Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
Trump administration sues California for banning federal agents from wearing face coverings
The Department of Justice is suing California over two recently enacted laws that would prohibit federal agents from wearing facial coverings and require them to identify themselves while conducting their duties. The lawsuit filed Monday argues California's laws violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, under which federal laws take precedence over state laws. The Trump administration also claims the laws threaten the safety of federal officers.
CBS News
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Court rebukes ServPro franchisee for attempting to “extort payment” from wildfire victim
In a sharply worded discovery ruling, the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura, has granted wildfire survivor Craig M. Crosby’s motion to compel and imposed sanctions against One Silver Serve, LLC, doing business as ServPro Global DRT, for discovery violations.
2UrbanGirls
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No qualified immunity for officer who took down reveler
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a police officer is not entitled to qualified immunity relating to an excessive force claim filed by a man who claims that he was shoved to the ground after approaching law enforcement members to celebrate with them after revelers took to the streets following a 2022 NBA championship game, drawing a dissent over the “second-guessing” of necessary split-second decisions in crowd control settings.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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In-state college tuition for California's undocumented students is illegal, Trump suit alleges
The Trump administration filed a federal suit Thursday against California and its public university systems, alleging the practice of offering in-state college tuition rates to undocumented immigrants who graduate from California high schools is illegal.
Los Angeles Times
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Another judge rejects ex-Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s lawsuit over L.A. County’s ‘do not rehire’ label
A state judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that alleged the county defamed him, violated his rights and unfairly flagged his personnel file with a “do not rehire” tag. In a 26-page order, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Gary D. Roberts on Wednesday granted a request by the county to reject the lawsuit under California’s law discouraging “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPPs, writing that Villanueva’s claims lack “minimal merit.”
Los Angeles Times
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Murder conviction not undermined by use of old instruction on implied malice
Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a man was properly convicted of second-degree murder relating to an Orange County freeway shooting that killed a child sitting in the backseat of his mother’s car, rejecting the defendant’s assertion that the judgment was invalidated due to the court’s use of a since-replaced jury instruction on implied malice.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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LA junkie charged in slayings of ‘American Idol’ exec Robin Kaye, husband deemed incompetent to stand trial
The Los Angeles druggie accused of murdering “American Idol” executive Robin Kaye and her husband inside their ritzy Los Angeles mansion has reportedly been found incompetent to stand trial for the vicious slaughter. Raymond Boodarian, 22, will now be transferred to a California state hospital and placed on involuntary psychotropic medication to restore his competency, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maria Cavalluzzi ruled Thursday, according to Rolling Stone.
New York Post
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Court blocks new rules limiting which immigrants can get commercial drivers' licenses
The Transportation Department's new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver's licenses to drive a semitrailer truck or bus have been put on hold by a federal appeals court. The court in the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the rules Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in September a month after a truck driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people can't be enforced right now.
Associated Press
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Washington court says Flock camera images are public records
A Skagit County Superior Court judge ruled that images from Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras in Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley qualify as public records under Washington's Public Records Act. Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski said the images are "not exempt from disclosure" and explained that an agency does not need to physically hold a record for it to fall under the law. The case began when Washington resident Jose Rodriguez asked Stanwood for one hour of Flock camera images.
Fox News
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California city to pay $19M over 1990 wrongful conviction
The city of Baldwin Park, California, agreed to pay $19.1 million to settle a lawsuit by a man who spent 33 years in prison after police detectives used fabricated evidence to frame him for a 1989 shooting in which two teenagers were injured. Daniel Saldaña sued the Baldwin Park Police Department in 2024 after he had been exonerated and released from prison.
Courthouse News Service
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DUI is not lesser-included offense of vehicular homicide
Div. Three of the First District Court of Appeal has held that the crime of causing injury while driving drunk is not a lesser included offense of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, where separate victims are attached to each of the counts, such that a guilty verdict on the latter charge does not preclude a conviction on the former.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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District Attorney Hochman announces criminal investigation into potentially fraudulent sex abuse claims against LA County
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced a criminal investigation today into potentially false claims filed against Los Angeles County under California Assembly Bill 218, which extended the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual abuse. “False reporting of sexual abuse undermines our entire justice system and is a grave disservice to actual victims who have already suffered unspeakable trauma,” said District Attorney Hochman.
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office announces new initiative to combat hate crimes
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has launched a new initiative aimed at addressing and reducing hate crimes throughout the region. The initiative, announced by District Attorney George Gascón, seeks to enhance community outreach and improve the reporting and prosecution of hate crimes.
