Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
NRA sues California over alleged Glock ban aimed at illegal machine gun ‘switches'
Gun rights organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new California law that bans certain types of Glock-style semiautomatic firearms. The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, prohibits the sale of semiautomatic pistols with a "cruciform trigger bar" - a feature that allows gun owners to attach a device, commonly called a switch, that boosts the weapon's firepower and converts it into a machine gun capable of spraying dozens of bullets in a fraction of a second.
Los Angeles Times
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Judge shuts down California tribes’ latest bid to crush their casino rivals
Over the years, casino-owning tribes have spent millions in court, in the Legislature and at the ballot box trying unsuccessfully to force their only competitors out of California’s casino business. A judge today blocked their latest effort. Last year, tribes persuaded the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow them to sue gambling halls called card rooms over the tribes’ claim that they have exclusive rights to offer Las Vegas-style gambling in the state.
CalMatters
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Warrantless search of tent pitched on sidewalk was lawful
Police had no need to obtain a warrant to search a tent pitched on a public sidewalk, Div. Six of the Court of Appeal for this district declared yesterday, upholding the drug-dealing conviction of a man who resided in the structure. Justice Hernaldo J. Baltodano authored the unpublished opinion which rejects the contention of defendant Sheridan Maki that Los Angeles police violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Ninth Circuit reverses course on anti-SLAPP denial appeals
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday changed its longstanding precedent on whether it has jurisdiction to immediately hear appeals of denials of anti-SLAPP motions brought under California law in federal courts. An en banc panel of 11 judges unanimously concluded that a district judge’s denial of a motion to strike under the California anti-SLAPP statute doesn’t satisfy the requirements for an interlocutory appeal under the so-called collateral order doctrine, which allows certain decisions by trial judges that do not end a case to be appealed immediately.
Courthouse News Service
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LA County quietly paid a $2 million settlement to its CEO in ‘confidential’ deal
L.A. County officials quietly approved a settlement deal that paid $2 million to the county’s CEO almost two months ago, LAist has learned. CEO Fesia Davenport was issued the check in August to compensate her for damages she claimed - including alleged harm to “reputation, embarrassment and emotional distress,” according to records LAist obtained from the county.
LAist
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Settlement talks fail ahead of trial pitting Tyler Skaggs' family against the Angels
At its core, a civil suit is about money. Nobody pleads guilty. Nobody goes to prison. Somebody either pays somebody else or doesn’t. That's why roughly 95% of civil suits nationwide reach a settlement ahead of or during trial, legal experts say. Pretrial discovery is usually comprehensive and mediation can produce agreements.
Los Angeles Times
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Getty Villa, several others added as defendants to Palisades fire lawsuit
The master lawsuit in the Palisades fire has added several new defendants who are being blamed for overgrown brush, toppled wooden power poles, natural gas explosions and a lack of water, all contributing to the mammoth blaze. The lawsuit, originally naming the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, now also is taking aim at the Getty Villa, SoCalGas, Southern California Edison, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, three communications companies and others.
Los Angeles Daily News
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L.A. County to pay out an additional $828 million for victims of alleged sexual abuse
Los Angeles County is poised to pay out an additional $828 million to victims who say they were sexually abused in county facilities as children, months after agreeing to the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history. The award, posted on the county claims board agenda Friday, would resolve an additional 414 cases that were not included in the $4-billion sex abuse settlement approved this spring.
Los Angeles Times
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LADA charges 13 LA County employees with stealing over $430,000 in unemployment benefits
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged 13 Los Angeles County employees from seven different agencies with felony grand theft for stealing a combined $437,383 in state unemployment benefits between 2020 and 2023. “As government employees, we have an obligation to uphold the public’s trust,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Los Angeles city attorney files suit against property owner for alleged gang activity in South LA
In a move to quash the persistent gang violence in South Los Angeles, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has filed a civil enforcement action targeting the proprietor of a notorious strip mall on the Figueroa corridor. The lawsuit levels serious accusations at the owner, Eric Ghayam, also known as Omid Ghayam, for harboring violent gang activities for over a decade.
