Section 2 - a provision that broadly outlawed discrimination in voting on the basis of race - has been interpreted to allow, and sometimes demand, the use of race-conscious data in redistricting, to protect the voting power of minorities.
Politico
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Prosecutor wins dismissal of defamation, emotional distress claims
High-profile Los Angeles County prosecutor John Lewin has won dismissal of defamation and emotional distress claims filed against him by one of a pair of prosecutors who allege they were wrongfully demoted due to their support for re-sentencing of the Menendez brothers. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang removed the four causes of action by granting Deputy District Attorney John Lewin’s anti-SLAPP motion on Friday.
2 Urban Girls
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El Cajon, backed by Trump-aligned think tank, sues California attorney general
The city of El Cajon has filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta over immigration enforcement, specifically challenging a state law that restricts local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal officials. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court and is backed by the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank affiliated with President Donald Trump.
NBC7 San Diego
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Elon Musk gets an apology from California regulators as a SpaceX lawsuit is settled
California regulators apologized to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk this week as they settled a lawsuit that claimed a state agency showed political bias against the rocket company and its chief executive. As part of the settlement, the California Coastal Commission acknowledged its members made “improper” statements about Musk’s political beliefs at a 2024 hearing on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch program.
Associated Press
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California Supreme Court limits Coastal Commission's power to block development
In a decision that could lead to more development along the coastline, the state Supreme Court on Thursday limited the California Coastal Commission's authority to restrict or halt coastal construction that has been approved by a city or county. The commission, whose members are appointed by the governor and state legislators, "and local governments share responsibility for planning coastal development," Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero observed in the court's 7-0 ruling.
San Francisco Chronicle
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Judge erred in denying diversion based on death of victim
Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a judge erred in denying a request for misdemeanor diversion to a party charged with vehicular manslaughter based on the fact that the defendant’s negligence in running a red light caused the death of another person, saying that it was an abuse of discretion to foreclose the relief based on a fact inherent in a qualifying underlying offense.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Police requests for cellphone location data leave justices’ heads in the cloud
With their own security settings top of mind, the Supreme Court on Monday considered how the government could use cellphone location data to solve crime. Geofence warrants allow the government to obtain location data from service providers to identify users in a particular area at a particular time. Law enforcement used the technology to nail down a suspect in a Virginia bank robbery.
Courthouse News Service
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Appeals court won't rehear Trump's challenge to E. Jean Carroll verdict
A federal appeals court in New York on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump's request to rehear his challenges to the writer E. Jean Carroll's successful defamation claims. A jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages in 2024 after she successfully argued that Trump defamed her with comments he made disputing her claim he sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
ABC News
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Disgraced LA County Assessor John Noguez finally sees day in court
More than 13 years after he was arrested on bribery charges, former LA County Assessor John Noguez is finally getting his day in court. “This case is about corruption and greed,” Deputy District Attorney Bobby Zoumberakis told the jury Monday morning, during his opening argument. He added that Noguez and his two co-defendants had “manipulated the property tax collection system to gain political power, to rise up in the assessor’s office, to secure tax breaks for wealthy developers and to gain money.”
Courthouse News Service
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Prosecutors reveal more details about evidence in Celeste Rivas Hernandez murder
More details about evidence in the case against the singer known as D4vd, charged with murder in the death of a Southern California teen whose decomposed remains were found in his abandoned Tesla, emerged Wednesday at a Los Angeles court appearance by the 21-year-old TikTok star. During the proceeding, a preliminary hearing for David Burke, accused in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, that had been scheduled for Friday was tentatively rescheduled to May 26.
NBC4
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Suspected correspondents' dinner gunman is charged with trying to assassinate Trump
Federal prosecutors formally charged the alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with three counts on Monday, including attempting to assassinate the president. Cole Allen, 31, made his first public appearance in federal court in Washington, D.C., following Saturday's thwarted attack at the dinner, which was attended by President Trump, top administration officials, lawmakers and journalists.
NPR
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Child pornography found on D4vd’s cellphone, prosecutors say in L.A. murder case hearing
Singer D4vd was back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Thursday morning, three days after he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Thursday’s hearing set the date for a preliminary hearing for May 1. At that time, a judge will decide if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.
KTLA
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California alleges extensive examples of Amazon using price fixing
California Attorney General Rob Bonta claims that information from a 2022 lawsuit still in process is evidence that Amazon illegally drives up prices for consumers. Rather than working directly with competitors, the state argues that Amazon puts pressure on its vendors to convince their other large retailers to raise their prices. That would make room for Amazon to increase its prices and profits.
