Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits

LA prosecutors wrestle with powerful judge and new protocols

Yvette Verastegui was recently elected the second most powerful judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court, but on Thursday an appellate panel deliberated over a case that began with prosecutors trying to remove her. The challenge pits the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office against Verastegui in the midst of a seismic change to the way judges can be removed from cases in California.

Bloomberg Law

The L.A. County Superior Court announced a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to give court employees the option to leave amid financial strain.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court announced a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to give court employees the option to leave court service as part of an effort to reduce staff positions and lower expenses amid ongoing budgetary constraints.The court will offer a $35,000 payment to current full-time employees with five or more years of continuous service who elect to resign. 

City News Service

Ridley-Thomas petitions for fresh look at his federal bribery/mail, wire fraud convictions

Mark Ridley-Thomas, who served as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 2008-20 and was a suspended member of the Los Angeles City Council when he was convicted in 2023 on federal bribery charges has asked that the three-member panel that on Aug. 3 upheld the judgment grant him a rehearing or that the active members of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, decide the matter afresh.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

California bar exam takers win $1.35 million for chaotic test

Test takers who sat for the botched February 2025 California bar exam have agreed to a $1.35 million settlement with the company that administered the test. Terms of the settlement with ProctorU Inc. became public in a Friday filing - parties previously revealed the accord without detail in an August briefing.

Bloomberg Law

Victim’s ‘dying with COVID’ did not gut murder conviction

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has rejected a defendant’s attempt to overturn his murder conviction based on the fact that the 67-year-old victim died months after the brutal attack with “COVID-19” being listed as the cause of death on the official records.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Ninth Circuit overturns order requiring Oregon to house transgender women in women's prisons

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday overturned an injunction that would have automatically placed most transgender women convicted of felonies in Oregon into women’s prisons. The preliminary injunction, issued by a magistrate judge in April, would have sent more than 100 transgender inmates currently housed in men’s facilities to Oregon’s only women’s prison.

Courthouse News Service

Appeals court rules filming in public no defense for harassment in DVRO case

A California appeals court has ruled that a person’s lawful right to film in a public place does not give that person a right to harass, follow, intimidate or disturb the peace of another person, affirming a lower court’s refusal to dismiss a domestic violence restraining order request under the state’s anti-SLAPP law.

Vanguard News Group

Superior Court of Los Angeles County expands criminal case electronic filing on new in-house platform, improving communication and efficiency

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is expanding its new electronic filing (efiling) platform with select Los Angeles County justice partners that will dramatically improve inter-agency communication and efficiency in criminal cases after initially launching efiling for probation reports earlier this year.

L.A. County Superior Court News Release

California health clinics accuse influential union and its leader of racketeering in civil lawsuit

The California Primary Care Assn. and five clinics filed a civil lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and its president, Dave Regan, of racketeering and using ballot initiatives to "shake down" community health centers.

Los Angeles Times

University of California students cannot be forced to use transgender peers’ preferred pronouns, judge rules

University of California students who do not wish to call someone by their preferred pronouns may do so without fear of punishment thanks to a court ruling this week. U.S. District Court Judge Fred Slaughter granted a preliminary injunction against a UC system policy that could punish students for “dead-naming” peers.

The College Fix

UC San Francisco illegally favored Black and Latino medical school applicants, DOJ alleges

UC San Francisco's medical school illegally used race in admissions, discriminating against white and Asian applicants in favor of Black and Latino ones, the Department of Justice alleged Tuesday. The allegations expand the Trump administration's scrutiny of University of California admissions after similar findings against UC Berkeley's law school this month and medical schools at UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Davis. 

Los Angeles Times

Deputy accused of unlawfully entering yard, killing dog

A complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that a San Bernardino sheriff’s deputy came into the fenced backyard of a home, without a warrant and in the absence of any emergency, and, encountering a family dog, fatally shot her. Suit against the county and 20 Does was filed Thursday. “DOE 1” is the deputy who shot the dog, with the explanation that the county has declined to reveal his identity.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Judge denies mental health diversion for Livermore deputy accused of abusing son: Report

A judge denied a mental health diversion request from a Livermore resident and San Mateo County sheriff’s deputy accused of choking his 5-year-old son, according to a Bay Area News Group report. Steven Romero, 34, was charged with one felony count of child abuse. Police and prosecutors allege that Romero forced his five-year-old son to jump rope as a punishment for not finishing his breakfast within the allotted 15-minute window.