Hoodline
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Man accused of maliciously igniting Palisades fire faces new charges, up to 45 years in prison
The man accused of intentionally igniting the devastating Palisades fire, which killed a dozen people, has been indicted on three felony charges and faces the prospect of up to 45 years in prison, authorities said. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was arrested Oct. 7 and charged with destruction of property by means of fire for allegedly starting a blaze in Temescal Canyon on New Year's Day that went on to become the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history.
Los Angeles Times
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DA seeks to consolidate case against hit-and-run suspect
Prosecutors are trying to consolidate the legal efforts against a Santa Clarita Valley man charged with fatally striking a motorcyclist in one case and then allegedly beating up a witness who testified against him and driving away in the victim’s car, more than two years ago. Deputy District Attorney Kevin Sexton filed a motion to make one trial for a pair of cases against James Preston Fulton, 61.
The Signal
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Mother charged with murder for 2-year-old son's fentanyl death in Palmdale
A young mother is facing murder charges in the death of her 2-year-old son who died by ingesting fentanyl in 2023 in Palmdale. The child's mother, 23-year-old Anaie Flores, was arrested for murder last Thursday. Flores faced a judge Monday to be arraigned, but there was no plea and the arraignment was postponed Oct. 28. She is being held on $2 million bail.
ABC7
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USC grad student accused of drugging, raping 3 women over several years
A USC graduate student has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women, and police are now searching for any additional possible victims. The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Chinese national Sizhe Weng, was arrested Aug. 28, police said at a news conference Wednesday morning outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.
ABC7
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Fraud, lies, and luxury buys: Feds nab L.A. developers in homeless cash scandal
Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced criminal charges and arrests in two separate cases alleging the theft and misuse of millions in taxpayer funds intended to combat California’s homelessness crisis - marking what authorities called the beginning of sweeping federal accountability efforts.
Westside Current
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Reputed Mexican Mafia member long ago linked to mysterious killing, testimony reveals
A mystery has lingered for the 15 years since Hermilio Franco, a small-time actor and nightclub owner, was gunned down in the bedroom of his Downey home. On Nov. 3, 2010, Franco pulled a chrome-plated .45 from under his pillow and opened fire on two armed intruders. The shootout left Franco dead and one of his attackers paralyzed. The other slipped out a back door, apparently never identified.
Los Angeles Times
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California’s Prop. 36 promised ‘mass treatment’ for defendants. A new study shows how it’s going
It’s been nearly a year since Californians overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime measure providing what backers called “mass treatment” for those facing certain drug charges. But few defendants have found a clear path to recovery under the law, according to new data released by the state. Prop. 36 gave prosecutors the ability to charge people convicted of various third-time drug offenses with a so-called treatment-mandated felony, which would give them a choice between behavioral health treatment or up to three years in jail or prison.
CalMatters
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How LAPD’s Special-Order No. 3 undermines public safety - and why it’s time to push back
After twenty-three years as an LAPD sergeant, I’ve seen policies come and go - some good, some bad, and some that quietly chipped away at the core of what policing is supposed to be. But none have frustrated me quite like Special Order No. 3, the department’s new directive on so-called pretextual stops. This policy, sold to the public as “reform,” is in reality a dangerous political maneuver that undermines both public safety and the men and women sworn to protect it.
CityWatch
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Citing fire risk, Malibu wants to arrest homeless people who refuse to stop camping illegally
On Monday morning, a homeless man sat in front of the county courthouse in Malibu, where he sleeps each night. In front of him was a small, green propane tank affixed with a torch, which he said he uses to cook and form wood pipes for tobacco and cannabis. A short walk away is Legacy Park, an oasis of coastal prairies, bluffs and native woodlands. The Santa Monica Mountains rose in the backdrop.
