Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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CA appeals court: suspected deputy gang members can’t be ordered to answer questions, show tattoos
The Second Division of the California Court of Appeals has unanimously affirmed an injunctive order barring oversight officials from asking whether employees of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are members of deputy gangs. The order also blocks any inquiry to have the deputies show their tattoos, or reveal the names of others with similar ink.
Los Angeles Public Press
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Santa Clara County judges line up with DA on death sentence reversal
Since August, local judges have been nullifying murderers’ death sentences one by one. But there’s a problem: The law the judges have been relying on to reduce those death sentences doesn’t apply to death sentences. And that’s not the only problem. It’s easy for judges to make mistakes when they’re hearing only one side of the story, and that’s what happened here.
San Jose Spotlight
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No error in denying compassionate release to tech CEO claiming harsh conditions
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a motion for a reduction in sentence - under a federal statute providing for “compassionate release” upon a showing of certain extraordinary circumstances - was properly denied as to a former executive of a technology company who alleged that the conditions of his confinement during the pandemic were “unusually harsh.”
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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No burden-shifting in writ action contesting sheriff’s deputy’s lack of promotion
The Court of Appeal for this district has rejected an appellant’s contention that a judge erred in requiring him to prove his contention that the Sheriff’s Department would not promote hm from his job as a deputy to the rank of sergeant for an improper reason - the fact of a disciplinary investigation of him that had been abandoned - rather than shifting the burden to the agency to defend its action, as in a case involving racial discrimination.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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US Supreme Court bucks recent trend, announces opinion release
The US Supreme Court will issue its first opinion of the term in an argued case on Nov. 22, earlier than in recent terms when the first opinion days were in December and even January. The court’s website didn’t say on Friday which case or cases will be decided, but arguments from the October sitting are the most likely candidates.
Bloomberg Law
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Civil rights suit over Sonoma County police slaying will move forward
“You guys want to kill me!” Those words, uttered in Spanish, were the last spoken by David Pelaez-Chavez before the then-36-year-old was shot to death by Deputy Sheriff Michael Dietrick in the hills of Sonoma County in 2022. High on methamphetamine at the time, Pelaez-Chavez was facing away from the officer, bending down to pick up a softball-sized rock.
Courthouse News Service
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Ninth Circuit: Law permitting evidence of sexual assault propensity survives scrutiny
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that a federal evidence code section permitting the admission of prior acts in sexual assault cases does not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, finding that the fact that the evidence will be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion, or delay provides sufficient guardrails to protect the rights of the accused.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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DC Circuit appears unlikely to let Fox News reporter duck subpoena in dispute over Chinese espionage story
A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday grappled with a cornerstone of press freedom under the First Amendment: journalists' ability to protect the identities of anonymous sources. The three-judge panel appeared skeptical of former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge’s argument that her qualified privilege should bar a subpoena forcing her to reveal a source in a dispute with a Chinese American scientist.
Courthouse News Service
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YouTuber urges Second Circuit to uphold ruling allowing recording in NYPD precincts
A well-known YouTuber on Wednesday asked the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court’s ruling that barred the New York Police Department from arresting him for trespassing after he filmed inside the public lobbies of NYPD precincts. SeanPaul Reyes, known by his social media name “Long Island Audit,” has more than 800,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he frequently posts videos of himself confronting police officers over supposed First Amendment violations.
Courthouse News Service
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Bob's Big Boy killer, once facing execution, could have sentence reduced
One of two men convicted and sentenced to death for an infamous 1980 takeover robbery and massacre inside a Los Angeles Bob’s Big Boy restaurant, in which employees and customers were herded into a freezer and shot in the back, has begun legal efforts to have his prison sentence reduced, which could allow the once-condemned prisoner to be released on parole.
NBC4
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Founder of AI education chatbot charged with defrauding investors of $10 million
The founder of an artificial intelligence startup, promoted to strengthen communication between school districts and families, has been arrested on charges of defrauding investors. Joanna Smith-Griffin, the founder and CEO of AllHere Education, Inc., was arrested in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft, according to a news release from the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office.
USA Today
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California prosecutors again seek death penalty in deadlocked murder case
Attorneys for Anton Paris, who was convicted in July of murdering a Sacramento County deputy, say they pulled an attacker off their client while visiting him in jail. Paris had somehow angered a fellow inmate, who rushed him as he and his attorneys were in a jail hallway. Deputy public defenders Norman Dawson and Thomas Clinkenbeard intervened as they tried to pull the attacker away, calling for help.
Courthouse News Service
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California attorney general responds to Tory Lanez's claim that LAPD misplaced the gun used to shoot Megan Thee Stallion
The Office of the Attorney General of California has responded to Tory Lanez ’s claims that the gun used to shoot Megan Thee Stallion has gone missing. Last month, Lanez’s attorneys at Unite the People filed a petition, alleging the gun cannot be located and, therefore, cannot undergo forensic or DNA testing.
