California

Public defender calls for probe after receiving video of police beating

As sirens sound in the background, two California lawmen can be seen striking a man on the ground with their batons, dozens of times. Shown on a YouTube video provided to the Alameda County public defender’s office by someone who had a security camera in the area, the Thursday incident…

Nov 16, 2015 4:05 PM CST

Federal judge stuns courtroom with probation sentences in $5M mortgage-fraud case

A federal judge stunned five defendants in a Sacramento, California, mortgage fraud case and their lawyers Tuesday by imposing probation sentences instead of the multiyear prison terms sought by the prosecution. “Our jaws just dropped,” attorney Mark Reichel told the Sacramento Bee. Although defense counsel argued that the five were…

Nov 11, 2015 12:10 PM CST

Judge tosses suit over Apple’s employee bag searches

A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for the time Apple employees spent while undergoing exit searches of their bags at retail stores in California. The employees had sued under California law requiring a minimum wage for all work hours, defined by California courts…

Nov 9, 2015 8:50 AM CST

New California plan calls for single-drug executions; drug to be chosen on ‘case-by-case’ basis

California’s governor on Friday announced a plan for a new single-drug execution protocol in death-penalty cases. It would replace a three-drug lethal cocktail that has been the subject of court challenges throughout the country. In California, the three-drug approach was struck down by a federal judge in 2006 as inhumane,…

Nov 6, 2015 4:15 PM CST

Hacktivist group’s ‘Million Mask March’ sparks protests at US federal courthouses

A “Million Mask March” on Thursday organized by the hacktivist group Anonymous on the anniversary of a failed British rebellion in 1605 reportedly created chaos in London. But it also sparked apparently non-violent protests in the U.S. by individuals wearing the white mask associated with Anonymous and would-be assassin Guy…

Nov 6, 2015 12:40 PM CST

Lawyer charged in marijuana operation case says state and federal laws ban prosecution

Arrested last year at his Denver law office, a Colorado attorney facing federal charges in connection with an alleged illegal marijuana operation says he shouldn’t be prosecuted. That’s because state law permits him to do what he did and a federal budget amendment bans the use of federal funds to…

Nov 3, 2015 1:55 PM CST

Lawyer gets prison time for secretly using client cases as collateral to obtain litigation funding

A disbarred California lawyer has been sentenced to five months in jail for forging the signatures of personal injury clients so he could use their cases as collateral to obtain litigation funding. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez sentenced lawyer Todd Macaluso on Monday, report the San Diego Union-Tribune and 10News.…

Nov 3, 2015 10:29 AM CST

Judge orders Bill Cosby and his ex-lawyer to submit to deposition in suit over rape denial

A Los Angeles judge on Monday ordered Bill Cosby and his former lawyer to submit to a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by model Janice Dickinson. Judge Debre Katz Weintraub’s deposition ruling allows the lawyer, Martin Singer, and Cosby to refuse to answer some questions due to attorney-client privilege,…

Nov 3, 2015 9:39 AM CST

Dinsmore announces 3rd merger this year, opens California office via Leventhal Law acquisition

For the third time this year, Dinsmore & Shohl has announced a merger. This time, the firm has acquired Leventhal Law, a San Diego business litigation boutique founded in 2012 by former White House attorney Joe Leventhal, reports the Cincinnati Business Courier. The Nov. 1 merger provides Dinsmore with its…

Nov 3, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Doctor convicted of murder in patient OD deaths; case may be first successful US prosecution

A California physician has been convicted of second-degree murder in the prescription drug overdose deaths of three patients, based on reckless conduct. Prosecutors say the case may be the first time in U.S. history a doctor has been convicted of murder for prescribing medicine used by the patient to overdose,…

Nov 2, 2015 10:00 AM CST

Suit says San Francisco bail system is an equal protection violation

A federal class action filed last week claims the bail system in San Francisco discriminates against the poor in violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. The suit (PDF) was filed by Washington, D.C., nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, report the San Francisco Examiner, Bay City News and Courthouse…

Nov 2, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Polish judge rejects extradition for Polanski; will US continue to pursue case?

An Oscar-winning film director has won another round in a long-standing battle to avoid extradition to the U.S., where he has admitted having unlawful sex with a minor and was convicted in 1977 after fleeing the country. A Polish judge on Friday ruled against extraditing Roman Polanski, whose age is…

Oct 30, 2015 5:00 PM CDT

Pregnancy tests on jailed women required under old settlement are now voluntary due to new lawsuit

Decades ago, to help settle a lawsuit that alleged inadequate prenatal care for women jailed in Alameda County, California, officials decided to have pregnancy tests routinely performed on all women under 60. Now, in response to a new federal civil rights suit, they have agreed to curtail the practice. Women…

Oct 29, 2015 3:10 PM CDT

Delivery drivers’ suit against Amazon says plaintiffs were paid less than minimum wage

Add another group of workers to the growing list of “independent contractors” who have filed wage-and-hour suits against major companies over claimed misclassification. On Tuesday, four drivers who formerly delivered for Amazon Prime Now while working as independent contractors for Scoobeez Inc. filed suit against both the delivery company and…

Oct 29, 2015 9:20 AM CDT

Using taxi as getaway car points police to bank robbery suspect

A suspect in a string of San Francisco bank robberies attributed to the “straw hat bandit” has been arrested. Indicted Tuesday on charges of robbing three banks and trying to rob a fourth, Richard Laurence Stewart was located by police after a teller in one of the robberies spotted the…

Oct 28, 2015 1:10 PM CDT