MyCaliforniaNews.com
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Rob Bonta’s explanation game
Rob Bonta is having an awfully hard time explaining why he spent nearly $500,000 in campaign funds on legal services amid a federal bribery investigation involving a waste hauler. First, the state attorney general’s campaign said that the payments were for legal help in the East Bay bribery case involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Duong family, who own a prominent trash-hauling company.
Politico
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Authorities said she overdosed. Her parents spent millions in pursuit of murder charges
When Amelia Salehpour walked away from an Orange County drug treatment facility, her parents turned to the police for help. She was in danger - they were sure of it. The 18-year-old checked herself out of Saddleback Recovery in Costa Mesa on a summer day in 2023, and hopped into a car with her ex-boyfriend and a man he called "Raider.” Together, they drove up to the San Fernando Valley.
Los Angeles Times
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Ex-Simi High School basketball coach accused of sexual misconduct
A former assistant basketball coach at Simi Valley High School was charged with five felony counts of lewd acts on minors and pleaded not guilty Monday (Nov. 10) after his arrest on suspicion of sexual misconduct with two underage girls. The 36-year-old Simi Valley resident was taken into custody Nov. 6 by the Simi Valley Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit after an investigation began in October following a community member reporting suspicious behavior involving the man and two 14-year-old girls.
Simi Valley Acorn
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Orange County staffing company owner arrested on federal indictment charging her with masterminding $90 million tax fraud
An Orange County staffing company owner and three other defendants were arrested today on an eight-count federal indictment alleging they cheated the IRS out of more than $90 million and defrauded numerous clients by failing to pay employment taxes withheld from the wages of temporary workers - many of them illegal immigrants - and used the unpaid taxes to fund their luxurious lifestyles.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Man charged in voilent Santa Monica attack avoids jail time through diversion program
More than two and a half years ago, Christian Hornburg was attacked by a man with a metal pipe at a Santa Monica train station, and he still is suffering physically and mentally from the incident. The man who assaulted him, Job Taylor, yelled racial slurs as he allegedly stomped on Hornburg's head. He was charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and hate crime enhancements - but a judge said he didn't have to stand trial.
CBS LA
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Zach Sokoloff runs for LA Controller, endorsed by Chick
Zach Sokoloff, a lifelong Angeleno and senior finance executive, announced Tuesday that he is running for Los Angeles City Controller, launching his bid with an endorsement from former Controller Laura Chick. Sokoloff enters a growing race that includes incumbent Controller Kenneth Mejia, who is seeking reelection, and former state Sen. Isadore Hall, who announced his candidacy earlier this year.
Westside Current
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Attorney General Bonta renews call for court to block the extended federalization of California National Guard troops
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom this week renewed their request that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California block the continued federalization and deployment of California National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles.
Attorney General Rob Bonta Press Release
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Justice in Reverse: How the Watson rule became the DA’s weapon of political performance
California is the capital of performative reform and political theater dressed up as justice. The system is no longer calibrated to law, facts, or fairness, it is calibrated to narrative. And when storytelling becomes the operating system of prosecution, justice doesn’t simply stall. It runs backward. For years now, prosecutors have been engineering outcomes by stretching statutes, bending precedent, and weaponizing reform laws meant to protect defendants.
The Current Report
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Advocates push California for single-occupancy prison cells
If you’re serving hard time inside a California prison, you’ll often find yourself stuck in a cramped cell with a complete stranger. You hang a bedsheet to manufacture the semblance of privacy between bed and toilet. Any little thing can erupt into a source of tension and angst - body odor, snoring, lights on or off. Each moment becomes a test to avoid confrontation or brawling. With no immediate help from officers, the fear and anxiety festers inside you.
CALmatters
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LA County launches investigation of State Farm over handling of wildfire claims
Los Angeles County has launched an investigation into State Farm’s handling of insurance claims, amid widespread complaints of delays and underpayments from policyholders impacted by the January Eaton and Palisades fires, county officials announced on Thursday, Nov. 13. The County Counsel’s investigation is focusing on “potential violations” of California’s Unfair Competition Law and is asking for complete records of claims, denial letters, and memos from adjustors.
Los Angeles Daily News
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Firefighter’s widow opposes claim split
Saying she wants closure, the widow of a Los Angeles County Fire Department engineer shot to death by a colleague at the Agua Dulce station in 2021 is joining county attorneys in opposing any recovery by the other son of the slain firefighter’s late parents. One of the Chatsworth Superior Court lawsuits was brought in January 2022 by Heidi Carlon, who was married to the late 44-year-old Tory Carlon; her adult daughter, Joslyn Carlon; and Heidi Carlon’s two other daughters, who are minors.