Complex
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After LAist investigation, high-profile nonprofit refunds Orange County $275K in taxpayer funds for work never completed
A high-profile nonprofit returned $275,000 in taxpayer mental health funds to Orange County after a demand from county health officials spurred by LAist reporting. That demand came after county officials said they found “no evidence Mind OC performed any of the services under the Contract,” when they reviewed records requested by LAist through public records law.
LAist
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Westside lawyer who represented hundreds of inmates hit with new state bar charges
Aaron Spolin, a Princeton-educated attorney and former McKinsey & Co. consultant who signed up thousands of inmate clients seeking release under new criminal justice reform laws, was hit with a second round of charges by the State Bar of California last week. The 18 counts filed Thursday follow an initial filing of disciplinary charges in August and provide more examples of how the bar contends that Spolin and his Westside firm used deceptive marketing and outright lies to convince desperate families to hire him.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County's new DA explains how he plans to embrace the 'hard middle’
Nathan Hochman will be sworn in as Los Angeles County’s new district attorney next month. He’s promised to roll back his predecessor’s progressive policies and return order to the sprawling county, but has also said he won’t restore the mass incarceration policies of the past. Marisa and Scott talk with Hochman about how he plans to strike that balance.
KQED
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After the avalanche: Nathan Hochman becomes the 44th district attorney of LA County
The long 2024 election cycle has drawn to a close, and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman is set to be sworn into office as the 44th District Attorney of Los Angeles County. As of Election Night, Hochman has defeated incumbent District Attorney George Gascon by a margin of 61% to 39%. And while these numbers may change slightly as votes continue to be tabulated over the coming weeks, this was and will remain a landslide.
Daily Journal
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Newly elected LA County DA to focus on overturning Gascon’s blanket progressive policies
Newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has listened intently for more than a year - to frustrated prosecutors, law enforcement officers and aggrieved crime victims. And now, in just over two weeks, he plans to incorporate their views as he swiftly moves the largest local prosecutorial office in the nation beyond what he describes as the “failed social experiment” of current District Attorney George Gascón.
Orange County Register
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Hochman plans to clean house in LA after routing Gascón in landslide: ‘Untie the law-enforcement officer’s hands’
It’s morning again in the City of Angels. Nathan Hochman, an assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, dethroned Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in a landslide victory last week. Hochman, running as an independent, took 61% of the vote versus a tepid 39% for the far-left Democratic prosecutor elected in 2020. The Ross LLP attorney, a criminal-justice and tax-law expert, will assume office Dec. 2.
New York Post
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California Governor Gavin Newsom delays Menendez brothers clemency decision
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will delay his decision on clemency for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989, until the newly elected Los Angeles County district attorney completes his review of the case, Newsom’s office said Monday. “The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect (Nathan) Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Newsom’s office stated.
CNN
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California lets defendants challenge racism in court. Few have succeeded
When police pulled over Tommy Bonds III on a chilly January day in 2022, the San Diego State University student had an idea why. “What’s goin’ on, bro? How you doin’?” San Diego Police Officer Ryan Cameron said as he approached the car, shining his flashlight in Bonds’ face. Bonds told Cameron he recognized him. The officer had previously stopped him for having an issue with his license plate cover, and Bonds let him know what he thought the interaction was about.
CalMatters
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Fortress’ billions quietly power America's biggest legal fights
The easy explanation for how Fortress Investment Group worked its way to the top of the polarizing, opaque business of litigation funding would be: It has a ton of money. With about $6.6 billion committed to legal assets, Fortress backs law firms behind some of history’s biggest mass tort suits, such as the Roundup cases against Bayer AG and talcum powder litigation against Johnson & Johnson. It funds other litigation funders.
Bloomberg Law
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What Donald Trump’s election could mean for the federal death penalty
Opponents of the death penalty are bracing for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, fearing it will herald a new round of federal executions in an echo of the final months of the president-elect’s first administration. Many of those advocates - who say the death penalty is applied unevenly and unfairly, among other concerns - are now appealing to President Joe Biden to commute all remaining federal death sentences, thus leaving no federal prisoners awaiting execution when Trump takes office.
CNN
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ACLU sues ICE over release of deportation program records
The ACLU on Monday sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement over public records it says were requested months ago, citing the incoming Donald Trump administration as a reason to hasten their release. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California seeks records about the agency’s ICE Air Operations. The program is comprised of what the ACLU called “a sprawling and opaque network” of privately owned planes chartered by the government to remove noncitizens from the United States.
Courthouse News Service
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Why did someone add a giant meth pipe to MacArthur Park’s Prometheus statue?