Forbes
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Prosecutors say Wisconsin police chief helped California gun dealers' illegal ammo import scheme
Two California brothers could each face up to five years in prison for allegedly recruiting a small-town Wisconsin police chief to help them illegally import nearly half-a-million armor-piercing rounds into the U.S. Jacob and Darin Dowd ran a gun dealership in Vacaville, California, federal prosecutors say in online court records.
Associated Press
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United States seizes more than $2 million from Pasadena-based advanced wound care clinic accused of Medicare fraud
A federal court has granted a request from the United States to seize more than $2 million from a Pasadena-based advanced wound care clinic accused of defrauding Medicare for reimbursements for skin graft substitutes and skin grafts that never were performed on patients, the Justice Department announced today.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Mom charged with manslaughter after teen’s illegal e-motorcycle crash turns fatal
An Orange County mother previously charged with felony child endangerment and being an accessory after her teenage son struck an elderly pedestrian while riding an illegal e-motorcycle is now facing a more serious charge after the victim died. Prosecutors announced that 50-year-old Tommi Jo Mejer of Aliso Viejo has been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter following the death of 81-year-old Ed Ashman, a Vietnam veteran and substitute teacher.
KTLA
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LAPD chief drops terrifying truth bomb about LA Olympics security
Los Angeles does not have enough cops or the funding to properly secure the city for the Olympic Games, the head of the LAPD has warned. Chief Jim McDonnell said he fears the department could be stretched past its limits when millions flock to LA for the 2028 blockbuster. He pointed out there was “zero” specific fundings for his team, aside from the pooled budget shared by cops, the fire department and federal agents.
California Post
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LA County judge up for re-election accused of violating ethics rules
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Draper, who is up for reelection in June, is facing accusations of violating ethics rules. A hearing began Monday with the state commission that oversees judicial complaints. The judge says some of the allegations are false, while some are true but missing context.
LAist
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California proposes adding ‘criminal history’ as a protected characteristic
California employers familiar with the state’s already complex anti-discrimination laws will want to pay close attention to Assembly Bill (AB) 2064, which would add “criminal history” as a new protected characteristic under both the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civil Code Section 51) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), significantly expanding the legal obligations of employers, housing providers, and businesses across the state.
Ogletree Deakins
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California voters to decide in November if voter ID should be required at the polls
California voters this November are set to decide if photo ID should be required at the polls in elections moving forward. The California Secretary of State’s office confirmed the proposal received about a million verified signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The ballot initiative’s lead proponent is Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, who celebrated the qualification Friday on social media.
KCRA
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One man has filed 1,800 disability lawsuits against SoCal shops. Store owners are fed up
Anthony Bouyer has been on a suing spree around the San Fernando Valley. On Sept. 24, the 55-year-old internet marketer confronted a counter at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot that was difficult to reach over in his wheelchair. He sued the business for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. In L.A. County, it was at least his 231st case of the year. At the convenience store next door, he found a produce scale out of arm’s length. He sued them too.
DNYUZ
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Why Trump's winning streak at the Supreme Court came to an abrupt end
After the conservative-majority Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump 22 wins in his second term, some might have been surprised to see the justices cast doubt on his plan to curb birthright citizenship. California Attorney General Rob Bonta was not.
NBC News
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Justice Department is bringing back firing squads in federal executions
President Donald Trump’s administration plans to add firing squads, electrocution and gas asphyxiation as alternative methods of executing people convicted of the gravest federal crimes, it announced on Friday, noting difficulties in obtaining drugs for lethal injections. The recommendation came in a Justice Department report fulfilling Trump’s promise to resume capital punishment at the federal level in his second term.
Reuters
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NHTSA unveils new safer streets action plan
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has unveiled a new initiative - entitled Pathways to Safer Streets (P2SS): A National Traffic Safety Action Plan - centered on eight strategies aimed at reducing traffic fatalities. NHTSA noted in a statement that the strategies within the P2SS plan target the leading causes of traffic fatalities: impairment, speeding, distraction, and lack of seat belt use.
AASHTO Journal
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LA’s 911 system on brink of collapse as outrageous number of calls miss even the minimum standard
First responders in Los Angeles are struggling to answer 911 calls on time amid staffing shortages, and now operators are pleading with city hall for more funding. While the city continues budget hearings to lock in its 2026–27 spending plan, AFSCME, the civilian union representing dispatchers, had a blunt message during a hearing Monday - fund the jobs that matter, the ones that answer the call for help.
California Post
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Measure A increased LA County’s sales tax. What has it accomplished?
Los Angeles County is home to the largest homeless population in the U.S. - more than 72,000 people, according to official estimates. In 2024, county voters approved Measure A, a half-percent sales tax increase aimed at raising $1 billion a year for homeless services and affordable housing. Its backers promised voters more transparency, accountability and results. As new revenue flows in, questions about how L.A. County spends homelessness dollars aren’t going away.
