Courts & Rulings
C.A. Justice Raphael says colleagues are wasting time
A Court of Appeal justice on Friday accused his colleagues of wasting the division’s time and resources in combing the record, in response to an appeal from a post judgment motion, to see if some issue could be spotted that the appointed counsel for an inmate missed. Justice Michael J. Raphael of the Fourth District’s Div. Two expressed his disgruntlement in a dissent to an opinion by Justice Art W. McKinister, in which Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez joined. The opinions were not certified for publication.
Judge blocks California law allowing gun owners' personal information to be shared with researchers
A state law providing the names and other identifying information of gun owners in California to researchers studying the effectiveness of gun-violence restraining orders has been blocked by a judge, who says it may violate the owners’ privacy rights. The information, which also includes the addresses, phone numbers, fingerprints and any criminal records of the more than 4 million Californians who own firearms, is collected by the state attorney general’s office, which uses it for background checks on purchases and for studies of the relationships between gun ownership, homicides and suicides.
California justices want judges to demand subpoena for testimony
State judges asked to file declarations in a habeas action on behalf of a criminal defendant they represented before taking the bench should require a subpoena to comply, a California Supreme Court opinion recommends. The goal is to avoid the appearance of impropriety even if the declaration will contain only factual testimony, the court’s Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions advisory opinion issued Wednesday said.
Judge dismisses retaliation lawsuit by California prisoner who helped organize statewide hunger strike
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a California prisoner who helped end indefinite solitary confinement in the state penal system, ruling he’d failed to prove that he was sent to solitary confinement because of his political activism. U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued a summary judgment in favor of the state prison system and various officials sued by 59-year-old Todd Ashker, who filed his lawsuit in late 2020.
Mentally ill man will be executed after high court denies stay
Despite warnings from attorneys that their client is not competent, the Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block the execution of a man who snapped the spine of his 9-month-old child after she interrupted him playing video games. No justice offered any dissent or opinion this morning in denying the emergency application and certiorari petition from Benjamin Cole. Now 57, Cole was sentenced him to death in 2004 for the first-degree murder of of his daughter shortly before Christmas in 2002.
Suit against ex-city politico for extortion may continue
The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday affirmed the denial of an anti-SLAPP motion filed by a political consultant/lobbyist who is being sued by a multi-state marijuana outfit for extortion, claiming it was denied a license to manufacture and sell its products in the City of Commerce because it refused to pay the man a kickback. Presiding Justice Dennis M. Perluss of Div. Seven authored the opinion, which was not certified for publication.
Bid to block California ban on firearms ads for minors on thin ice
A bid by the publisher of Junior Shooters magazine and other Second Amendment advocates to halt enforcement of a recent California law that prohibits marketing firearms to minors looks unlikely to succeed. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, at a hearing Monday in Los Angeles, tentatively denied the request for a preliminary injunction against enactment of Assembly Bill 2571, which Junior Sports Magazines Inc. and the other plaintiffs allege unfairly targets pro-Second Amendment organizations by barring any kind of industry advertising designed to make firearms appealing to minors.
C.A. affirms $818,084 award for late settlement payment
The Third District Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed a $1.4 million judgment that includes $818,084 in liquidated damages based on a failure to make payment of $575,000 under a medical malpractice settlement agreement, rejecting the defendants’ contention that the late-fee is an unenforceable penalty. Those defendants, two doctors and a medical spa, did not contest the award of the past-due $575,000 but insisted that Placer Superior Court Judge Charles Wachob improperly tacked on damages based on $50,000 per month/$1,644 per day in waiting time.
Ninth Circuit reverses dismissal of lawsuit challenging unwanted business texts holding TCPA protection extends to business entities
On October 12, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision, reversing the dismissal of a lawsuit on the grounds that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) does not extend to unwanted business texts. In Chennette v. Porch.com, the Ninth Circuit held TCPA statutory protections extend not only to individuals, but also to business entities.
Gang member's conviction upheld for Venice boardwalk killing
A state appeals court panel today upheld a gang member's conviction for the August 2015 Venice boardwalk shooting death of a young man hoping to break into the music business. The three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the evidence presented to the jury of Francisco C. Guzman's guilt was "overwhelming.’'