City News Service
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LA jails scale back opioid addiction treatment as fatal overdoses continue
Los Angeles County jails pared back access to life-saving opioid addiction treatment this fall during one of the system’s deadliest years on record, according to records obtained by CalMatters and interviews with staff. The policy change came one week after Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the county over “inhumane” conditions across its jail system, citing a “shocking rate of deaths,” including overdoses.
LAist
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Former LA city councilman's lawsuit over scandalous recording clears hurdle
Former LA City Councilman Gil Cedillo’s lawsuit against two ex-union employees, who Cedillo says secretly recorded a conversation between him and three colleagues that led to a raging scandal, can proceed to trial after a Superior Court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case. Unfortunately for Cedillo, the suit could prove to be less lucrative than he might have hoped: The judge also agreed to a demurrer by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, removing the labor group from the lawsuit, though Cedillo will be allowed to amend his complaint, if he chooses to.
Courthouse News Service
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Officials question sheriff’s report of no ‘substantiated’ sex abuse by L.A. jail staff
There hasn’t been a “substantiated” allegation of sexual abuse by staff against an inmate in the nation’s largest jail system since 2021. At first glance, the statistic - based on Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department data - might appear to indicate that a federal law called the Prison Rape Elimination Act has finally accomplished its mission more than two decades after it was enacted by Congress.
Los Angeles Times
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Court-appointed lawyers and their clients face fallout from government shutdown, funding crisis
The longest U.S. government shutdown in history is officially over, but the fallout will continue to hit two groups particularly hard for months to come: federally funded defense lawyers and the people they represent. Thousands of court-appointed lawyers, known as Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys, along with paralegals, investigators, expert witnesses and interpreters, haven’t been paid since June after federal funding for the Defender Services program fell $130 million short of what the judiciary requested and ran out July 3.
Associated Press
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Gunman and 2 women found dead in South Gate home after suspect shoots at officers, deputies say
Two women were found dead, and another woman was found wounded following a domestic violence shooting early Saturday morning in South Gate, deputies said. The suspect died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after firing shots at officers. Officers from the South Gate Police Department responded to a home in the 8400 block of San Luis Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. in response to a 911 caller who stated that a man was in her residence shooting a firearm.
ABC7
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LA County sheriff's department investigating sex assault claims against Sean 'Diddy' Combs
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says it's looking into new allegations of sexual assault against Sean "Diddy" Combs. According to ABC News, investigators received a report from a police department in Florida, where the alleged victim lives, on Friday. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau will be investigating the allegations.
ABC7
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Singer D4vd identified as suspect in death of 15-year-old girl
Singer D4vd has been identified as a suspect in the death of a 15-year-old girl who was found dead in a vehicle he owned in September, according to a Los Angeles Police Department source with direct knowledge of the investigation. D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, has not been charged with any crime. He has not been cooperative, the source told NBC Los Angeles.
NBC News
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FBI intercepts communications of Newsom administration officials, California political players
Current and former members of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration were among the dozens of Sacramento insiders who received FBI letters in recent days notifying them that their phone calls, texts or other electronic communications had been intercepted as part of the federal corruption case tied to Dana Williamson and two additional longtime Democratic operatives.
Los Angeles Times
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Proposed California legislation would allow lawsuits if ICE agents violate constitutional rights
State Sen. Scott Wiener proposed new legislation Tuesday that would give those who have had their Constitutional rights violated by immigration agents a new pathway to hold them accountable in court. Wiener's SB 747 - or "the No Kings Act" - aims to close a legal loophole that has made it difficult for those who claim immigration agents violated their constitutional rights to sue government officials and federal officers.
San Francisco Chronicle
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Rising gun violence in USA: State wise insights
Gun violence continues to plague the United States in 2025, resulting in fatalities and devastating communities, with a national total of around 15,000 incidents reported through November, as per the Gun Violence Archive. This table ranks all 50 states along with the District of Columbia based on the number of reported gun violence incidents, which include shootings that lead to deaths or injuries.
USA Maps
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Monstrosity: Photographic evidence of California’s State Capitol building project
In September 2020, while California was still suffering under Governor Gavin Newsom’s oppressive COVID restrictions, lockdowns of healthy Californians, and business and school closures, the Joint Legislative Committee on Rules held a hearing on the plans for the $543.2 million renovation of the State Capitol while ignoring actual state business urgencies. Notably, the project has ballooned to $1.5 billion - that we know of.