LAist
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LA County launches $2.1-million eviction diversion pilot program
Landlords and tenants in parts of Los Angeles County Tuesday can access a $2.1 million pilot program aimed at helping resolve rent disputes and avoid evictions before cases reach court. The Eviction Diversion Pilot Program began Monday and will serve eligible households in the Compton Courthouse service area, offering free mediation and up to $10,000 in rental assistance for unpaid rent, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA).
City News Service
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Inventor creates ingeniously simple device to end LA’s copper wire theft. The city immediately shot it down
Los Angeles has rejected an entrepreneur’s cheap and simple fix to stop the city’s crippling copper wire theft crisis. End Metal Theft spokesman Mark James revealed to the California Post it had created a hardened cover that secures streetlights and would stop neighborhoods being plunged into darkness. The device, which fastens over the lid to the wires, would make it harder, louder and far riskier for criminals to try to gain access.
California Post
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AI crime cameras surveilling Valley neighborhood after spike in break-ins
While police continue to investigate a series of more than six recent burglaries in the San Fernando Valley, a mobile surveillance unit that uses artificial intelligence to track potential suspects has been deployed in a high-traffic area of Studio City. At the request of the Los Angeles Police Department, ACS Security placed its mobile unit at the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Ethel Avenue.
KTLA
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3 men caught burglarizing Burbank home, 1 bitten by K9, police say
Three men were arrested Sunday after they were caught burglarizing a Burbank home on the 2700 block of Scott Road, according to police. Officers with the Burbank Police Department were called to the home around 7:20 p.m., after a neighbor spotted several men dressed in black go into the home’s backyard. A suspicious vehicle was also parked across the street that police suspect is linked to the burglary.
KTLA
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3 men arrested in Boston for 2025 Beverly Hills watch robbery, police say
Three men have been arrested in Boston in recent months in connection with an alleged armed robbery in Beverly Hills, where a woman's watch was stolen from her in 2025, according to police. The incident happened back on Aug. 5, 2025, at around 8 p.m., when Beverly Hills police said they were dispatched to the 9700 block of S. Santa Monica Boulevard for reports of an armed robbery, according to a news release from BHPD.
CBS LA
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LAPD arrest protester who sprayed a ‘chemical agent’ at two officers
The Los Angeles Police Department said a protester was arrested after spraying a chemical agent on two officers outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The department said on X that the incident occurred early Saturday when LAPD officers were trying to clear debris from the road and were surrounded by protesters.
Los Angeles Times
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Drones join LAPD helicopters in city skies for standoffs, chases - and surveillance
The LAPD's black-and-white helicopters have long been a fixture of local skies, allowing the police to track suspects and patrol the city from above. Now, the air traffic is growing more crowded with the expansion of the department's drone fleet. The Los Angeles Police Department has increasingly come to rely on small, unmanned aerial vehicles since launching a "drone as a first responder" pilot program in July.
Los Angeles Times
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LAPD investigates string of 7-Eleven robberies across Los Angeles County
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a string of 7-Eleven robberies that took place in Palms and Westlake on Monday night. The LAPD said the first robbery took place around 10:15 p.m. in the 3100 block of Overland Avenue in Palms. Police said at least two suspects allegedly stole cash from the registers.
CBS LA
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A heist mastermind got caught and kept on stealing - then one job ended in murder
Johnny Johnson was at a friend’s birthday party in Hollywood when he got a message on Instagram. Johnson didn’t recognize the account that sent the message early that Friday morning in 2023, but it conveyed an offer he found hard to resist: Was he interested in burglarizing a cannabis grow in exchange for 10 pounds of the take? “I’m a nice person,” Johnson testified nearly two years later at his trial on murder charges.
DNYUZ
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Feds probe 'missing scientists' list. Who has died, disappeared?
The highest levels of the federal government are paying attention to a list of people who have vanished or died, citing concerns about their connections to scientific research, some of it possibly classified. The list includes multiple scientists, spans several years and involves a patchwork of people from different backgrounds and circumstances.
USA Today
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Off-duty cop took wife to eat, armed robber made ‘deadly mistake’
There are certain jobs where you never really have a day off, and being a police officer is one of them. Most off-duty cops carry a concealed weapon just in case the community is in need of their services. This is exactly what happened to Sgt. Brian Sato when he took his wife out to lunch at Nation’s Burgers. When convicted bank robber Amanuel Moreno walked into Nation’s Burgers, he might have thought holding up a burger joint would be a piece of cake, compared to holding up banks.