Judge unduly limited punitive damages in consumer suit
Punitive damages awarded in diversity actions brought in U.S. district courts under California consumer protection statutes need not be influenced to any appreciable extent by the maximum civil penalties that are set forth in two of those statutes, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday, taking the unusual step of itself setting the amount of such damages to be awarded five plaintiffs in actions against Volkswagen.
Squeegee workers harass federal judge overseeing BPD consent decree, police report says
The federal judge overseeing the Baltimore police consent decree had to call officers after squeegee workers harassed him Sunday, the 11 News I-Team confirmed. According to a police report obtained by the I-Team, police labeled the incident a disorderly conduct case. The report states Chief District Judge James Bredar and his wife repeatedly refused service just before 2 p.m. at the intersection of Mount Royal and West North avenues when two squeegee workers became aggressive to the point where the couple felt the need to call police.
Ethics committee warns against aiding ex-client with laudatory comments absent subpoena
The California Supreme Court’s Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions yesterday issued an expedited opinion advising that if a judge is asked to vouch for the character of a former client in a declaration that will be used in a habeas corpus proceeding, compliance may take place only if a subpoena is presented. “The California Code of Judicial Ethics provides that a judicial officer may not submit a declaration in a habeas corpus action absent a subpoena if the declaration will contain character testimony regarding the criminal defendant,” the opinion declares.
Trump allegedly engaged in 'conspiracy to defraud' US, knew fraud claim was wrong
A California federal judge has found evidence that former President Donald Trump allegedly engaged in "a conspiracy to defraud the United States," ordering the transfer of four emails from Trump attorney John Eastman to the House committee investigating the Capitol attacks. In an 18-page order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter said the emails were used to press false claims of voter fraud in Georgia even though "President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong" and that Trump "continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public."
Prosecutors
DA says nearly half the felons from his county, released under Prop 57, have now reoffended. (Video)
When voters approved Prop. 57, CDCR said inmates would earn early release credits for rehabilitation and good behavior, but critics argue that's not the case anymore. In second of a two-part series, new data reveals nearly half of the felons from one local county, released under Prop 57, have now reoffended.
San Francisco and Los Angeles D.A.s will appeal to revive lawsuit over fraudulent disability claims
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Thursday that San Francisco and Los Angeles County will appeal a judge’s dismissal of a suit accusing a law firm of profiteering by fraudulently targeting small businesses with thousands of baseless disability claims. The suit, filed in April by then-San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his Los Angeles counterpart, George Gascón, accused the San Diego-based Potter Handy law firm of fleecing small business owners for years with suits based on fabricated evidence, using clients who in most cases had never even visited the stores they alleged lacked accommodations for the disabled.
Election software CEO is charged with allegedly giving Chinese contractors data access
Prosecutors in Los Angeles say Konnech, a small company that makes software for scheduling election workers, has illegally given its contractors in China access to sensitive data as part of a "massive data breach." A defense attorney said the prosecution was relying on dubious information from "one of the more discredited election deniers.” Now, amid the allegations, a number of localities across the U.S. are weighing whether to ditch Konnech's software with just weeks until Election Day.
Pomona hate crime and assault suspect arrested, charged
A 33-year-old man has been charged with trying to kill a 74-year-old Black security guard during an alleged hate crime attack in a Pomona parking lot, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday. Jose Manuel Quezada Jr. is set to be arraigned Nov. 15 in a Pomona courtroom on one felony count each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse and one misdemeanor count of exhibiting a deadly weapon, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Felon faces multiple charges in LA crime spree where carjacking victim was dragged to death, Reseda shooting
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Wednesday three people have been charged in connection with a murder in Reseda earlier this year, and one of the suspects also faces additional charges after a 63-year-old man was dragged to death during a wild pursuit in South Los Angeles last week. Joshua Reneau, 31, Derek Lateef Hall, 28, and Miracole Brown, 20, were each charged with one count of murder, five counts of assault with a firearm, and two counts of second-degree robbery stemming from a shooting in Reseda in July.
California woman charged with using convicted killer Scott Peterson's name to claim benefits
A California woman was charged with using the names of convicted killers, including Scott Peterson, to collect more than $145,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits - a small but headline-grabbing part of more than $20 billion stolen in similar scams during the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said Wednesday. Brandy Iglesias made her initial court appearance Wednesday on 10 charges including grand theft, forgery, identity theft and making false statements, the California attorney general’s office announced.
