Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
In the biggest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history, some claim they were paid to sue
Over the last year, a Times investigation found a practice of paying for plaintiffs among a nebulous network of vendors, who usher people desperate for cash toward a law firm that could profit significantly from their business. The Times spent two weeks outside the county social services office in South Los Angeles, where a constant flow of people applied for food stamps and cash aid, and spoke with seven people who said they were paid there within the last year to sue the county for sex abuse.
Los Angeles Times
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Court of Appeal grants DA’s petition to overturn mental health diversion for defendant in violent, hate crime assault
Job Uriah Taylor (dob 12/26/1997) was arrested on March 3, 2023, after allegedly using a metal pipe to beat a man in an encampment adjacent to the 5th Street Expo station in Santa Monica. The unprovoked attack was the third of three assaults Taylor is accused of committing within the span of an hour. Taylor will now face trial on the original charges, including attempted murder with a hate crime enhancement.
L.A. County District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Judge blocks California law banning ‘captive audience' meetings for workers
A labor-backed California law prohibiting employers from requiring their workers to listen to anti-union messages has been blocked by a federal judge, who says it appears to violate employers' freedom of speech. The law, which took effect this year, is "a subject matter-based restriction on speech" that "risks chilling one side of the debate between labor and management," U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta of Sacramento said Tuesday in a ruling halting enforcement of the law.
San Francisco Chronicle
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Ninth Circuit finds no judicial deception in foster family fight
A family arguing that a California county improperly removed its foster children failed on Thursday to convince a Ninth Circuit panel that a lower court erred in dismissing its claims. Faun O’Neel had argued that the city of Folsom in Sacramento County, along with police officers and social workers, took her children after one of them lied about being abused.
Courthouse News Service
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California court blocks full seizure of murderer’s retirement funds for restitution
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday partially halted the government's attempt to seize the entire contents of a convicted murderer's federal retirement account - a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) - to pay restitution to his victims' families. The court ruled that federal law protecting a spouse's interest in the retirement funds prevents the government from cashing out the account in a lump sum without spousal consent.
Tampa Free Press
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US Justice Department sues 6 more states, including NY and California, in its quest for voter data
The U.S. Justice Department sued six more states on Thursday, saying the states are illegally blocking the agency’s wide-ranging effort to scrutinize detailed voter data in a brewing court fight over what states say is the private, protected information of residents. The Justice Department also accused the states of failing to respond sufficiently to questions about the procedures they take to maintain voter rolls as states called the department’s request for voters’ personal information unprecedented and illegal, and vowed to fight it.
Associated Press
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Litigant must pay sanction based on lawyer’s misconduct
The Court of Appeal for this district has held that under the wording of a sanction statute, a litigant was properly held to be vicariously responsible for the conduct of her lawyer. Div. One on Wednesday affirmed a $9,000 sanction imposed on a party in a family law proceeding based not only on her own unreasonableness but also predicated on rudeness displayed in court by her lawyer, Jaclin Awad of Cerritos.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Ninth Circuit Court unanimously rejects San Diego’s attempt to reinstate beach yoga ban
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has refused to reconsider a ruling that struck down San Diego’s ban on group yoga classes in public parks and beaches. Not a single judge on the appellate court voted to rehear the case - a rare signal of unanimity that leaves the earlier ruling intact and the city’s ban unenforceable. The ruling is another win for yoga instructors Steve Hubbard - known as “NamaSteve” - and Amy Baack, who sued the city last year.
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Ninth Circuit to review felony conviction for vehicle emissions tampering in U.S. v. Coiteux
For decades, the federal government maintained that modifying automotive emissions systems was not a criminal offense. The mobile sources title of the Clean Air Act (the Act) - Title II - specifies prohibited acts and civil enforcement authorities, without specifying any criminal penalties.
Arnold & Porter
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FTC claims Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to dominate online rental listings
Home-search website Zillow allegedly paid its rival Redfin $100 million dollars to stamp out competition in the online listing business, the Federal Trade Commission said in a lawsuit on Tuesday. As part of their February 2025 deal, Redfin allegedly agreed that its website would be “an exclusive syndicator of Zillow listings,” meaning Redfin would essentially just copy over the listings from Zillow, the FTC said in a statement.