California Globe
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Lancaster parents convicted of decapitating their two children
The parents of a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl who were found decapitated at the family's home in Lancaster in 2020 were convicted Monday of murdering the two children. Jurors found Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 39, and Natalie Sumiko Brothwell, 48, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the Nov. 29, 2020, stabbings and decapitations of their 12-year-old son, Maurice, and 13- year-old daughter, Maliaka, along with finding true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Fox11
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Undercover police sting leads to conviction of OC man in years-long child molestation case
A man has been convicted of molesting two young children and arranging for a four-year-old to be sexually assaulted after an eight-month-long undercover sting operation, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The sexual offenses are suspected to have occurred over several decades across Southern California.
Fox11
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Parole denied for man convicted of raping and impregnating child
Ronald Sherman, a man convicted of raping and impregnating a 13-year-old girl, has been denied parole by the California Board of Parole Hearings, according to the Kern County District Attorney. Sherman, who was found guilty in 2004 of continuous sexual abuse of a minor and other charges, was deemed to still pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.
BakersfieldNow
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Man sentenced to prison for attempting to pimp woman along Figueroa Corridor
A 21-year-old man from Los Angeles was sentenced Friday to 16 months in state prison - to be served consecutively with a prior 3-year prison sentence - for engaging in commercial sex activity along the Figueroa Corridor last December. “This sentence demonstrates my office’s commitment to do everything possible to eradicate human trafficking, a multi-billion-dollar business that is essentially modern-day slavery,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
L.A. District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Man who stabbed woman in the throat as they rode L.A. Metro is found guilty of murder
A 45-year-old man who was banned from L.A. Metro trains for past violent acts was convicted Monday in the 2024 stabbing death of a woman on a B Line train who was on her way home from an overnight shift. Elliot Tramel Nowden offered no reaction as the jury in downtown L.A. found him guilty of murder and robbery in the killing of Mirna Soza Arauz, 67, at the Universal City station in April 2024.
Los Angeles Times
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Danny Masterson demands new hearing in rape conviction, claims withheld evidence and biased LAPD investigation
Danny Masterson's legal team filed a habeas corpus petition Monday to vacate his two rape convictions and subsequent 30-years to life prison sentence. In documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Masterson cites nearly a dozen instances of ineffective counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and judicial bias. Additionally, Masterson claimed the Los Angeles Police Department investigation into the claims was "compromised" due in part to an "entaglement" with Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who was creating an anti-Scientology television series at the time.
Fox News
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Incarcerated person who walked away from Francisquito Conservation Camp apprehended
Riverside County-CDCR officials announced that the incarcerated person who walked away on Nov. 9, 2025, from Francisquito Conservation Camp in Los Angeles County has been apprehended. Alejandro A. Tobarfuentes, 33, was taken into custody without incident by the CDCR Office of Correctional Safety, Special Agents, in the city of Mecca, California. He has been transported to the California Institution for Men.
CDCR News Release
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Scrutiny grows over LA fire origins after bombshell report: ‘Our Pearl Harbor moment’
Concerns over a small brush fire that reignited days later into the mammoth Palisades fire - the most destructive in Los Angeles history - have grown in recent weeks amid reports that firefighters were ordered to leave the original site of the smaller blaze despite their concerns the ground was still smoldering. Now, questions remain about how leaders at the Los Angeles fire department responded to a fire that leveled entire communities, and who within the agency knew about concerns the fire could still pose a threat.
The Guardian
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Iconic Los Angeles restaurant, Langer’s Deli set to stay open through Olympics
Langer’s Deli, a 78-year-old Los Angeles staple, announced Tuesday that it plans to keep its doors open until 2028 and hopefully beyond. This is exciting news, as just last year Norm Langer announced that he planned on closing the business if drastic measures were not taken to improve the area surrounding the restaurant.
Los Angeles Magazine
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OJ Simpson estate accepts Fred Goldman's $58M wrongful death claim nearly 30 years later
The O.J. Simpson estate has taken a key step toward paying Fred Goldman nearly $58 million - nearly three decades after Goldman won a wrongful death judgment in a civil case against Simpson, according to a report. Malcolm LaVergne, executor of Simpson’s estate, has accepted Goldman’s creditor claim for $57,997,858.12, plus 30 years of accumulated interest, TMZ first reported Saturday.
Fox News
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