L.A. woman brutally raped by man who was released from police custody hours earlier
A Torrance, Calif. woman was brutally beaten and raped in July by a man who was arrested mere hours before the assault for possessing a weapon, but was immediately released from custody. Marissa Young, 46, told the Daily Breeze that she fought for her life for nearly half an hour in an abandoned Torrance park at night as the alleged perpetrator, Darrell Dean Waters of Los Angeles, punched her in the face repeatedly and eventually forced her to perform oral sex.
Man accused in PnB Rock's murder is booked in LA after being arrested in Las Vegas
The man accused in PnB Rock's slaying on Sept. 13 as the rapper ate at Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles in LA has been transported from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, where he faces murder charges. On Tuesday, Freddie Lee Trone was officially arrested on suspicion of murder in Los Angeles with bail set at $3 million, the LAPD said. Trone was one of three suspects including a teen who were arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon creating Racial Justice Act section
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is creating a racial justice section in response to an expansion of the state's Racial Justice Act. The Racial Justice Act Section will be established within the DA's Habeas Corpus Litigation Team (HABLIT) Section to deal with the "considerable volume of petitions for habeas relief" expected under the recent expansion of the Racial Justice Act, according to a Thursday memo to prosecutors from Gascon's chief of staff Joseph Iniguez.
Federal grand jury issues new indictment in Conception boat fire
The captain of the P/V Conception - a Santa Barbara-based dive boat that caught fire near Santa Cruz Island in 2019, resulting in the deaths of 33 passengers and one crew member - was indicted today by a federal grand jury on a charge of misconduct or neglect of ship officer. The one-count indictment naming Jerry Nehl Boylan, 68, of Santa Barbara, alleges a series of failures and the abandoning of his ship, which constituted “misconduct, gross negligence, and inattention to his duties” and led to the deaths of 34 victims.
Suspected Stockton serial killer charged with 3 murders, prosecutors say
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Northern California man with fatally shooting three men whom police have said were among six victims slain by a serial killer over the past year and a half. Wesley Brownlee, 43, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings dating back to April 2021. Police had been conducting surveillance on him Saturday as he drove through the streets of Stockton, armed with a handgun and possibly "out hunting" for another victim.
SF DA Brooke Jenkins removes veteran judge from new juvenile cases
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office has been taking steps to remove one of the state’s most experienced judges from juvenile cases in Superior Court, claiming he is biased against the prosecution but not offering any evidence or explanation for its action. Judge J. Anthony Kline, a 42-year judicial veteran, retired from the First District Court of Appeal last December, then agreed to serve for a year on the juvenile court in San Francisco, a term due to end in February.
Los Angeles City/County
Gascón recall committee accuses Logan of obstructionism
The Committee to Support the Recall of District Attorney George Gascón has filed a petition for writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in which it accuses the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder of obstructing the effort of the committee to determine if signatures on recall petitions were erroneously rejected to the point of rendering completion of the task impossible.
LAFD misconduct cases (Video)
More and more L.A. city firefighters have been accused of misconduct in recent years, and the fire department says it’s struggling to keep up with the number of cases. Eric Leonard reports on the NBC4 News at 3pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
LA Sheriff says his department is being defunded - others disagree. Here's what data and experts say
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is saying his department is being defunded. He regularly holds press conferences and live Facebook events addressing the issue. But Villanueva is not alone: police leaders, politicians and others have made similar claims. Yet, his department's budget was nearly $260 million higher in fiscal year 2022 than it was in 2019, before protests erupted in Los Angeles and across the country.
LASD lieutenant files court papers against County, sheriff over dog death
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department lieutenant, the latest of several department members to claim to be a whistleblower over wrongdoing within the department, filed court papers Monday against the county and Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Lt. Joseph Garrido's still unofficial Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges whistleblower retaliation, civil rights violations, violation of the state Civil Code and intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, false light and defamation.