CNN
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Ninth Circuit vacates $312,429 fee award against Walmart
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday vacated an attorney fee and cost award of $312,429 to a plaintiff who settled a wage-and-hour dispute with Walmart for $22,000, saying that District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California failed to set forth a sufficient analysis as to how that number was reached.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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'Wannabe gangsters' described killing two women. Why did convicting them take a decade?
The two bodies discovered on a brush-covered slope in the Montecito Hills were not easily identified. The victims were "faceless" after being shot and bludgeoned beyond recognition, according to Los Angeles County prosecutor Stephen Lonseth. But there were clues: A tattoo with a family name. Fingernails painted aqua blue, a teenage girl's beauty routine.
Los Angeles Times
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Man who killed dog in WeHo charged with three felonies
A 27-year-old man was charged with three felony counts for allegedly breaking into his former roommate’s apartment in West Hollywood, burglarizing the unit and killing the tenant’s dog on Sept. 4. Anmol Bhatia was charged with animal cruelty, first-degree residential burglary and vandalism, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Sept. 24. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department released a video showing Bhatia entering the apartment and advancing toward the dog.
Beverly Press
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Three fake Los Angeles wildfire victims charged with FEMA fraud
Three people have been charged with stealing more than $40,000 in federal disaster relief by falsely claiming they were victims of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires earlier this year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. According to a news release issued Monday, Jerry Lee Clay Jr., Matthew Garnet O’Brien and Maricka Marie Gilmore allegedly submitted fraudulent applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency using fake California addresses, including units that did not exist, to obtain funds meant for displaced residents.
KTLA
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Feds indict three women for alleged 'doxing' of ICE agent in Los Angeles
Three women opposed to President Trump's intense immigration raids in Los Angeles were indicted Friday on charges of illegally "doxing" a U.S. Customs and Immigration agent, authorities said. Ashleigh Brown, Cynthia Raygoza and Sandra Carmona Samane face charges of disclosing the personal information of a federal agent and conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed late Friday.
Los Angeles Times
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Charges filed with the DA’s office for conspiracy to commit a crime, grand theft from vehicles, and identity theft
The East County Investigations Bureau - Property Crimes Unit conducted a months-long investigation into a crime spree involving multiple thefts from vehicles and associated crimes that occurred during July through August of 2025. On July 14th, 2025, detectives learned of a crime spree that occurred in the city of Thousand Oaks. The crime spree involved suspects committing numerous thefts from unlocked vehicles and tampering with additional vehicles.
Ventura County Sheriff News Release
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Five San Fernando Valley street gang affiliates arrested on federal complaint alleging murder-for-hire plot against local crime boss
Five members and associates of the San Fernando Valley-based Vanowen Street Locos and Elmwood Rifa 13 gangs were arrested today on federal criminal complaints – four of them charged with taking part in a murder-for-hire plot targeting an Armenian Organized Crime boss but which instead resulted in his significant other getting shot and wounded in front of their two young children earlier this year.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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UK woman killed in Los Feliz had filed for legal protection from murder suspect
June Bunyan, a woman from the U.K. who was found dead inside her Los Feliz apartment, had previously filed for legal protection from her then-partner, Jonathan Renteria, NBC4 has learned. On Dec. 29, 2023, Bunyan filed a request for a restraining order against then 23-year-old Jonathan Renteria, alleging acts of domestic violence. In her request for the restraining order, Bunyan reported that the couple had either a current or previous dating relationship and had lived with the person as a family.
NBC4
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Los Angeles Board of Supervisors slashes DA’s budget by $24 million - another stab in the back to public safety
Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors has once again shown where its loyalties lie - and it isn’t with the residents demanding safer streets. On August 26, 2025, District Attorney Nathan Hochman issued a “State of the Office” memorandum acknowledging a staggering $24–25 million budget cut inflicted on his office for the upcoming fiscal year. The numbers aren’t just abstract accounting.
The Current Report
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At forum, Sheriff Fryhoff doubles down on voluntary cooperation with ICE
Every year, the Ventura County sheriff informs county officials and the public of the agency’s voluntary cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But during the Sept. 30 presentation, which took place less than three months after the ICE raid at Glass House Farms that resulted in the arrest of more than 350 purported undocumented immigrants, Sheriff Jim Fryhoff had a clear message: He will continue to aid ICE to the fullest extent allowable, regardless of any opposition.
