Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
|
Prosecutor suing over alleged demotion defends need for Cooley deposition
Attorneys for a prosecutor who alleges he was demoted from a prestigious position for speaking out against current District Attorney George Gascon’s sentencing directives say in new court papers that a judge should allow a deposition by former District Attorney Steve Cooley to proceed. Lawyers for Los Angeles County want to block Cooley’s pending deposition, arguing in their court papers that there is “no legitimate reason” for Deputy District Attorney John Lewin’s lawyers to depose him.
MyNewsLA
| |
|
Gascon race: LA prosecutor 'intimidated' with gun on doorstep files lawsuit as embattled DA fights for his job
A deputy district attorney in Los Angeles is suing her boss at the last-minute as he faces a tough re-election contest Tuesday. Infighting between Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon and his own office could continue to cost county taxpayers millions of dollars, even if he loses. Gascon faces roughly two dozen similar retaliation lawsuits from rank-and-file prosecutors in his office who have blown the whistle on actions they see as soft on crime, unfair to victims and potentially illegal.
Fox News
| |
|
C.A. declines to read unwritten rules into statute permitting withdrawal of plea
A defendant who pled guilty to two felonies, successfully petitioned the court to dismiss the case against him after he completed probation, and then filed a motion to withdraw his plea - under a statute permitting the request if the defendant did not understand the potential immigration consequences - is not entitled to avoid having the original charges reinstated in light of the unique procedural history, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has held.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| |
|
Supreme Court orders new look at IQ scores in death resentencing
The US Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court to take another look at how it decided an Alabama man on death row was intellectually disabled and shouldn’t be put to death after reviewing multiple IQ scores. In an order Monday, the court said it can’t yet assess Alabama’s appeal of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision to toss out the death sentence Joseph Clifton Smith received for beating a man to death with a hammer during a 1997 robbery.
Bloomberg Law
| |
|
US appeals court rejects sentencing panel's compassionate release policy
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that the U.S. Sentencing Commission lacked authority to enact a policy last year that would allow judges to deem changes in law as "extraordinary and compelling" reasons justifying releasing prisoners early. A three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached that conclusion as it rejected a Pennsylvania man's bid to reduce the nearly 42-1/2 year prison sentence he received for committing two armed robberies in 2003.
Reuters
| |
|
After deputies took her pet goat to be butchered, girl wins $300,000 from Shasta County
A 9-year-old girl who fell in love with the goat she raised for the Shasta District Fair was heartbroken when deputies, wielding a search warrant, confiscated the furry livestock, taking him away to be butchered. Two years after the scandal erupted, Shasta County has agreed to pay $300,000 to the girl’s family to settle the legal dispute over the floppy-eared brown-and-white goat named Cedar.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Harvard must defend claim it was indifferent to antisemitism
Harvard College must face claims that it was deliberately indifferent to the plight of Jewish students in the Fall of 2023 when anti-Israel demonstrations were happening on campus, a federal court said. The case, brought by students and nonprofit advocacy groups, stems from the protests on campus after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, and a professor’s decision to prevent students doing a pro-Israel project.
Bloomberg Law
| |
|
Gascón’s final stand: Will lame duck D.A. wreak more havoc before leaving office?
On Nov. 5, the voters spoke decisively: George Gascón was ousted in a landslide, losing to Nathan Hochman by an overwhelming margin of more than 61%. However, Gascón will cling to his power as district attorney until 11:59 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 2. This leaves him nearly a month as a “lame duck” - a month in which he could continue to enact policies that jeopardize public safety and disrespect the office he has already tainted.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| |
|
Los Angeles prosecutors welcome new boss after Gascón defeat: 'Crime is illegal again’
Incumbent Los Angeles Democratic District Attorney George Gascón lost his re-election bid against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, an independent candidate. Rank-and-file prosecutors, whose union opposed Gascón's candidacy and is involved in court battles with him, are welcoming their new boss as a return to normalcy after a tumultuous four years that saw a rise in violent crime, controversial top-down directives and about two dozen whistleblower retaliation lawsuits against the outgoing DA.
Fox News
| |
|
New LA DA pledges to end 'pro-criminal extreme policies’
Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who defeated incumbent George Gascon to become Los Angeles County’s next district attorney with more than 60% of the vote, credited his victory to people being tired of rising crime. “I’m very excited to convert the energy we just spent on this campaign speaking to thousands of people around Los Angeles County who have been fed up and frustrated with the lack of safety they’ve experienced over the last four years,” Hochman said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Daily Journal
| |
|
Los Angeles’ new DA-elect says woke predecessor lost trust of prosecutors, victims: ‘I have to rebuild that’
Los Angeles County's newly elected district attorney said one of his first orders of business will be to regain the trust of the community after voters ousted first-term progressive District Attorney George Gascon on Tuesday, ending what critics deemed a failed progressive overhaul of the country's largest criminal justice system.