Union calls leak of racist recordings illegal, but LAPD has not been asked to find culprit
Even though Los Angeles labor officials have called the leak of racist recordings involving three L.A. City Councilmembers a serious crime, the Los Angeles Police Department is not investigating who recorded and posted the clips because no one has filed a police report. The recordings took place at the offices of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has called the leak “illegal” and vowed to have those involved prosecuted.
Captain who won $4 million in harassment case now target of lawsuit
A Los Angeles Police Department captain recently awarded $4 million by jurors who found she was harassed by the internal circulation of a photo of a nude woman falsely purported to be her is the focus of a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a detective who alleges the captain targeted the plaintiff for harassment. Detective Cecilia Cleveland's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges whistleblower retaliation, harassment, discrimination and failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
Policy/Legal/Political
Former New York police commissioner blames liberal district attorneys for rising crime
Left-wing district attorneys implementing policies such as bail reform bear significant responsibility for the nationwide spike in crime, former New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton argued. Many cities’ district attorneys sympathetic to “criminal justice reform” are releasing criminals who should be in jail, Bratton told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo in an interview aired Monday. Such cities have borne the brunt of the crime wave thanks to bail reforms and other criminal justice reforms, he said.
Bonta floats changing definition of violent crime
If this week is any indication, Attorney General Rob Bonta is on a mission. On Wednesday, he announced that his office would conduct an independent investigation into last year’s redistricting in the city of Los Angeles following the explosive publication of a secretly recorded meeting in which three city council members and an influential labor leader could be heard making racist comments, insulting their colleagues and plotting how to draw city council district boundaries to consolidate Latino political power.
Courts likely will be needed to force OC to fix illegal use of jailhouse informants, experts say
U.S. justice officials likely will ask the courts to force Orange County prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies to impose reforms outlined in a blistering report that condemned the agencies for systematically violating defendants’ rights by illegally using jailhouse informants, experts say. The six-year probe by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the agencies have not gone far enough to correct or prevent the violations and do not have the level of cooperation needed to fix the problems.
Crime/Public Safety
Violent crimes involving guns drive recent rise in crime
Crime in California has fluctuated greatly since the beginning of the pandemic, as it has elsewhere in the country. A troubling rise in some violent crime - with gun-related homicides up 52% and aggravated assaults surging 64% since 2019 - may be driving concern among Californians heading into the mid-term election. Nearly two in three Californians now call violence and street crime in their local community a problem.
Woman stabbed, dog killed by man with sword in Mid-Wilshire neighborhood
A woman who was stabbed with a sword in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday night was attacked by her own son, a family member told KTLA Wednesday. The incident was reported just before midnight in the 1200 block of South Victoria Avenue. Officers arrived to find a 23-year-old man with a weapon that appeared to be a sword or a machete, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Lomeli said.
New details show sprawling web of corruption in Southern California cannabis licensing
As a California lawmaker called for a statewide task force to crack down on corruption in the legal cannabis market, new details are emerging in a bribery scandal that has ensnared local government officials from the Inland Empire to the San Gabriel Valley and southeast Los Angeles County. Federal prosecutors have unveiled two plea agreements that detail pay-to-play schemes involving cannabis business licensing and corroborate allegations in a Times investigation last month that examined how legalization of weed unleashed a wave of corruption across California.
California/National
Auditor: Systemic failures harm CA domestic violence program
Nearly half of California domestic violence offenders failed to complete a required program designed to prevent future assaults and judges failed to impose new sanctions almost every time, the state auditor said Tuesday. California requires domestic violence offenders who are placed on probation to take year-long batterer intervention classes. But auditors found that nearly half did not complete them.
State Bar complaint filed against SF interim D.A. Jenkins by retired judge
A retired judge has filed a State Bar complaint against interim San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. The complaint alleges Jenkins violated State Bar rules and the Business and Professions code through acts of dishonesty. Retired Superior Court Judge Martha Goldin filed the complaint on Thursday. The misconduct allegations outlined in the complaint date back to a case Jenkins prosecuted in 2014 as the assistant district attorney.
FBI raids star ABC News producer’s home
Multiple sources familiar with the matter say Meek was the target of an FBI raid at the Siena Park apartments, where he had been living on the top floor for more than a decade. An FBI representative told Rolling Stone its agents were present on the morning of April 27 “at the 2300 block of Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia, conducting court-authorized law-enforcement activity. The FBI cannot comment further due to an ongoing investigation.”