Ventura County Star
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Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division files first lawsuit in support of gun owners seeking concealed weapons permits
In the first affirmative lawsuit in support of gun owners, the Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) alleging a pattern and practice of infringing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens seeking concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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'A joke': Bay area mayor slams Newsom's office over funding for drug treatment
When California voters passed Proposition 36 last November, they changed a decade-old criminal justice law. It was arguably the most contentious issue on the ballot, pitting Gov. Gavin Newsom, a major opponent of the measure, city mayors and prosecutors against each other, who disagreed over how petty drug and theft crimes should be prosecuted.
SF Gate
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Fox News wants Gavin Newsom to pay its lawyers
Attorneys for Fox News are asking a Delaware court to force Gov. Gavin Newsom to pay their legal fees as part of the network’s bid to get Newsom’s $787 million defamation lawsuit dismissed. Newsom sued Fox in June, arguing that anchors like Jesse Watters defamed him by saying he lied about having a June 7 phone call with President Donald Trump hours before the Pentagon dispatched troops to Los Angeles to subdue protests.
Sacramento Bee
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U.S. attorney said she was fired after telling Border Patrol to follow a court order
The acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento has said she was fired after telling the Border Patrol chief in charge of immigration raids in California that his agents were not allowed to arrest people without probable cause in the Central Valley. Michele Beckwith, a career prosecutor who was made the acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of California earlier this year, told the New York Times that she was let go after she warned Gregory Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, that a court injunction blocked him from carrying out indiscriminate immigration raids in Sacramento.
Los Angeles Times
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The sparse indictment of Comey by Trump’s Justice Department belies a complicated backstory
The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is only two pages and alleges he falsely testified to Congress in 2020 about authorizing someone to be an anonymous source in news stories. That brevity belies a convoluted and contentious backstory. The events at the heart of the disputed testimony are among the most heavily scrutinized in the bureau’s history, generating internal and congressional investigations that have produced thousands of pages of records and transcripts.
Associated Press
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Inside the Menendez parole hearings: How fame and notoriety collide with justice
Two Ivy League brothers. Two Beverly Hills parents. Two tabloid murders. The true crime spotlight refuses to let go of Erik and Lyle Menendez. From the first news of their arrest in 1990, the Menendez brothers have been defined by sensationalized headlines. Their separate trials dominated cable television in 1993. Plot twists of witness tampering, an unscrupulously recorded therapy confession and claims of lifelong sexual abuse all played out in the public eye before juries deadlocked.
CalMatters
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Woodland Hills nursery sale to Dignity Memorial for cemetery sparks scrutiny over possible measure ULA tax avoidance
The sale of the former Boething Treeland Nursery property - a 32-acre site at the border of Woodland Hills, Calabasas, and Hidden Hills is drawing new scrutiny following revelations that the transaction may not have been a single property sale for an approximately $4 million deal, but rather five separate parcel sales, occurring at the same time, totaling at least $10,245,500.
2UrbanGirls
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Insults are already flying in the crowded race for L.A. County sheriff
The race for Los Angeles County sheriff is already heating up - even with the primary not scheduled until next June. Six candidates have officially entered the field to unseat Robert Luna, with the early challengers slinging barbs, probing the incumbent's political weaknesses and setting the stage for a heated campaign in the coming months. Most vocal and well-known among the contenders is former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who lost to Luna in 2022 and is now vying for a rematch.
Los Angeles Times
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L.A. advances ban on renting RVs to homeless residents on public streets
The Los Angeles City Council has given initial approval to an ordinance aimed at outlawing “vanlording,” the practice of leasing recreational vehicles to unhoused residents on public streets - a phenomenon long visible in Venice and increasingly across the San Fernando Valley. The measure, introduced by Councilmember Traci Park in 2023, amends city law to explicitly prohibit leasing or renting RVs for residential use in the public right-of-way.
Santa Monica Daily Press
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Polarizing L.A. police official keeps post by default after City Council fails to vote
A polarizing figure on the Los Angeles Police Commission will retain his seat despite having never received an approval vote from the City Council. Erroll Southers, who previously served as president of the civilian panel that watches over the LAPD, has taken criticism for what critics say is his unwillingness to provide oversight of police Chief Jim McDonnell, while also facing renewed scrutiny in recent months for his past counterterrorism studies in Israel.
