California

Bill Cosby’s lawyer is dismissed from suit claiming denials of Cosby rape claim were defamatory

A Los Angeles County judge on Tuesday indicated that Bill Cosby’s former lawyer doesn’t have to face a defamation suit filed by a model who claims Cosby drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982. Judge Debre Weintraub said she would grant a motion to dismiss lawyer Martin Singer…

Feb 10, 2016 11:03 AM CST

Immigration lawyer gets 21 months for trying to help client disobey court order, flee US

A California immigration lawyer was sentenced Monday to 21 months in federal prison for trying to help a client who was a material witness in a “birth tourism” case leave the country. Prosecutors said Ken Zhiyi Liang, 39, accepted $6,000 from the Chinese woman to help her get out of…

Feb 9, 2016 1:50 PM CST

Judge bars release of anti-abortion group’s undercover videos

A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction barring an anti-abortion group from releasing undercover videos taken at annual conferences of the National Abortion Federation. U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco issued the injunction Friday in a lawsuit filed against the Center for Medical Progress, report…

Feb 9, 2016 8:43 AM CST

Lawyer charged in claimed attempt to extort $2M from businessman pleads not guilty

A California lawyer accused of trying to extort $2 million in exchange for an agreement to suppress testimony in a shooting case has pleaded not guilty. Attorney Armen Tashjian represented two of three victims of a nonfatal 2014 shooting at a Los Angeles business. He is charged with attempted extortion…

Feb 8, 2016 1:55 PM CST

Judge who sent ‘get a life’ email stipulates to censure, says he would have preferred a jury trial

A California judge has stipulated to a censure, partly for his email telling a supervising judge to “get a life,” but he’s not happy about it. Judge John Trice told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that the stipulated settlement is “against my nature.” He would have accepted “a straight jury”…

Feb 8, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Homeless services model aims to provide military veterans with housing and legal assistance

In 1981, five Vietnam veterans hatched a plan to mount an armed assault on the Veterans Administration building in San Diego. They were angry that the VA seemed indifferent to veterans’ physical and mental health, and concerned about increasing numbers of homeless Vietnam vets around the city. But before they…

Feb 7, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Doctor gets 30 years to life in landmark prosecution over patient OD deaths

A former California physician was sentenced Friday to 30 years to life in a landmark Los Angeles drug prosecution. Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng, 46, gave up her license to practice medicine in 2012, after she was charged in three patient overdose deaths. Prosecutors say her second-degree murder case is the…

Feb 5, 2016 5:00 PM CST

Self-driving cars will soon be street-legal, and California is getting a jump on regulating them

As any fan of rock ‘n’ roll’s hot rod genre can attest, cars have been an essential element of California culture for more than a century. So it’s only fitting that California is at the center of the growing movement to give cars, trucks and other motor vehicles the technology…

Feb 5, 2016 8:30 AM CST

9th Circuit OKs civil rights suit by man mistakenly jailed on warrant for another man

A federal appeals court has given a green light to a civil rights suit by a man who spent several days in a Los Angeles jail after being mistakenly booked under a warrant for another man. Mario Garcia shared the same first name, last name and birth date with the…

Feb 4, 2016 10:50 AM CST

Utility is criminally charged in methane gas leak that displaced thousands from homes

A California utility is facing criminal charges over a massive methane gas leak outside Los Angeles that has forced thousands from their homes since October. The four misdemeanor counts filed Tuesday accuse Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. of failing to timely report the discharge of the air contaminant after…

Feb 3, 2016 3:15 PM CST

OJ Simpson: Ads for TV series about my murder trial are too hard on Johnnie Cochran

More than 20 years after O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and a male friend in what was billed as the trial of the century, a critically acclaimed cable television series about the Los Angeles courtroom drama is premiering. Based on a book by former prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin,…

Feb 3, 2016 3:15 PM CST

Courtney Love’s win in ‘Twibel’ suit by her ex-lawyer is upheld by appeals court

A California appeals court on Monday OK’d a jury’s verdict in favor of Courtney Love Cobain in a landmark “Twibel” lawsuit over claimed libel per se in a tweet. It was brought by a former lawyer for the celebrity, Rhonda Holmes, and her law firm. The lawsuit was reportedly the…

Feb 2, 2016 12:10 PM CST

Ex-employee sues over Yahoo worker rating system, says it does end run around WARN requirements

A former Yahoo Inc. editor has filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging that a quarterly performance review system that ranks all company workers on a scale of 1 to 5 is unfair and illegal. Instead of providing a rational framework for evaluating employee performance, the QPR system is…

Feb 2, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Where’s the cheese? Suit says McDonald’s ‘100% real’ mozzarella sticks contain starch

Already on the defensive about claims on social media that some of its new mozzarella sticks are missing the cheese with which they are supposed to be filled, Mcdonald’s Corp. is now facing another cheese complaint from a different group of disgruntled customers. A California man is seeking at least…

Feb 2, 2016 5:45 AM CST

California governor pushes ballot measure to release nonviolent criminals from prisons earlier

With California still struggling to meet a 2009 federal court order to end overcrowding in prisons, Gov. Jerry Brown will push for a ballot initiative that would make it easier for nonviolent criminals to get early release, the Los Angeles Times reports. The proposal would make it easier to award…

Jan 28, 2016 2:30 PM CST