Los Angeles Times
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30 California district attorneys sign letter of opposition to Proposition 50
District attorneys across California are uniting to oppose Proposition 50, a measure that would temporarily change how California draws its congressional districts ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections. 30 of the 58 district attorneys in California have signed a letter in opposition of the proposition, including five from Northern California.
Action News Now
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Does transmission still matter for mandates? The Ninth Circuit doesn’t think so
For more than a century, the government’s claimed power to coerce medical intervention rested on a single premise: protecting others. That was the logic of Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), which upheld a $5 fine for refusing a smallpox vaccine. Even then, the Court tethered that extraordinary power to one condition: the vaccine had to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease.
California Globe
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Justices seem willing to allow candidate to challenge elections law on mail-in ballots
At Wednesday’s argument in Bost v. Illinois Board of Elections, not many of the justices worked hard to hide their cards. It appears there is a substantial majority, perhaps as many as seven justices, leaning toward reversing the lower federal courts’ holding that Rep. Michael Bost, a Republican member of Congress, lacked a legal right to sue, known as standing, to challenge an Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they arrive as many as 14 days later.
SCOTUSblog
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Property crime and violent crime have different solutions - here’s why
We can see it in the local news, and we sense it when we walk or drive through our communities: Some neighborhoods are more crime-ridden than others. But why do some blocks seem to attract thefts, assaults and shootings, and what can be done to make everyone safer? Two economists working in very different cities have explored the motivations and triggers behind different types of crime to try to get at answers.
Knowable Magazine
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Mayor Bass seeks measure ULA exemption for Palisades fire victims
Mayor Karen Bass called on City Council to adopt an ordinance that would assist in establishing a “one-time exemption to Measure ULA” for Pacific Palisades homeowners, as announced Thursday, October 9. The “Measure United to House Los Angeles” was approved by voters in the city of Los Angeles in November 2022 to create a real estate transfer tax.
Palisadian-Post
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Supreme Court won’t weigh California takedown of ‘misleading’ 2020 election video
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a conservative legal group’s bid to revive its lawsuit against California over its secretary of state’s removal of a “misleading” video in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. Judicial Watch claimed in its 2022 lawsuit that an office under California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) caused YouTube to remove one of its “election integrity” videos weeks before the contest, in violation of the group’s First Amendment rights.
The Hill
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LA County declares state of emergency because of ICE raids
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency in the county because of the federal immigration roundups happening in the area. The county declaration said it found a 62% drop in average weekly earnings among immigrants and 71% had returned to work, though they feared deportation. "We have entire families who are destitute because their fathers or mothers were taken from their workplaces," said Supervisor Janice Hahn, CBS News reported.
UPI
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When police are bad drivers: LAPD crashes kill - and payouts soar past $90 million
The last memory Richard Paper has from the day of the crash was going for a walk that morning. The next thing he remembers after that day last summer was waking up in a hospital bed. Weeks had passed. Only later did he learn that he and his brother Stephen had been badly injured when an LAPD squad broadsided their car as they made a left turn through a San Fernando Valley intersection.
Los Angeles Times
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OC Supervisors to consider hiring outside firm to audit Andrew Do-era contracts
The Orange County Board of Supervisors could decide at its meeting this week between several firms bidding to carry out a forensic audit of county contracts under former Supervisor Andrew Do’s tenure. Quick catchup: Do is currently serving a five-year sentence in federal prison for accepting kickbacks in exchange for directing lucrative county contracts to a nonprofit associated with his adult daughter, Rhiannon Do.
LAist
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CHP closes investigation; deputy’s family files complaint
Despite a lengthy search, California Highway Patrol officers have not been able to locate additional witnesses in the fatal three-car crash on San Francisquito Canyon Road in May, according to Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez, a spokesman for the CHP Newhall-area Office. There are no charges expected to be presented for consideration as a result of the investigation into the May 20 incident, he said in a phone interview Monday.
The Signal
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Burglary suspects walk across building ledge seven stories up to avoid arrest, police say
It was a scene so unusual the cops had to stop and take a picture. In downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, police investigating a string of residential burglaries happened upon their suspects as they tried to make a daring escape. When officers searched a seventh-floor apartment and stepped out onto the apartment balcony, there they found their suspects - huddled and trying to stay out of view on a neighboring balcony.