Los Angeles Times
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Los Angeles County will pay $20M to settle lawsuit over death of 4-year-old boy who was tortured
Los Angeles County will pay $20 million to the family of a 4-year-old boy who was tortured to death by his parents six years ago in a case that brought scrutiny of the region's child welfare system. Noah Cuatro died at a hospital in 2019, days before his fifth birthday, after being found motionless at the family's apartment in Palmdale, north of LA.
Associated Press
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L.A. County supervisors criticize their own report on January fire mistakes, calling it inadequate
Los Angeles County supervisors criticized the long-awaited $1.9-million outside investigation on government failures during the January wildfires as full of gaping holes after outcry from residents who say the report failed to answer their key question: Why did evacuation alerts come so late for so many?
Los Angeles Times
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City workers to be banned from moonlighting for ICE under proposed LA law
The Los Angeles City Council instructed its legal staff Wednesday to prepare an ordinance prohibiting municipal workers and sworn personnel from taking on outside employment with federal agencies conducting immigration enforcement. In a 14-0 vote, the council approved a motion introduced by members Monica Rodriguez and Ysabel Jurado on Sept. 12 to ensure that city employees "do not participate in immigration enforcement agency actions," calling it "critical to maintaining community trust and ensuring legal compliance with city and state policies."
City News Service
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The LAX Automated People Mover is long delayed and $880M over budget. Here's what went wrong
LAX’s Automated People Mover, the long-awaited train connecting airport terminals to the Metro system, was originally slated to open by 2023. But the completion date has been pushed back until early 2026. And now, the final testing and safety checks won't be done until June 2026, according to the independent credit rating agency Fitch Ratings.
LAist
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Serial Peeping Tom arrested again for peeking, exposing himself in West Hollywood
Authorities Monday looked for additional victims after a man with prior convictions was arrested on suspicion of peeking through a laundry room and exposing himself in West Hollywood. Jackie Harrington was arrested Sunday after he was accused of indecent exposure on Sept. 19. A woman told investigators a man was standing directly outside the laundry room when he exposed his private parts with his pants completely down.
NBC4
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What do L.A. police do if they have to pull over a Waymo?
It was a first for police in San Bruno when officers stopped a Waymo that made an illegal U-turn over the weekend. “That’s right… no driver, no hands, no clue,” a post on the department’s Facebook page read. Police said that the officers contacted the company and informed them of the “glitch,” but they couldn’t issue a ticket because there wasn’t a human driver.
KNX News
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Tap-to-exit program returning to LA Metro’s North Hollywood station
A program that requires disembarking subway riders to tap their Metro cards in order to exit to street level is returning to at least one Los Angeles Metro station. LA Metro officials confirmed to KTLA on Tuesday that the tap-to-exit program, which was suspended at North Hollywood and Union Station, will return to North Hollywood “shortly.”
KTLA
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Billionaire Ricardo Salinas pays US $25M bond to avoid incarceration in New York
Billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas, one of Mexico’s richest people, posted a US $25 million bond in the United States to avoid arrest over a debt some of his companies owe to the telecommunications company AT&T, according to a Bloomberg report published on Tuesday. Grupo Salinas, a conglomerate headed up by Salinas, confirmed in a statement that it had paid a bond, but didn’t refer to the amount.
Mexico News Daily
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California DMV unveils redesigned driver's licenses, new security features
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has introduced redesigned driver's licenses and identification cards for the first time in nearly a decade, incorporating additional security features. In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said the new licenses will replace cards with security features that were initially rolled out in 2010. Current licenses and ID cards will remain valid until their expiration date.
KCAL News
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YouTube to pay $24.5 million for White House ballroom to settle lawsuit from Trump
YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Trump, who sued the video-sharing platform and its chief executive for temporarily suspending Mr. Trump's account after the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, court papers filed Monday show. The bulk of the money is slated to go to a planned White House ballroom backed by Mr. Trump.
CBS News
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole | | |
Man pleads guilty to throwing Molotov cocktail at deputies during L.A. protest
A man admitted Wednesday that he lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it toward Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies during protests against immigration crackdowns over the summer. Emiliano Garduno Galvez, 23, who authorities said is a citizen of Mexico in the country illegally, pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing an unregistered destructive device and civil disorder tied to his actions the evening of June 7 in Paramount.