A piece of guerrilla art appeared at Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park this week, underlining the park’s reputation as a center of drugs, addiction and despair. Prometheus is known in Greek mythology for rebelliously taking fire from the gods to give to humans, but at his statue near the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street in Los Angeles on Monday, he was using it to heat an oversized meth pipe.
Los Angeles Times
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LA enacts sanctuary city ordinance to prepare for potential mass deportations under Trump
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a so-called “sanctuary city” ordinance that bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and city departments from sharing information on people without legal status with federal immigration authorities, in anticipation of potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump. Councilmembers voted unanimously on the measure, joining more than a dozen cities across the United States with similar provisions.
AP
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New analysis by LA city controller says at least $513M meant to help the homeless went unspent
Los Angeles city officials underspent on addressing homelessness by over a half billion dollars in the most recent fiscal year, according to a new analysis by the L.A. City Controller’s Office. In a news release issued Thursday, the office said it found that the city did not spend at least $513 million in public funds that were budgeted to help with the city’s homeless crisis during fiscal year 2024, out of the total $1.3 billion budgeted.
LAist
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Encampments and RVs return to Venice Library, frustrating local residents
At least six tent-like structures were counted and about a dozen individuals in a parking lot that should be closed to the public as the gates don’t appear to be locked and secured. At least a dozen or so other individuals are camped out at the building entrance in sleeping bags and at least three more tents as well. Some believe the reemergence of tents and structures at the Library is a depressing backslide of homelessness in this neighborhood plagued with encampments and RV’s for years until the facility was fenced and cleared about two years ago.
CityWatch LA
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Trump immigration policy: Will Southern California’s undocumented community face deportation?
What’s at stake for immigrant-heavy communities under President-elect Donald Trump? While the answer to that question is not yet clear, few places in the country are likely to be as deeply impacted by a second Trump presidency as California, where by some estimates, there are more undocumented immigrants than in any other state. In 2021, nearly 6 million people in California were undocumented or lived in a household with an undocumented family member.
Orange County Register
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Assassins in L.A. killed on a budget, police say
Assassins and hitmen typically conjure up images of calculating killers who hide in the shadows and carefully cover their tracks. But the alleged assassins in several recent murder-for-hire cases in Los Angeles were not the kind you’d find in John Wick or James Bond movies, my colleagues Matthew Ormseth and Libor Jany report. They were sloppy, sometimes leaving DNA at crime scenes and forgetting to turn off their phones, authorities say.
Los Angeles Times
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Shoplifting drops from historic highs, but Los Angeles stores keep getting hit
A year ago at this time, Los Angeles was suffering from an epidemic of retail theft. The Los Angeles Police Department was frequently recording more than 1,000 shoplifting reports every month, up from approximately 550 in the years before the pandemic. In August 2023 Mayor Karen Bass teamed with regional law enforcement agencies to form the Organized Retail Crimes Task Force.
Crosstown
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LAPD warns holiday shoppers of rising e-commerce robberies
As the holiday season approaches, officers with the LAPD Operations-South Bureau are warning the public to be cautious when buying and selling items online. With e-commerce transactions increasing during this time of year, police stress the importance of staying vigilant. "Each year, there are many successful e-commerce transactions, however, some of those transactions have harmful and traumatic outcomes for our community," said LAPD Cmdr. Ryan Whiteman.
ABC7
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FBI investigating whether burglaries targeting athletes are linked to transnational crime ring
The FBI is working with local law enforcement agencies to determine whether a recent spate of burglaries at the homes of professional sport stars are connected to a transnational crime ring such as one from South America, two senior law enforcement officials said. The officials said Wednesday that they have not made any determination about who exactly is responsible and that the investigation is ongoing.
NBC News
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Labor Sec. Julie Su forgives $32.6 billion in EDD debt
As Acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su has a very big eraser and she just used it wipe out her own $32.6 billion dollar mistake. While she was California’s Secretary of Labor, Su oversaw the California Employment Development Department - the EDD - which lost more than $40 billion during the pandemic to homegrown and international fraudsters. But Su recently forgave $32.6 billion of that debt. How? Because the state owed it to her federal department.
California Globe
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In-N-Out TikTok video helped lead to California officer's firing
While TikTok’s slogan is “Make every second count,” one Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer may have taken that phrase much too literally. Sixteen-year veteran Ivan D. Sarabia-Medina was fired in 2023 after an internal investigation concluded that he was routinely using (and posting to) TikTok while on duty. Not only did the officer film himself at the station and in his car, while in uniform, but he was also found to be posting to the social media app while in the drive-thru lane at In-N-Out.