Fox News
| |
|
Next L.A. D.A. to roll back key Gascón policies - and revisit the Menendez brothers case
On his first day in office four years ago, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón issued a slate of progressive edicts that many prosecutors in his office said handcuffed them in the fight against crime. When Nathan Hochman takes Gascón’s seat in fewer than 30 days, he has vowed to untie those same prosecutors’ hands, rolling back his predecessor’s policies.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Lobbyist sentenced in L.A. City Hall bribery scheme
A longtime lobbyist and former City Hall official was sentenced Monday to six months' home detention for conspiring with now-imprisoned ex-Councilmember José Huizar in a bribery scheme. Morrie Goldman was also ordered to pay a $60,000 fine and serve three years of federal probation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Goldman pleaded guilty in September 2020 to a felony count of conspiring to commit bribery and honest services mail fraud in the government's investigation of corruption at City Hall.
City News Service
| |
|
Man charged in exchange of gunfire that injured two LAPD officers
A man who allegedly wounded two Los Angeles Police Department officers in an exchange of gunfire was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and other counts. Superior Court Judge Susan J. De Witt ordered Nija Hill, 30, to remain jailed in lieu of just over $2.2 million bail while awaiting arraignment Dec. 18 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse. Hill was brought into the courtroom late Tuesday afternoon in a wheelchair.
MyNewsLA
| |
|
Third suspect arrested and charged in the 2017 stabbing death of hairdressing mogul
Authorities say they have arrested the mystery man who allegedly teamed up with an accomplice to fatally stab famed hairstylist Fabio Sementilli seven years ago at a Woodland Hills mansion. Prosecutors allege Christopher Austin was the second man involved in the killing, along with the lover of Sementilli’s wife. Austin was recently arrested in connection with the killing and extradited from Washington state.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Federal grand jury indicts 11 in West Coast bank robbery spree
The string of West Coast bank thefts could have come straight from a hit action flick. After casing out an adjacent building during the day, robbers return at night to cut a hole in the wall and access ATMs. Renting shortterm vacation properties and obtaining cars on the black market, the thieves target nearby ATMs. They don construction-crew outfits, using blowtorches and cellphone jammers to get inside the machines and escape with the money.
Courthouse News Service
| |
|
Sylmar man charged with November 2023 bank robbery granted mental health diversion
Sylmar man Nolberto Reyes Hernandez, 65, was granted a mental health diversion for his charges in connection to a Nov. 27, 2023, robbery of a Community West bank Tuesday. Originally, Hernandez was charged with kidnapping for robbery, robbery, and false imprisonment stated the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office in a press release Tuesday.
KEYT
| |
|
How the passing of Prop 36 will impact California, prosecution of certain crimes
Prop 36 was perhaps the most high-profile measure on the California ballot, calling for harsher penalties for theft and drug crimes. The measure passed overwhelmingly, with more than 70 percent in favor. Many voters in San Francisco explained what prompted them to vote for its passage. "Existing at the mercy of criminals was very disappointing, very disheartening and I guess we had to hit rock bottom before finally, people woke up and realized, it's time to take a different turn," said Arkady Itkin.
ABC7
| |
|
Los Angeles County district attorney election results add pall of uncertainty over possible release of Lyle and Erik Menendez
The unseating of progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in a closely watched election has added an eleventh-hour pall of uncertainty in the move to have Erik and Lyle Menendez resentenced nearly 30 years after their convictions for murdering their parents.
CNN
| |
|
Cost of seeking death penalty is high in California - but the state doesn’t conduct executions
California hasn’t executed a condemned prisoner in nearly 20 years, but prosecutors continue to seek the death penalty, leading to court costs of more than $300 million in the last five years alone, an analysis by The Sacramento Bee shows. A case in point is the prosecution of Adel Ramos. Prosecutors this week wrapped up their argument that Ramos, 51, should be put to death for his admitted ambush killing of rookie Sacramento police Officer Tara O’Sullivan in 2019.
Sacramento Bee
| |
|
Victims of eBay harassment campaign can seek punitive damages, US judge rules
A Massachusetts couple subjected by eBay employees to a bizarre harassment campaign after an online newsletter they published drew the ire of executives can seek punitive damages on some of their claims against the company, though not some of the "most distressing" ones, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
Reuters
| |
|
Doctor’s defamation claim against AMA survives scrutiny
Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that a doctor’s defamation cause of action against the American Medical Association for publicly decrying statements he made in a podcast - in which the surgeon questioned the helpfulness of describing unequal access to medical care as “racism” - survives anti-SLAPP scrutiny because the plaintiff successfully established a probability of succeeding on the merits of the claim.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
| |
|
The big stakes in the Supreme Court’s new, absurdly messy gerrymandering case
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear a bizarre dispute between two different federal courts about how to fix Louisiana’s racially gerrymandered congressional maps. Under existing law, one of these courts was clearly correct and the other clearly erred. But this Supreme Court is often hostile to voting rights plaintiffs, so there is some risk that the justices could change the law, permitting more racial gerrymanders.