USSA News
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Madison Square Garden security allegedly tracked a trans woman’s movements, including bathroom breaks, down to the second
The security staff for Jim Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, as well as the CEO of Madison Square Garden, allegedly used surveillance technology to track a transgender woman’s near-every movement during her frequent visits to the New York sporting venue, per a bombshell new report in Wired.
Them
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US launches sweeping crackdown on Southeast Asia cyberscams and sanctions Cambodian senator
U.S. officials have announced a sweeping crackdown on Southeast Asian cyberscam operations as part of what U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro characterized Friday as a “new theater of war” launched by the Trump administration against Chinese transnational organized crime. The crackdown, led by a U.S. government Scam Center Strike Force, includes the Treasury Department’s sanctioning of a prominent lawmaker and 28 other people and companies accused of operating from Cambodia.
Courthouse News Service
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Driverless cars can be ticketed under new DMV rules
California’s ever-growing fleet of driverless taxis will now be held accountable to the same traffic rules as human motorists, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday. Before now, the damage to driverless car companies when their vehicles ran afoul of traffic laws has largely been reputational.
San Francisco Chronicle
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Six California men plead guilty to federal charges stemming from violence against CHP Officers trapped under freeway overpass
Three California men pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for throwing rocks, fireworks, and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers trapped underneath a downtown Los Angeles freeway overpass - with a CHP vehicle set ablaze - during anti-immigration law enforcement rioting last year.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Former CHP officer, DUI suspect plead not guilty in freeway deaths
A now-former California Highway Patrol officer and a suspected DUI driver pleaded not guilty Monday to murder charges stemming from the deaths of four people whose vehicle was struck twice and then burst into flames on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Norwalk last summer.
MyNewsLA
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Judge sentences man for murdering girlfriend whose body was never found 25-to-life
A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend, a U.S. Army National Guard reservist who disappeared from an El Segundo hotel and whose body has never been found, was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison. Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours before finding Luis Antonio Gomes Akay guilty April 3 of first-degree murder in the death of Anna Laura Costa Porsborg, 22, who had traveled from the East Coast for a trip with the defendant in late December 2022.
MyNewsLA
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Fortnite offering refunds to players who purchased in-game items related to D4vd
The popular video game Fortnite is offering refunds for in-game items connected to the singer D4vd. The company said beginning Tuesday, players who purchased any of the D4vd-related items will be eligible to get an immediate self-service refund. Players may also request refunds by contacting player support. D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, was charged with murder after 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dead in the trunk of his Tesla last September.
ABC7
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Marilyn Monroe’s former home declared historic monument - but owners say it killed their $8M investment
A California couple is suing Los Angeles after the city blocked them from tearing down their property - Marilyn Monroe’s former home - and declared it a historic monument. In their federal lawsuit, Brinah Milstein et al. v. City of Los Angeles, homeowners Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank say they bought the Brentwood property for $8 million in 2023 with plans to demolish its deteriorating structures and redevelop the site.
California Post
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Alumna sues GW alleging discrimination, defamation after anti-Israel speech
After her commencement speech criticized Israel and the university, the graduate student speaker was banned from George Washington University’s campus. Now, she’s suing. Cecilia Culver, who spoke at GW’s Columbian College of Arts & Sciences’ first graduation ceremony in May 2025, condemned the university for disciplining pro-Palestinian protesters and refusing to divest from companies connected to Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to The GW Hatchet, GW’s student newspaper.
Washington Jewish Week
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ADT confirms new data breach after hacking group threatens record leak
Home security company ADT has confirmed a cybersecurity breach in a media statement involving the personal data of current and prospective customers following an extortion threat by the ShinyHunters hacking group. The home security company reported that its internal team first detected the unauthorized activity on Monday, April 20, prompting an investigation.
Westside Today
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Peter Thiel is building a parallel justice system - powered by AI
In 2016, when Peter Thiel killed Gawker, he insisted that he wasn’t attacking journalism writ large. On the contrary, he told the New York Times, he’d spent $10 million secretly backing Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the news outlet because: “I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest… if I didn’t think Gawker was unique, I wouldn’t have done any of this. If the entire media was more or less like this, this would be like trying to boil the ocean.”
Coda
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Legal heavyweights duke it out at high court over federalism
An under-the-radar dispute over federal jurisdiction turned into a Supreme Court showcase Monday as two veteran advocates dueled over federalism. Former U.S. solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar and legendary high court litigator Lisa Blatt have collectively argued nearly 100 cases before the justices - with the latter holding the record for the most of any woman in U.S. history. Both women are acclaimed for their oral advocacy prowess, having stood at the podium in many high-profile disputes over the last decade.
Courthouse News Service
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