FBI agent grilled over ‘armed rebellion’ testimony
An attorney for the leader of the Oath Keepers quibbled Monday with the allegation that any of the weapons bought by his client, Stewart Rhodes, were used to storm the halls of Congress last year. The armed individuals were not among the mob that stormed the Capitol last year but rather part of an alleged "quick reaction force" holed up at the Comfort Inn Ballston in Arlington, Virginia, standing by for orders that never came.
California revenues are running short
The U.S. unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage point to 3.5 percent in September 2022, matching its 50-year low in July. U.S. civilian employment decreased by 204,000 in September and surpassed February 2020 levels, while civilian unemployment decreased by 261,000 persons. The labor force decreased by 57,000 participants in September, following a gain of nearly 800,000 in August, and the labor force participation rate contracted by 0.1 percentage point to 62.3 percent.
US busts network providing technology to Russian military
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complicated scheme to procure military technologies from U.S. manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Some of the equipment was recovered on battlefields in Ukraine, the Justice Department said, and other nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted in Latvia before it could be shipped to Russia.
Los Angeles Politics
Rape victim speaks out about Erin Darling's tactics in defending alleged rapist
According to publicly available court records, in 2016 and 2017 CD 11 City Council candidate Erin Darling questioned the credibility of a rape victim and mischaracterized statements made by a lead detective in the case. It's one of several cases in federal and state court, including the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that raise questions about Darling's legal tactics as a federal public defender. Darling represented an alleged gang member named Edgar Alexander Lobos who was charged with assaulting a woman in Lincoln Heights.
Local News
"I failed:" Kevin de León tells CBS2 he is refusing to resign from LA City Council
Councilmember Kevin de León told Tom Wait today in an exclusive interview that he is refusing to resign from LA City Council, but rather hopes to work towards repairing relationships that have been damaged in recent weeks. "I have to do the hard work. I have to repair. I have to help heal. I have to help restore," the councilman said. Despite rampant calls for resignation in the nearly two weeks since the leaked audio, de León does not follow the steps of Councilmember Nury Martinez who resigned last Wednesday afternoon.
In the hands of politicians, redistricting can be poisonous. The cure is an independent commission
The hateful, racist conversation secretly recorded among Los Angeles City Council members illustrates a reality: Self-interest redistricting brings out the worst in politicians. The infamous discussion between three council members and a labor leader focused, after all, on how best to gerrymander the politicians’ districts to benefit them and their Latino allies and hurt their rival colleagues.
Los Angeles mystery: Who taped meeting with racist rants?
An anonymously leaked recording of crude, racist remarks and political scheming that led to the resignation of the Los Angeles City Council president and a powerful labor leader left behind a mystery: Who made the tape, and why? The posting of the year-old recording on the website Reddit in the run-up to November’s midterm elections raised obvious suspicions of political motive.
Convictions/Sentences/Pleas
California jury finds man guilty in the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart
A California jury has found Paul Flores, the man accused of the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart, guilty of first-degree murder, according to a news release from the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. Meanwhile, a separate jury found Flores’ father, Ruben, now 81, not guilty of being an accessory to Smart’s murder, the release said. “Without Kristin, there is no joy or victory with this verdict, we all know it did not have to be this way,” a statement from the Smart family read.
North Hollywood man sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally selling firearms, including ‘ghost guns’ and methamphetamine
A San Fernando Valley man has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for acting as an unlicensed gun broker by selling 16 rifles and handguns - many without serial numbers - as well as various firearms accessories over a seven-week period, and for selling nearly one pound of methamphetamine, the Justice Department announced today. Arthur Muradyan, 33, of North Hollywood, was sentenced Thursday afternoon by United States District Judge Fernando M. Olguin.
High-ranking Ventura County gang member linked to Mexican mafia sentenced to 13½ years in prison for drug trafficking offenses
A high-ranking member of the Oxnard-based Surtown Chiques street gang was sentenced today to 162 months in federal prison for attempting to secure control of drug trafficking in Ventura County and extorting “taxes” on behalf of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Armando “Criminal” Molina, 39, of Ventura, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt.