Vox
| |
|
Two major reports slam UCLA over policing, violence at pro-Palestinian protest
Two high-profile, back-to-back reports slam UCLA for a confusing breakdown in its police response leading to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment in April, with one investigation also calling out the university’s “dramatic failures in confronting antisemitism.” A draft report to the Los Angeles Police Commission released Friday cited a lack of coordination between UCLA, the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol and smaller municipal police agencies that were hastily called to campus in the spring.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
L.A. city leaders look to borrow money to cover soaring legal payouts
The city of L.A. is overspending and burning through its reserve funds. City departments have gone at least $215 million over budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, according to a new analysis. Expensive legal settlements and court judgments resulting from lawsuits against the city are a big part of that. Now, the city is proposing to borrow money to cover the cost of legal payouts - a move that will give some short-term relief but ultimately add to the city’s debt.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Metro rider updates: C/K Lines, bus lane cameras, TAP-to-exit, and cell service
Today Metro officially started using on-bus cameras to issue warnings to drivers parked in bus-only lanes or at bus stops. The initial phase includes lines 212 (on La Brea Avenue) and 720 (on Wilshire Boulevard, 5th Street, and 6th Street). For the first 60 days - now through the end of 2024 - Metro, partnering with the L.A. City Transportation Department (LADOT), will be getting the word out about the program, while mailing warnings to drivers parked illegally.
StreetsBlog LA
| |
|
Gas Company Tower DTLA to be acquired by city
The county Board of Supervisors authorized the acquisition of the Gas Company Tower in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, in hopes of moving many county workers and public services out of some existing offices in the Civic Center area. The purchase comes on the heels of concerns about existing county buildings in need of seismic upgrades.
MyNewsLA
| |
|
Progressive Los Angeles DA George Gascón ousted as California voters get tough on crime
Progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón was voted out of office Tuesday after a term that was fraught with controversy. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman is slated to take over the position. Hochman ran his campaign on a promise to “restore” the district attorney’s office in the wake ofGascón's relaxed policies.
The National News Desk
| |
|
Prop 36 passes: California votes to crack down on crime
Seemingly fed up with increased crime across the state, California voters have voted "yes" to Proposition 36 in favor of harsher penalties for crimes such as theft and drug trafficking. The measure passed with an overwhelming 70% of YES votes. In perhaps a likely foreshadowing, a survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California in September found 71% of voters supported the prop and at least 41% also said the outcome was "very important."
Fox11
| |
|
2024 Los Angeles County elections results
We are tracking 314 races across Los Angeles County in the 2024 general election. Seats on boards of education, city councils and the judges bench are all on the ballot. Angelenos were asked to vote on propositions and measures - many of which involve funding programs with bonds or new taxes - at the county, city, school district, water district and even conservation authority level.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Video shows ‘unprovoked’ attack of 80-year-old Redondo Beach Elks Lodge member
An 80-year-old man whose beating at the Redondo Beach Elks Lodge was captured on video is suing the lodge and two of its former members. Joseph Lordeon of Redondo Beach, in a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, accused the lodge, former Exalted Ruler Nashana Steele and her husband, Lamont Steele, of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, premises liability, negligence and elder abuse.
Orange County Register
| |
|
NBA reopens investigation into Jaxson Hayes after video surfaces of him and ex-girlfriend in 2021
The NBA is reopening its investigation into Jaxson Hayes of the Los Angeles Lakers following the release of a video of him and his ex-girlfriend from 2021. "As a result of the media report and video posted this morning, we are reopening our investigation," NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement. TMZ posted the video, which runs five and a half minutes, early Sunday morning.
Yahoo! Sports
| |
|
Kidnapping victim in SoCal rescued using Find My iPhone app, police say
A woman who was allegedly kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend in El Monte was released after a 21-mile freeway pursuit through Los Angeles and Orange counties that at one point slowed to a crawl. According to the El Monte Police Department, the man showed up at the woman’s place of work in the 10300 block of Lower Azusa Road just before 6 p.m. Saturday. The two argued before the man forced the woman into her car and drove away, police said.
Los Angeles Times
| |
|
Police search for 2 'theft by trickery' suspects in San Fernando Valley
Police are urging residents in the San Fernando Valley to keep an eye out for two suspects behind a series of "thefts by trickery.” According to the Los Angeles Police Department, detectives have seen a rise in this type of crime in the area. The two suspects - described only as a man and a woman in their 30s to 50s - mainly target victims in parking lots as they're walking to and from their vehicles, according to police.
