California

LA City Attorney on Hot Seat

The Los Angeles city attorney and his wife are taking a drubbing in the press for driving-related infractions. The wife of City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has an outstanding warrant for her arrest for failing to appear in court on driving related charges, the Los Angeles Times reports. Michelle Delgadillo was…

Jun 20, 2007 5:17 PM CDT

Ex-Employees Sued in Client Disputes

A California investment-advice firm has sued former sales people and two companies that hired them, claiming they used proprietary information to steal clients. Fisher Investments claims the employees violated contracts by taking client contact information to new jobs, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The employees respond that the…

Jun 20, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

Judge to Release Priest Files

A Los Angeles judge has ruled he will allow release of confidential personnel files of clergy accused in child sex abuse cases that have settled. Judge Peter Lichtman said the priests’ privacy rights must give way to the state’s interest in protecting children from sex abuse, the Los Angeles Times…

Jun 19, 2007 8:33 PM CDT

Judge: Phil Spector’s Lawyer in Contempt

After a month of behind-the-scenes negotiations not heard by the jury in the ongoing Phil Spector murder trial, the judge indicated today that he plans to hold a defense lawyer in contempt. Because Sara Caplan refuses to testify before the jury about seeing a famous criminalist pick up a small…

Jun 18, 2007 9:35 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Out of Medical Ward

Paris Hilton has been released from the medical ward at the Los Angeles County jail. Hilton was released from the treatment center around 11 p.m. yesterday, Associated Press reports. A judge who disagreed with Hilton’s home detention sent her to the treatment center for evaluation on Friday. Critics claimed Hilton…

Jun 14, 2007 2:06 PM CDT

No Line for Hilton’s Parents at Jail Visit

Despite worldwide publicity critical of the special treatment Paris Hilton has already received, those in charge of the hotel heiress’ California incarceration for probation violation reportedly continue to bend the rules on her behalf. Family members of fellow inmates complained that their visits were delayed by several hours or cut…

Jun 13, 2007 11:26 PM CDT

Bounty-Hunters Irk Calif. AG

About a dozen law firms are filing lawsuits that help enforce a California law requiring businesses to tell consumers when they are exposed to cancer-causing substances. Their suits generate 100 to 150 settlements totaling about $10 million a year, according to the state attorney general’s office. It has taken issue…

Jun 11, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

Celebrity Cuts No Ice with CA Judge, Who Sends Paris Hilton Back to Jail

At a scheduled hearing today about whether Paris Hilton should be sent back to jail to serve a 45-day sentence for repeatedly violating her probation in an alcohol-related traffic case, Judge Michael T. Sauer made no secret of his displeasure with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office. It had released…

Jun 8, 2007 11:37 PM CDT

Hard Time for Others, But Not Hilton

There’s one obvious reason why Paris Hilton was released from a California prison, after serving only three days of a 45-day sentence for violating her probation for an alcohol-related driving offense, many believe. Celebrity clout. An undisclosed medical condition reportedly prompted the Los Angeles County Sheriff to release the 26-year-old…

Jun 8, 2007 6:37 PM CDT

CA Atty Gen’l Eyes De Anza Rape Case

In the controversial rape case originally filed against three former Duke University lacrosse players last year, a North Carolina prosecutor went too far too quickly, relying on flimsy evidence at best, most observers now agree. But, in the wake of the public furor over the dismissal of the unfounded charges…

Jun 6, 2007 9:40 PM CDT

Sex Offender Seeks to Halt Adoption

A juvenile court commissioner in Riverside, Calif., has halted the adoption of a 2-year-old girl named Heaven to consider uniting the child with her sex-offender father. A Texas couple wants to adopt the child, who has heart defects and mild cerebral palsy, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I cannot…

Jun 6, 2007 7:30 PM CDT

Group Chastises Calif. Firms on Hiring

An advocacy group supporting greater minority participation in policy making is giving a barely passing grade to several California law firms. The report by Berkeley’s Greenlining Institute gave Ds and Fs to the following firms for apparently employing few or no African-American partners, according to the Recorder: –Cooley Godward Kronish…

Jun 5, 2007 2:23 PM CDT

Death Suit Dismissed in Holloway Case

A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a California wrongful death suit filed over the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. The parents of the Alabama teen, who vanished on May 30, 2005 while on vacation with high school classmates on the Dutch Caribbean island, have no jurisdiction to sue in…

Jun 4, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

Suit Brings eHarmony Disharmony

A woman is suing eHarmony for barring access to the online dating service because she is a lesbian. Linda Carlson is seeking class action status for the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior court. Lawyers for Carlson say they believe it is the first suit of its kind against the…

Jun 1, 2007 8:27 PM CDT

Computer Musings Could Help Spector Defense

The judge overseeing the murder trial of record producer Phil Spector is mulling whether to admit writings from the home computer of the woman found dead in his home. Defense lawyers want to introduce the material to show that actress Lana Clarkson was depressed and likely shot herself, the Los…

Jun 1, 2007 8:11 PM CDT