SF Gate
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Federal inmates attacking prison guards in nationwide trend as lawmakers propose their solution
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced new legislation to address a shocking rate of inmate sex crimes against federal corrections officers. The Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act is a response to a Justice Department Inspector General report that found 40% of Federal Bureau of Prisons staffers said they had been sexually attacked by an inmate.
Fox News
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State, local officials prepare to launch California's new tough-on-crime laws
California is cracking down on retail theft, but implementing the legal changes enacted by voters and the legislature will fall to local governments. Why it matters: The post-pandemic crime surge may be receding, but voters signaled a rightward shift on public safety, walking back a decade-old criminal justice reform and voting two progressive prosecutors out of office.
Axios San Diego
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San Mateo County assistant sheriff resigns amid department turmoil
San Mateo County Acting Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox has stepped down from the department amid growing turmoil in the agency. KTVU confirmed this information on Friday with the Deputy Sheriff's Association. The union did not specifically say why Fox, who has spent 25 years in law enforcement in the county, is no longer with the department.
KTVU
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of reaching out to prospective witnesses from jail
Sean “Diddy” Combs has tried to reach out to prospective witnesses and influence public opinion from jail in a bid to affect potential jurors for his upcoming sex-trafficking trial, prosecutors claimed in a court filing urging a judge to reject his latest bail request. The government accusations were made late Friday in a Manhattan federal court filing that opposes the music mogul’s latest $50m bail proposal. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.
The Guardian
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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L.A. sheriff’s deputy avoids jail in shooting death of suicidal man
An L.A. County sheriff’s deputy will avoid jail time in the 2021 shooting death of a suicidal man under the terms of a plea deal reached with prosecutors Tuesday morning. Remin Pineda will be placed on two years of probation and must give up his right to be a police officer in California after pleading no contest to one count of assault with a firearm and one count of assault under color of authority, prosecutors said.
Los Angeles Times
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Former VA police officer gets year in prison for beating man with baton 45 times
A former Veterans Affairs Police Department officer was sentenced Friday to one year in prison for beating a man at the hospital with his baton more than 40 times in under a minute. Juan Anthony Carillo of Alhambra pleaded guilty in July to depriving the 34-year-old victim of his rights and excessive force. The 12-month sentence is the maximum for the charges.
Fox11
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Distributer of encrypted phones bugged by feds handed a prison sentence
A man who distributed bugged phones to Colombian drug traffickers and money launderers as part of a bizarre international FBI sting operation was sentenced to over five years in prison for racketeering and conspiracy in a San Diego federal courtroom. “Your honor, I want to say sorry to my family,” said Osemah Elhassen during Friday’s hearing. “I was naive and I lost everything.”
Courthouse News Service
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An actor, her boyfriend and a multimillion-dollar fraud that ended in prison and death
The judge called her a “predator,” scolded her for her spinelessness and sentenced an actor Monday to 90 months in prison - more than twice what prosecutors had requested - for her role in a multimillion-dollar fraud against a mentally ill doctor who wound up dead. During a sentencing hearing Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said the 7½-year prison sentence was necessary for Anna Rene Moore to reflect the seriousness of the offense against a “vulnerable victim.”
Los Angeles Times
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Suing to recover billions, FTX’s receiver discloses the stunning scale of its grift - and stupidity
Once the highest-flying of cryptocurrency highfliers, the FTX crypto exchange is now in bankruptcy. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is in prison, along with a couple of his cronies. Its customers will receive some of their money back, but are still toting up their losses. You might think that all means an end to the FTX story. You would be wrong.
Los Angeles Times
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CNN wants federal court to take up Robinson defamation case
CNN wants to move its North Carolina defamation case to federal court, saying the lawsuit brought against the network by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was improperly filed in state court. The network on Thursday filed a notice of removal in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, arguing that the lawsuit belongs in federal court because CNN isn’t based in North Carolina and it alleges that a separate North Carolina-based defendant was “fraudulently joined” in the suit.
WRAL
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More Americans getting political news from influencers: Pew
One in five American adults now source their news primarily from influencers on social media sites, according to a Pew Research study published Monday. And there's an age divide: 37% of those under 30 say their political news comes from influencers, according to researchers who polled more than 10,658 Americans this summer in the midst of the 2024 election news cycle.
Courthouse News Service
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Mystery L.A. celebrity says lawyer for accusers of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs tried to extort a payout
A Los Angeles-based celebrity who is keeping his identity secret is suing an attorney representing 120 alleged victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging the lawyer tried to extort a payout in return for not identifying him as a sexual abuser tied to the hip-hop mogul. The celebrity - referred to in the lawsuit as a “high-profile individual” and identified only as John Doe through his lawyers - says Houston attorney Tony Buzbee wrote demand letters in which he made “wildly false horrific allegations.”
Los Angeles Times
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