Los Angeles Times
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How a brutal Grindr date helped LAPD link a man to two unsolved killings
When his date pulled out handcuffs, the man thought it was for consensual sex. He submitted to having his wrists cuffed and ankles bound together. Then the other man pulled out a baseball bat. The Feb. 22 incident, recounted in a detective’s affidavit, began on Grindr, a hookup app for gay men. It ended with the handcuffed man badly injured - but alive.
Los Angeles Times
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Southern California man arrested for alleged rape, kidnapping of intoxicated woman
A Ventura County man was arrested for allegedly raping a woman who was intoxicated. The suspect was identified as Eddie Alfredo Cortez, 22, of Oxnard, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. On Sept. 11, the victim, a 21-year-old Oxnard woman, reported to authorities that she had been sexually assaulted by Cortez. Following an investigation, detectives learned that Cortez had been communicating with the victim through social media before they decided to meet in person.
KTLA
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Stolen cargo van loaded with $200,000 in Apple products from Arizona found in L.A.
A traffic stop in Los Angeles on Thursday led to two people being taken into custody and officers finding a truck full of $200,000 worth of Apple products, according to the California Highway Patrol. Two suspects are accused of stealing the Apple goods from a cargo truck near Sparks, Nev., earlier in the day and then driving roughly 460 miles into California before they were located, authorities announced in a news release.
Los Angeles Times
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Organized crime rings drive street takeovers by using kids to steal cars for wild stunts: expert
Authorities are racing to pump the brakes on a startling trend involving organized criminals using stolen vehicles to terrorize communities, with videos of chaotic street takeovers wreaking havoc from Boston to Los Angeles garnering millions of views online. The takeovers - which are typically organized on social media - often involve dozens of motorists, motorcycle riders or cyclists commandeering local roadways, with several instances of stolen vehicles being used in street races.
Fox News
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Orange County house sitters arrested for allegedly stealing items, including Babe Ruth-signed baseball, from clients
Orange County authorities have arrested a couple who allegedly stole expensive items, including a Babe Ruth-signed baseball and a rare comic book collection, from the clients of their house-sitting service. Luis Antepara and Ashley Luhring, who used Trusted Housesitters to connect with homeowners seeking a caretaker, were arrested for allegedly stealing from five different homes across Southern California, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
CBS LA
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3 arrested in connection with Los Angeles shooting victim found on 405 Freeway embankment
Three people have been arrested in connection with a dead body that was found on a 405 Freeway embankment in the Lawndale part of Los Angeles' South Bay area back in May, according to police. Detectives were called to the scene of the shooting, which happened near the southbound lanes of the freeway, just north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, back on May 27, according to a social media post from the California Highway Patrol's Southern Division Special Services.
CBS LA
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LAPD warns Jeep Wrangler owners after increase in vehicle thefts
Los Angeles Police Department officers have issued a warning to Westside residents after noticing a "troubling rise" in vehicle thefts, specifically those involving Jeep Wranglers. Police say that newer model Wranglers are being more frequently targeted, especially in the West Los Angeles region, according to a community alert shared by LAPD's Wilshire Station on social media.
CBS LA
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Federal government to withhold $40M from California for not enforcing trucker English requirements
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he will withhold $40 million from California because it is the only state that is failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers. An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn on August 12 found what Duffy called significant failures in the way California is enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
Associated Press
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Donald Trump has the right to determine which cities are safe for the World Cup, FIFA tells Sky News
FIFA has told Sky News the US government does have the right to determine if cities are safe for the World Cup - after Donald Trump threatened to remove the Boston area from hosting. The US president stepped up his criticism of crime in Democrat-run cities at the White House after previously claiming California could be stripped of matches at the FIFA event next year, and at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Sky News
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California expands privacy protections as Democratic-led states resist Trump’s immigration agenda
Immigrants selling food, flowers and other merchandise along the sidewalks of California will have new privacy protections intended to keep their identities secret from federal immigration agents. The measure, signed into law this past week by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, comes on the heels of other recently enacted state laws meant to shield students in schools and patients at health care facilities from the reach of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.