3 men sentenced to prison for ransacking Nordstrom Rack in Thousand Oaks
Three Chilean men have been sentenced to prison after ransacking a Nordstrom Rack store in Thousand Oaks. The three men are Chilean nationals who authorities say are members of an organized South American theft group. The men were arrested on July 7 for allegedly stealing around $5,300 worth of jewelry from a Nordstrom Rack store, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Man pleads no contest to assaulting teen in store restroom
A man pleaded no contest today to assaulting a 16-year-old girl who was followed into the restroom of a Whittier grocery store. Steven Magdaleno, 39, is facing eight years in state prison in connection with his plea to assault with intent to commit a felony, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies from the Norwalk station responded at about 2 p.m. Sept. 18 to a Stater Bros. store, where the teen told detectives that she had been followed into a restroom at the store by a man who attempted to sexually assault her, authorities said.
Orange County romance scammer to plead guilty
An Irvine man is set to plead guilty Monday to federal charges for conning more than $1 million from former romantic partners and others and using their personal information to obtain credit. Ze'Shawn Stanley Campbell, 35, has agreed to plead guilty to one federal count each of wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Campbell, who in recent years has lived in several cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, will face up to 30 years in federal prison at sentencing, prosecutors noted.
Rapper-actor Kaalan Walker gets 50 years for rape sentence
Actor and rapper Kaalan Walker has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for his conviction for raping aspiring models he met online, authorities said. Walker, 27, was sentenced Monday in Superior Court in Los Angeles following his April conviction on three counts of forcible rape, one count of assault to commit oral copulation, two counts of statutory rape and two counts of rape by intoxication. His lawyer, Andrew Flier, said the trial was unfair.
Former California corrections officer sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for death of incarcerated man
A federal judge sentenced Arturo Pacheco, a former California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer, to more than 12 years in prison for a 2016 assault that led to the death of a man incarcerated at California State Prison, Sacramento. Pacheco pled guilty in July to violating the civil rights of Ronnie Price, 65, at the prison facility known as New Folsom. While escorting a handcuffed Price, Pacheco swept the legs out from under him, sending Price crashing headfirst into the concrete floor, breaking his jaw.
Star witness in 1-800-GET-THIN fraud trial sentenced to probation
The government's star witness in the trial that led to the conviction of the mastermind of the 1-800-GET-THIN fraud scheme was sentenced to probation for his role in the conspiracy. Charles Klasky, 73, got 3 years probation including 8 months home confinement as well as 400 hours community service at his sentencing Wednesday in Los Angeles. The amount of restitution he will have to pay the victims of the lap-band surgery scheme will be determined at a hearing in January.
Corrections
California governor blocks Charles Manson follower's parole
California's governor blocked the parole of Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel on Friday, more than five decades after she scrawled “Helter Skelter” on a wall using the blood of one of their victims. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Krenwinkel, now 74, is still too much of a public safety risk to be freed. "Ms. Krenwinkel fully accepted Mr. Manson’s racist, apocalyptical ideologies," Newsom said.
Officials: 3 inmates die in 11 days at 3 California prisons
Two inmates killed a third inmate at a Northern California prison on Friday, authorities said, the third such slaying in two weeks at three separate prisons. Inmates William Lutts, 39, and Timothy Smith, 40, attacked fellow inmate Terence Coleman, 51, at High Desert State Prison, officials said. He died and officials are investigating the death as a homicide. Lutts also was seriously injured and taken to an outside hospital, while Smith was moved to an isolation unit while the case is investigated.
Consumer
Appeals court finds CFPB funding unconstitutional
An appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding mechanism is unconstitutional, in a victory for lenders that have targeted the agency’s structure in a years-long bid to tamp down regulation. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the design of the CFPB violated the Constitution because it receives funding through the Federal Reserve, rather than appropriations legislation passed by Congress.
Pensions
Why you might want to retire soon if you have a pension
Imagine you are on the verge of retirement and you have a pension plan with your employer. Every year you have to make two decisions regarding your plan. First, you have to decide whether to retire (and start claiming benefits) or whether to work for another year. Generally, every additional year of work increases the future benefits you will receive from the plan, all else equal. Second, if you do decide to retire, you then have to decide on how to take those benefits.
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