ABC7
| |
|
LAPD investigating vandalism of Jewish-owned businesses in Pico-Robertson
Police are searching for a suspect accused of vandalizing Jewish-owned businesses in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood Tuesday morning. Investigators told Eyewitness News that the vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime. A man with an apparent ski pole shattered multiple glass windows near Robertson and Pico boulevards around 5 a.m., LAPD said. Police released a photo of the suspect holding the stick.
ABC7
| |
|
Prosecutors have levied serious charges against pro-Palestine college protesters
Over the past year, hundreds of thousands of college students across the country banded together to demand an end to the U.S.-backed attacks on Gaza, which have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in what many experts have called a genocide. As the movement surged last spring, police arrested more than 3,200 protesters, The Appeal’s earlier reporting found. Over the summer, dozens of schools enacted new rules to stifle dissent.
The Appeal
| |
|
Even in California, progressives take a hit
An election that stunned Democrats all over the nation also offered a repudiation of certain progressive policies in, of all places, California. Californians voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 36, which will increase prison sentences for some crimes including shoplifting and fentanyl-related drug crimes, making them felonies rather than misdemeanors.
Courthouse News Service
| |
|
Royal Caribbean Cruises fined $470,000 for disturbing actions caught during inspection
A cruise ship giant paid a price for failing to meet its waste reporting requirements. Royal Caribbean allegedly violated multiple industry regulations and was fined $473,685 by the Environmental Protection Agency in a settlement agreement, Houston Public Media reported. The company did not accurately notify the EPA of how much waste it was generating and offloading or "adequately describe the wastes it was offloading," the outlet stated.
TCD
| |
Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
|
Former Mexico City resident who oversaw international drug money laundering conspiracy sentenced to more than 7 years in prison
The lead defendant in a criminal case who oversaw a money laundering conspiracy that moved millions of dollars in narcotics-related funds from the United States to international drug trafficking organizations was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Attorney’s Press Release
| |
|
Baseball fan sues Dodgers, claiming he’s the rightful owner of Shohei Ohtani’s historic 51st stolen base
A South Carolina baseball fan is suing the world-champion Los Angeles Dodgers over superstar Shohei Ohtani’s record-setting 51st stolen base, claiming he is the rightful owner of the coveted item - and wants a federal judge to force the team to hand it over. “The facts are very simple,” attorney Richard Roth, who is representing the fan, told The Independent.
The Independent
| |
|
CBS2/KCAL9 anchor Chauncy Glover dies at 39
KCAL9/CBS2 news anchor Chauncy Glover has died at age 39, the station reported Tuesday night. No cause of death was released. Glover co-anchored evening newscasts on KCAL9 and CBS2 with Pat Harvey and Suzie Suh. The Alabama native was a three-time Emmy winner and founder of the Chauncy Glover mentoring program that "grooms teenage boys into upstanding gentlemen," according to his official biography.
City News Service
| |
|
Fired CBS reporter Catherine Herridge reveals how network killed Hunter Biden story: ‘I felt sick’
CBS News went to great lengths to squash correspondent Catherine Herridge’s reporting about the Hunter Biden laptop just weeks before the 2020 election, the award-winning investigative journalist claimed. In her bombshell allegation, Herridge revealed she brought evidence to CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell in early October 2020 that the laptop contained material about “a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm,” along with business texts and emails from the son of Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
New York Post
| |
|
Project Veritas defamation suit against CNN gets new life at 11th Circuit
Far-right activist group Project Veritas can advance defamation claims against CNN over a journalist’s inaccurate on-air statement about the reason for the group’s suspension from Twitter, an 11th Circuit panel ruled on Thursday. The Atlanta-based appeals court ruled Project Veritas - an organization best known for its undercover video “sting” operations aimed at embarrassing progressive organizations and members of the mainstream media - plausibly claimed its reputation was maligned under New York law by a CNN journalist who suggested the suspension was for spreading misinformation.
Courthouse News Service
| |
|
Federal judge tosses out ChatGPT plagiarism case from independent digital news outlets
OpenAI on Thursday won the dismissal of a federal copyright suit brought by digital news websites Raw Story and AlterNet, with a New York judge finding the outlets failed to identify an appropriate injury from the claimed copyright infringement. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon granted the artificial intelligence company's motion to dismiss the copyright suit, agreeing that the two news outlets had not adequately argued that they have standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
Courthouse News Service
| |
|
Hate noisy restaurants? Stick this in your ear
As you may have heard, Apple announced last month that it would soon introduce new software enabling its AirPods Pro 2 earbuds to act as over-the-counter hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss, adjustable to your own ears. (You will be able to take a simple exam from Apple on your device, or upload the findings of one given by an audiologist.)
New York Times
| | | | |