Livermore Patch

Lake Hughes woman running makeshift animal shelter hit with criminal charges

A 57-year-old Lake Hughes woman who operated what prosecutors call an “inhumane and unsanitary” animal rescue Rock ‘N’ Pawz was charged today with 35 felonies and misdemeanors for cramming 300 animals - many suffering from dehydration, severe injuries and starvation - into her shelter, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Friday.

Los Angeles Magazine

Pair accused of forging federal judge's signature in lawsuit against Riverside County

A Mexican national and his girlfriend allegedly forged a federal judge's signature on a document connected with their lawsuit against Riverside County, resulting in charges against the pair, federal prosecutors said Friday. Alan David Cadena, 43, and Laycee Shyann Sprouse, 34, of Riverside are charged with misuse of judicial signatures. 

City News Service

Former Beverly Hills deputy fire chief arrested, accused of vandalism and stalking

Beverly Hills police arrested the city’s former deputy fire chief this week in connection with a series of alleged vandalism incidents at city buildings and on suspicion of stalking. Alfred Poirier, 63, who spent four years as the Beverly Hills deputy fire chief, was arrested Monday after police tied him to a wave of vandalism incidents in the upscale community targeting city structures, Police Capt. Kevin Orth told The Times.

Los Angeles Times

California AG drops case against Stanford University pro-Palestinian protesters

The criminal case against pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for breaking into and vandalizing the Stanford University president’s office in 2024 will be dismissed following a mistrial earlier this year. State prosecutors said Monday they reached a deal with eight defendants. The decision comes after defense attorneys in May successfully argued for the recusal of Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen due to a conflict of interest.

KQED

ICE lodges detainer for illegal alien who killed two people while driving a semi-truck

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for an illegal alien who killed two people while driving a semi-truck in California. According to local reporting, the Moab Police Department (MPD) in Utah stopped Chamkaur Singh, an illegal alien from India, on September 1, after he had been driving 20 miles over the speed limit in a semi-truck.

Homeland Security Press Release

Policy/Legal/Politics

Nick Reiner says trust fund delays may violate his constitutional rights

Nick Reiner says his constitutional right to be represented by a defense lawyer of his own choosing is being violated by administrators of his childhood trust fund who've refused to issue a $558,000 payment he was owed in 2023, two years before he's accused of murdering his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.

NBC4 Los Angeles

LAPD renews, expands some automatic license plate reader systems

The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday approved the LAPD's new 10-year, $235 million contract with the police technology company Axon Enterprise to have more than 1,600 patrol car cameras with automatic license plate reader capabilities. The board also gave the greenlight to the police department so it can participate in a test program to begin attaching surveillance cameras to street lights around the city to collect even more license plate data.

NBC4 Los Angeles

Paramount wins Warner Bros takeover after settling states, union lawsuits

Paramount Skydance emerged victorious on Monday from a legal battle over its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery after settling with a California-led group of US states and a Hollywood writers union, paving the way ‌for one of the largest media mergers in history. The settlement marks a major win for Paramount CEO David Ellison, who battled the states for months to finalize a deal that would dramatically concentrate power across Hollywood's film, TV, streaming and news businesses.

Reuters

Judge recuses herself two weeks before Steven Tyler’s sexual assault trial

Steven Tyler’s sexual assault civil trial has been delayed again after the judge overseeing Julia Misley’s lawsuit against the singer recused herself just two weeks before the scheduled trial. According to a Sept. 15 court document obtained by Los Angeles, Judge Patricia A. Young informed attorneys Sept. 14 that she had determined she was disqualified from hearing the case under California law.

Los Angeles Magazine

Ban on selling handguns to young adults under 21 is unconstitutional, Justice Department says

Federal law banning licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under age 21 is unconstitutional and can’t be enforced, the Justice Department said in a legal opinion released Friday. The opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel says the law aimed at making it harder for 18- to 20-year-olds to get handguns violates the Second Amendment. 

Associated Press

Ninth Circuit finds lower court missed the mark in Hawaii firearms regulation case

An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday reversed a lower court on Hawaii’s firearm licensing rules, finding they didn’t violate Second Amendment rights. The lower court in 2021 issued an injunction against two parts of the Hawaii’s gun licensing rules. The state could no longer void permits to obtain pistols or revolvers that hadn’t been used after 30 days. 

Courthouse News Service

Trump DOJ sues San Jose, Ca., over $1,600 concealed carry licensing fee

Do you know the way to San Jose? Dionne Warwick famously asked in her 1968 hit song. Well, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon certainly does, and she recently made sure the city was served with a civil rights lawsuit over its $1,600 fee for a concealed carry permit (firearm and ammunition not included).

