California

3 CA Women: We Saw Rape, Want Trial

In a case seen by some as representing the flip side of the disastrous prosecution of former members of the Duke University lacrosse team for a rape they didn’t commit, a California attorney in private practice has agreed to represent women who say they were eyewitnesses to a rape of…

Aug 7, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

CA Law Skins Peter to Pay Python

Snakeskin is the hot material for designer handbags this fall. But a California law banning the sale of products made from pythons means that the some of the hottest accessories will be made of anaconda, which is also banned for commercial use in Brazil. Neither species is listed as endangered,…

Aug 6, 2007 5:54 PM CDT

Bloomberg: Insurers Aren’t Paying Claims

Despite having had to cover Hurricane Katrina, the worst U.S. disaster in the history of insurance, carriers are earning record profits. One reason why is that many don’t pay claims to the extent promised in insurance policies, a news agency says. “Insurers often pay 30-60 percent of the cost of…

Aug 3, 2007 8:47 PM CDT

Judge OKs, Adds to Pedophile Injunction

Two Santa Clarita lawyers who sought an injunction to protect their daughters and other local children from associating with a self-admitted pedophile got everything they sought from a California judge today—and more. They had asked for a temporary restraining order to prevent Jack McClellan, a 45-year-old who admittedly is sexually…

Aug 3, 2007 7:15 PM CDT

Teen Smoking Suit Extinguished

Joe Camel has made it through the eye of a needle. The California Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against four tobacco companies targeting ads that appeal to youths, the Recorder reports. The suit claimed the companies encouraged youths to start smoking through ads that featured icons such as Joe…

Aug 3, 2007 11:42 AM CDT

Injunction Sought for Admitted Pedophile

Jack McClellan has never even been arrested for a child sex offense, let alone convicted. But the 45-year-old California man, who appears to live largely in his car in the Santa Monica area, publicly proclaims his attraction to children, saying that he might act on it if it were legal…

Aug 2, 2007 3:37 PM CDT

CA Museum Returns Allegedly Stolen Art

Ending a long-standing dispute over the ownership of some of the most prized art works in its collection, the J.P. Getty Museum has agreed to return to the Italian government 40 antiquities illegally excavated and exported from that country. The draft agreement is still being finalized, but will return to…

Aug 1, 2007 5:42 PM CDT

Homes Targeted for Gang Activity

The owners of Los Angeles properties that served as a base for gang activities may be in for a rude awakening. Prosecutors are seeking to seize five properties and to force the owners of five others to clean up and control their buildings, the Los Angeles Times reports. The suits…

Aug 1, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

August 10, 1977

Son of Sam is Arrested

Aug 1, 2007 8:39 AM CDT

2 Babies Die in Hot Cars, 1 Dad in Prison

Two grieving fathers in far-distant states still reproach themselves over the the deaths of their babies, whom they left alone in cars parked in the sun, years ago now. One does so in his faculty office at the University of California at Irvine. The other, a former horse groom, remembers…

Jul 31, 2007 10:52 PM CDT

Did Transplant Doc Speed Donor’s Death?

In what may be the first case of its kind in the country, a San Francisco transplant surgeon has been charged with intentionally hastening a patient’s death in order to harvest his organs for another patient. Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, 33, allegedly prescribed excessive medication to a mentally and physically disabled…

Jul 31, 2007 8:12 PM CDT

Mortgage Foreclosures Rise 58 Percent

Mortgage foreclosures nationwide were up by 58 percent during the first half of 2007, compared to the first half of 2006. That translates to a total of 573,397 homes at some point in the foreclosure process between January and June 2007, from a notice of default to repossession, reports the…

Jul 31, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

More Suits Target Gangs

Cities are fighting gangs with lawsuits, raising the ire of critics who say minority youths are being singled out. The latest cities to file suit include Fort Worth and San Francisco, the Associated Press reports. The complaints often seek injunctions that bar specific youths or targeted gangs from congregating, displaying…

Jul 30, 2007 2:46 PM CDT

Judge Sentences Nicole Richie to Jail

Following the pathway to California incarceration recently blazed by her reality TV co-star Paris Hilton, 25-year-old Nicole Richie is also headed to jail for a brief period. As part of a plea bargain, the daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie was sentenced to about four days in jail for driving…

Jul 27, 2007 7:07 PM CDT

LA Trend: More Confidentiality Contracts

Hollywood’s entertainment and business elite are, of course, perennially concerned about privacy. But ever-more-stringent efforts are now being made to safeguard from public scrutiny the personal lives of Los Angeles residents at all levels of society. Among the latest innovations, reports the Los Angeles Times, are standard rules requiring relatively…

Jul 26, 2007 6:52 PM CDT