Associated Press
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Families protest in hope of Proposition 57 reform
On the corner of Blackstone and Nees, families lined the sidewalk, demanding changes to Proposition 57 on Saturday. "All of us have our own story and we're just trying to bring awareness to the fact that it's just light sentencing for horrific crimes," said one victim's mother. Prop 57 was approved by California voters in 2016. It gave judges the power to decide if a minor should be tried as an adult instead of prosecutors.
KFSN
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DEA promoted L.A. agent who pointed gun at colleague despite history of issues
David Doherty was standing at his desk inside the Los Angeles headquarters of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration when a supervisor from another office stormed in hurling profanities. Doherty testified at a preliminary hearing in a San Fernando courtroom earlier this year that a fellow agent, James Young, got "face to face" with Doherty and challenged him to a fight without provocation.
Los Angeles Times
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US revokes visas of over 50 Mexican politicians in drug cartel crackdown
The Trump administration revoked visas from 50 Mexican politicians amid its crack down on transnational narcotic sales. Sitting lawmakers including Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, Nogales Mayor Juan Francisco Gim and former state and federal deputy Carlos Torres Torres had their travel documents revoked, according to the Mexico News Daily. More than a dozen others have also seen their visas revoked, according to Reuters.
The Hill
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Father of missing baby Emmanuel Haro pleads guilty
A Cabazon man accused of killing his 7-month-old baby changed his plea Thursday, a month after his wife triggered an investigation after claiming the toddler was kidnapped. Jake Mitchell Haro, 32, and Rebecca Rene Haro, 41, were arrested last month following an investigation into the disappearance of baby Emmanuel. Along with murder, both are charged with filing a false police report.
NBC LA
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Man receives life sentence for murdering bank executive in Reseda
A man who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend - a prominent banking executive who was found dead inside her Reseda home - was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Anthony Duwayne Turner, now 57 and himself a former banking executive, was found guilty Aug. 12 of first-degree murder, burglary and forcible rape stemming from the August 2021 killing of Michelle Annette Avan, a senior vice president for Bank of America, just over four years ago.
MyNewsLA
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Santa Clarita man gets 17 years in nation’s 1st criminal case involving a death from protonitazene
A Santa Clarita man was sentenced Friday to 17 1/2 years in federal prison in what’s considered the nation’s first criminal case involving a death caused by the synthetic opioid protonitazene. Benjamin Anthony Collins, 22, pleaded guilty in June in downtown Los Angeles to a single federal count of distribution of protonitazene resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
City News Service
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Ex-Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel again denied parole by Newsom for role in 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has again denied the parole of Patricia Krenwinkel, the longest-serving female inmate in the state and a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson, citing ongoing concerns about her insight and risk to public safety.
CBS Sacramento
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California resident gets over 8 years in prison for attempt to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh
A California resident who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home was sentenced Friday to over eight years in prison by a federal judge, who imposed a punishment that is significantly more lenient than the Justice Department’s recommendation. Sophie Roske, a transgender woman charged under her legal name, Nicholas Roske, had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Associated Press
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It’s official - traffic lights with four colors and a new white light are coming, and they will change the way we drive forever
What are the colors of a traffic light? Red, yellow, and green, right? We all know that red means stop, with yellow we slow down, and when it’s green we can go. However, this could change very soon since scientists from the North Carolina State University (NC State) have proposed adding a fourth color: white.
Union Rayo
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Legal experts say Trump DOJ tweets make life harder for prosecutors
Late Wednesday night, federal prosecutors tried to put out a fire in one of their marquee cases. A federal judge had scrutinized Department of Justice officials for sharing inflammatory social media posts about Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of Manhattan last year.
Courthouse News Service
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