NRA-ILA

Inglewood mayor, embroiled in groping allegations, accuses rivals of smear campaign

Inglewood has been roiled over the last week by allegations that the city’s mayor acted inappropriately at a community event, accusations he strongly denies and insists are politically motivated. Mayor James T. Butts Jr. held an emotional news conference Monday, 1 speaking publicly for the first time against claims he inappropriately touched a high school student while posing for a group photo at the city’s recent “Votechella” event.

Los Angeles Times

Few CA drug arrestees getting treatment through Prop 36

The tough-on-crime initiative California voters passed two years ago wasn’t supposed to be a draconian return to mass incarceration. Instead, it promised to help people get better by diverting drug offenders into addiction treatment instead of prison. To see if Proposition 36 was making good on that promise, CalMatters analyzed data from the 15 counties that have filed the most cases under the law.

Criminal Justice Journalists

This document helps courts decide who goes to prison. AI may soon help write it in San Diego.

Artificial intelligence could be on the cusp of getting a bigger foothold in San Diego County’s criminal justice system. The county wants to build an AI model to help write hundreds of reports every month for county probation officers, handing over to AI a role in the creation of a key document courts rely upon when they sentence defendants.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Nick Reiner’s lawyers say he hasn’t received ‘even $5’ from $1.6M trust as he seeks $558,000

Nick Reiner's lawyers say that despite being the sole beneficiary of a family trust worth roughly $1.6 million, he has not received "even $5" from it to buy basic items while awaiting trial in jail. Two new replies filed September 17th in Los Angeles County Superior Court intensify Reiner's months-long fight for access to the trust established by his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and producer Michele Singer Reiner, when he was an infant.

Wealth of Geeks

Power Struggle

When Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor against incumbent Karen Bass, was asked in the most recent mayoral debate whether she, if elected, would fire the city’s police chief, she equivocated, saying that she was unhappy with his performance but that it’s “not easy” for a mayor to remove the chief of police. Mayor Bass countered that a mayor could remove the chief at any moment.

L.A. Material

Southern California

LA County approves renaming of road after Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer

A stretch of road in the Palmdale area was a step closer Tuesday to being named in honor of a Los Angeles County deputy who was killed in an ambush shooting at a stoplight in the high desert community. The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to rename part of Avenue Q in honor of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.

NBC4 Los Angeles

Long Beach police allegedly hid the Atlanta arrest of one of its officers, attorney says

Kevin Lippelt can still hear the words of an intoxicated, off-duty Long Beach police officer pummeling him outside an Atlanta Waffle House: “I’m gonna kill you.” Lippelt, 31, an Atlanta Braves fan, had just watched the team beat the Los Angeles Dodgers at Truist Park and was ending the night with friends at the nearby restaurant in August 2019.

Orange County Register

LA police union targets DSA-backed Nithya Raman with major campaign (Video)

Fox News correspondent Christina Coleman reports on the Los Angeles Police Protective League launching an advertising and canvassing campaign targeting 300,000 homes to defeat mayoral candidate Nithya Raman. The union asserts Raman maintains an anti-police agenda based on her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America and her past votes against a billion-dollar police union raise and hiring initiatives.

Fox News

Public Safety

Moment bandits raid California train during Wild West-style heist

Dramatic video has surfaced capturing boxcar bandits robbing trains in Southern California amid a rash of railroad strikes across the region. One of the viral clips shows a crew of apparent thieves tossing packages from a stopped train onto the ground below and loading them into getaway vehicles. Another shows a person ominously filming while standing aboard a moving train next to several stacks of cargo.

California Post

Driver intentionally strikes, kills man in downtown LA, police say

Los Angeles police were searching Sunday for a driver who intentionally struck and killed a man in downtown Los Angeles, pinning him between two vehicles before fleeing the scene, police told NBC4. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers responded at about 4:05 a.m. to the area of Sixth and Main streets following a report of a felony hit-and-run, authorities said.