Los Angeles Times
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Man sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for killing off-duty Monterey Park police officer Gardiel Solorio
Defendant Gerardo Magallanes was sentenced yesterday to 24 years and eight months in state prison for the murder of off-duty Monterey Park Police Officer Gardiel Solorio in August 2022. “Officer Solorio dedicated his life to serving and protecting his community, and his murder was a devastating loss to his family, his colleagues, and all of Los Angeles County and beyond,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
L.A. District Attorney’s Office News Release
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Killers convicted a decade after teens-on-teens double murder
Two Angelenos have been convicted of murdering two teenage girls 10 years ago, when the culprits were also teens, in what officials called a “gang-motivated” attack. Jose Antonio Echeverria and Dallas Stone Pineda were 18 and 17 years old, respectively, when they killed Briana Nicole Gallegos, 17, and Gabriela Calzada, 19, on Oct. 27, 2015. Echeverria, aka “Klepto,” and Pineda, aka “Trippy,” shot one of the girls and bludgeoned both to death with a rock at Ernest. E. Debs Regional Park.
KTLA
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LASD deputy pleads guilty to conspiring with corrupt cryptocurrency figure to extort and falsely arrest rivals
A former deputy and helicopter pilot with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) pleaded guilty today to federal conspiracy charges for helping a now-jailed, self-styled cryptocurrency businessman extort a rival and arrange the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021. Michael David Coberg, 44, of Eastvale, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy against rights.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Reputed Mexican Mafia figure accused of brokering drug cartel alliance strikes plea deal
To hear prosecutors tell it, Jose Landa-Rodriguez was public enemy No. 1. A reputed Mexican Mafia member called "Fox," Landa-Rodriguez was charged in three cases between 2011 and 2018. The allegations included a murder plot, overseeing rackets in the Los Angeles County jails and pursuing an alliance between his U.S. prison gang and a drug cartel from his home state of Michoacán.
Los Angeles Times
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Former Orange County deputy pleads guilty to sexually assaulting inmates
A former Orange County deputy must register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two female inmates in 2022. The Orange County District Attorney's Office charged former deputy Arcadio Rodriguez, 30, with three misdemeanors for sexual battery, sexual activity with a confined consenting adult and possession of a cell phone in jail.
KCAL News
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Man gets 19-year term for arson, firebombings at UC Berkeley and Oakland Federal Building
A judge sentenced an Oakland, California, man to more than 19 years in federal prison for committing a series of arsons and fire bombings at the University of California–Berkeley, and a federal building in June 2024, officials announced Sept. 23. District Judge Jeffrey White called Casey Robert Goonan, 35, a domestic terrorist, finding he committed a felony offense that involved, or was intended to promote, terrorism, prosecutors reported.
The Epoch Times
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The Gallegly Center at California Lutheran University empowers students to become leaders in civic public discourse
We are excited about the opportunity for California Lutheran University to provide nonpartisan thought-leadership through the Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civil Engagement on the main campus. This center will play a pivotal role in students’ collegiate experience by helping to develop the critical academic skills and broad perspectives necessary for constructive dialogue and civil public discourse.
Cal Lutheran News
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LA skyscrapers for homeless could cost federal taxpayers over $1 billion
Federal taxpayers might be on the hook for more than $1 billion over the lifetime of three downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers designed to house the homeless, state records show. State and city programs provide the funding and financial tools to construct the three towers. But federal Section 8 Housing vouchers will be used to repay the state and city and fund private developer fees and investor returns over the 55-year life of the buildings.
The Center Square
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Commissioner Lara protects 124,000 Californians across six counties in Sierra foothills from non-renewals following wildfire emergency
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today ordered insurance companies to preserve residential property insurance coverage for approximately 124,000 homes affected by wildfires in Calaveras, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Mariposa, and Merced counties after Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration on September 19.
California Department of Insurance Press Release
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California bans billionaire ploys to buy votes
California Governor Gavin Newsom continued his swipes at President Donald Trump when signing two bills Thursday intended to protect election integrity. Senate Bill 42 will put a measure on the November 2026 ballot that asks voters to repeal an existing ban on the public financing of elections in the state. Senate Bill 398 makes it illegal to offer money or other valuable consideration to incentivize someone to vote or register to vote.
Courthouse News Service
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