NBC4 Los Angeles

Deputies shoot, kill suspected thief armed with large kitchen knife at Claremont gas station

A suspect with a knife was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies during a theft investigation at a gas station in Claremont Monday morning. The incident happened at about 9:40 a.m. at a gas station in the 800 block of South Indian Hill Boulevard, just off the 10 Freeway. Deputies were carrying out a court-ordered eviction nearby when they were alerted of a theft happening at the Chevron gas station next door by a customer, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

ABC7 Los Angeles

Los Angeles County theft crew arrested for catalytic converter thefts in Ventura County

Ventura County Sheriff's Office officials report that detectives arrested two Los Angeles County residents responsible for committing multiple catalytic converter thefts in Ventura County. During the early morning hours of July 2nd, 2026, seven thefts and attempted thefts of catalytic converters were reported from residents of Oak Park in the unincorporated community of Ventura County. 

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office News Release

3 workers injured in shooting at Los Angeles senior living facility, fellow employee in custody: Police

Three people were injured in a shooting at a senior living facility in Los Angeles on Monday, when a staff member allegedly opened fire on his co-workers, police said. The suspect was located inside the residence and taken into custody, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The shooting occurred shortly before 11 a.m. PT. in the lobby of the Progressive Home for the Elderly in South Los Angeles, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Marc Reina.

ABC News

Venice Shorts: Where is the plan to remove illegally parked RVs along Washington Blvd?

Washington Blvd is a main artery and corridor to the beach and pier that is populated with dozens of illegally parked campers, buses, and RVs on any given day. Last week I counted 30 recreational campers permanently parked stretching from the beach to Lincoln Boulevard in front of residential homes, businesses, and hotels, who are losing this battle for their neighborhood, as many of these vehicles are out-of-state, and some with no tags or license plates, but seemingly go without tickets or consequences. 

Yo! Venice

Jonathan Taylor Thomas arrested, accused of kicking LA deputy

"Home Improvement" star Jonathan Taylor Thomas was taken into custody earlier this week. The actor, 45, was arrested in Westlake Village, California, in the early hours of Sept. 21 after deputies investigated the driver of the car he was in for a suspected DUI, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told USA TODAY in a Sept. 23 statement.

USA Today

‘A narcissist’: UCLA employees alleged top administrator misused funds, bullied staff

Seven current and former UCLA employees alleged in at least 22 separate whistleblower and retaliatory reports that the university’s head of strategic communications fostered a toxic work environment and mismanaged department funds, according to court documents. Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications since 2019, filed a lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents on Aug. 26 to block the release of an investigative report that she claimed would damage her reputation. 

Daily Bruin

Newsom cites pension crisis as he vetoes bill to enhance retirement for police and firefighters

Unions for California police and firefighters came close to sweetening retirement benefits for their members, but the memory of California’s pension crisis ultimately was too much for Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom on Sunday vetoed a bill that would have enhanced retirement perks for police and firefighters despite near-unanimous support from state lawmakers and heavy pressure from public safety unions. 

CalMatters

'Gabriel's Law,' named for 8-year-old Palmdale boy Gabriel Fernandez, signed into law

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, aimed at strengthening protections for abused children, Lackey's office announced on Monday. Assembly Bill 2304, known as Gabriel's Law, is named for 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, whose 2013 death after months of abuse drew widespread attention to failures in the child welfare system.

City News Service

Proposition 40: The billionaire's tax

Under Proposition 40, California billionaires would pay a one-time 5% tax on their net worth. The money collected from the tax would primarily be used to shore up funding for healthcare in the state, which is currently projected to take a massive blow due to federal cuts. This measure is also one of the few issues that both California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton can agree upon: both oppose it, with Becerra calling it "sketchy policy" and Hilton saying it will hurt the state's economy.

LAist

The FBI anti-corruption squad was circling Susan Collins - until Trump got in the way

In the final weeks of 2019, a top fundraiser for Sen. Susan Collins walked into a perilous meeting at a Corner Bakery in Washington, D.C. For the first time in her two-decade Senate career, the Republican lawmaker from Maine was in danger of losing her seat. President Donald Trump’s dismal approval ratings were dragging her down in the polls, and she was falling behind her likely 2020 Democratic challenger in fundraising.

ProPublica

These Californians can opt out of jury duty forever, no need to ‘jump through hoops’

Beginning in 2028, Californians older than 80 will be able to opt out of jury duty permanently without documentation from a healthcare provider. The text of Assembly Bill 1359 referenced “existing health problems, potential vulnerability to emerging pathogens, and mobility concerns that those 80 years and older experience at higher rates than younger demographics” as justification for a rule change.

Los Angeles Times

Convictions/Pleas/Sentences/Parole/Corrections

Former Santa Clara County undersheriff pleads guilty to felony bribery

Former Santa Clara County Undersheriff Rick Sung pleaded guilty today to two felony bribery charges where he asked for Apple iPads and San Jose Sharks tickets in exchange for concealed carry gun licenses. Sung was previously the second-in-command to former Sheriff Laurie Smith, who resigned in 2022 right before a grand jury could remove her as part of a larger investigation by District Attorney Jeff Rosen into corruption under her watch.

Palo Alto Weekly

Former Syrian prison chief to serve 60 years in prison for torturing inmates and lying to U.S. immigration officials

A former Syrian government official who was the head of one of that nation’s major prisons was sentenced on Thursday, September 17, 2026, to 60 years in federal prison for torturing inmates, then later lying about it to United States immigration officials to fraudulently obtain a green card and attempt to naturalize as a U.S. citizen.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

Ninth Circuit affirms conviction of man who stole identity of dead child

A man who stole the identity of a dead infant and lived under the name for over three decades was properly convicted, a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed Tuesday. The three-judge panel unanimously rejected the premise that Walter Glenn Primrose, who had been living as Bobby Edward Fort since 1987, could not be found guilty of making false statements or identity theft because he had actually become Fort.

Courthouse News Service

Infamous California serial killer Wesley Shermantine dies in prison

Wesley Shermantine, half of one of California's most infamous serial killer duos, died in prison last week, officials announced. Loren Herzog, the other member of the Speed Freak Killers, died in 2012. Shermantine and Herzog grew up together in Linden, a small community in San Joaquin County just east of Stockton, in the 1970s. Coming out of high school, the pair were infamous for their methamphetamine addictions and abusive personalities. 

SF Gate

Inmate slain at Northern California prison with five under investigation

A prisoner at Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California died after being attacked with improvised weapons, authorities said. Rene B. Lopez, 31, was found unresponsive at the prison in Crescent City about 6 p.m. Thursday and was pronounced dead less than an hour later, prison officials said in a Friday news release.

Sacramento Bee

Disbarred Eastman continues working on case in unusual move

Former Trump attorney John C. Eastman‘s move to represent University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax in the Third Circuit after being disbarred in California is rare among cases of attorney discipline. Eastman’s April disbarment in the Golden State hasn’t yet reverberated through all of the other courts where he is admitted to practice, which appears to be giving him a window to continue practicing law outside the state.

Bloomberg Law

Dodgers owner Mark Walter is among several defendants named in a new class-action lawsuit.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and multiple insurance companies he owns have been sued, alleging they failed to disclose an ongoing federal probe to customers while directing policyholders' money into Walter's other companies. The lawsuit lists Walter, Delaware Life Insurance Co., Clear Spring Life and Annuity, TWG Global Holdings and Walter's Guggenheim Partners investment firm as defendants.

Associated Press

Read the lawsuit: CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue Trump admin over White House access

The three outlets President Donald Trump banned from the White House - CNN, MS NOW and Politico - have sued the administration in an attempt to restore their access. The emergency request is set to go before federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who is a Trump-appointee in the DC District Court. 

CNN

Hackers got inside a Flock camera. Its data shows how the system really works

Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with 404 Media and WIRED, revealing in new detail how exactly Flock Safety’s cameras track the movements of both vehicles and people.

Wired

Should DWP ratepayers pay for the city’s streetlights?  

In June, 80% of Los Angeles voters rejected the Bureau of Street Lighting’s ballot measure to increase the annual Street Lighting Assessment to $125 million, almost triple the existing assessment of $45 million. Now the City is proposing that the Department of Water and Power fund the installation of up to 22,000 solar powered streetlights over the next five years at a cost of $330 million, preceded by a pilot project for 6,000 streetlights at a cost of $80-90 million.

CityWatch

Fresh war breaks out over looted Nazi art being displayed in Los Angeles as new lawsuits filed

A decades-long battle over artwork stolen during the Holocaust is resurfacing in Los Angeles, where heirs of Jewish victims are seeking the return of works now held by prominent museums in Southern California and at Auschwitz. Two lawsuits were recently filed following changes to California and federal law that strengthened the ability to pursue US-based claims involving artwork taken from Jewish families during World War II.

California Post

$90 million sex-abuse judgment against tech mogul upheld

Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by Alki David - the founder of the FilmOn streaming service and the now-defunct Hologram USA, which popularized the use of hologram technology to depict moving images of dead celebrities - to upend a $90 million judgment against him by a former employee who accused him of sexual assault, declaring that the award did not “shock the conscience” in light of the severity of his misconduct.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise