D.A. Steve Cooley

In A Shocker, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Looks Beaten In District Attorney's Race

Update, 2 p.m.: Mike Feuer signals he is not dropping his bid for city attorney, which may mean the end of Nuch's career at City Hall East. More below.The crowd at the Croatian American Club of San Pedro watched the election returns Tuesday night in a state of shock and disbelief, as hometown hero C ... More >>

Armenian Assassin's Parole Pushed as Issue in D.A. Race

The case of Hampig Sassounian has been a cause celebre within the local Armenian community for nearly 30 years. In 1982, Sassounian and an accomplice assassinated the Turkish consul general, in an act of revenge for the Armenian genocide.Sassounian was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in pr ... More >>

Assessor John Noguez, Under Fire in Corruption Probe, Takes Leave of Absence

Assessor John Noguez, who is the target of a "pay-to-play" investigation, said today that he would take a voluntary leave of absence.In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Noguez said he wanted to restore "public confidence in the professionalism, integrity, and impartiality of the Assessor's Offi ... More >>

D.A. Race: Carmen Trutanich Rakes In Cash; Jackie Lacey Picks Up Steam

Despite a slew of negative publicity, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich continues to rake in cash in the race for L.A. County district attorney, according to campaign finance reports released late on Wednesday.Trutanich has brought in $1.4 million in all, more than two-and-a-half times the total of his ... More >>

Scott Schenter, Ex-Appraiser, Pleads Not Guilty to Corruption Counts, Placed in 'Special Housing'

Scott Schenter, the former appraiser at the center of the corruption probe into Assessor John Noguez, pleaded not guilty this afternoon to 60 counts of falsifying department documents.After the plea hearing, district attorney investigators returned to the courtroom to ask that Schenter be placed in ... More >>

Richard Alarcon's Strange Squatter Home Saga Sees Charges Dismissed

Updated at the bottom: After charges were refiled, Alarcon and wife pleaded not guilty (again) today. First posted at 12:40 p.m. Thursday L.A. city Councilman Richard Alarcon got into some hot water after a squatter broke into his home and thus, he said, temporarily forced him out of his own distri ... More >>

D.A. Debate: Three Prosecutors Duke, As Carmen Trutanich Ducks

​Three candidates for L.A. District Attorney debated public safety issues on Saturday afternoon. But once again, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was not among them.Trutanich, the leading fundraiser in the race, also skipped the first debate, back in November. At the time, he was still claiming publ ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Crowns Himself "Chief Prosecutor," Draws Rebuke From D.A. Steve Cooley

​Carmen Trutanich is the Los Angeles city attorney. But that's not how he wants to known to voters who cast ballots for L.A. district attorney in June.On paperwork filed Thursday with county elections officials, Trutanich says he wants to be called "Los Angeles Chief Prosecutor."That job does not ... More >>

Prosecutor Mario Trujillo Dropping Out of L.A. District Attorney Race

​Updated below with a statement from Trujillo. Prosecutor Mario Trujillo will soon drop out of the race for L.A. County district attorney due to health concerns, according to two sources close to the campaign.Trujillo was a serious contender for D.A. Though he had no prior political experience, he ... More >>

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Rakes in More Than $1 Million in D.A. Race

​Updated below. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will announce this week that he has raised more than $1 million in the race for L.A. County District Attorney.Trutanich has a commanding fundraising advantage, though he has still not officially declared his candidacy. His nearest competitor is prosec ... More >>

Kinde's Crimes

Carmen Trutanich Forms Committee To Run For District Attorney

Carmen Trutanich​Updated at 7:39 p.m. with Trutanich's campaign manager taking some swings at D.A. rival Alan Jackson. L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed paperwork today to begin his campaign for L.A. District Attorney. According to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder's office, Trutanich sub ... More >>

Jackie Lacey Moves Up In The D.A.'s Office -- Still No Word From Steve Cooley On Retirement

Jackie Lacey​D.A. Steve Cooley announced today that he is promoting Jackie Lacey to be his second-in-command.The promotion to chief deputy helps Lacey in at least two ways as she mounts a campaign for district attorney in 2012. First, it gives her greater management responsibility and more experie ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Reels 'Em In At San Pedro Fish Lunch

Carmen Trutanich (center) presses the flesh in San Pedro.​The Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro has a strict rule against political speeches at its fish lunches. So it was a bit surprising last Friday when L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was invited up to the podium to say a few words."I gu ... More >>

Blanca Martinez-Navarro Case: What Happens When L.A. City Officials Come Under Suspicion? They Get a Paid Vacation

FacebookBlanca Martinez-Navarro.​Blanca Martinez-Navarro is one of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's gang-reduction staffers. She's also in trouble: Cops said she attacked an officer last weekend at the Conga Room downtown. And so the mayor's office placed her on administrative leave. What, e ... More >>

Alan Jackson Announces Campaign For District Attorney

Alan Jackson​Alan Jackson made it official today, announcing his campaign for district attorney. As we've said before, Jackson is a career prosecutor who's best known for putting Phil Spector behind bars.The election isn't until June 2012, but the filing period will be opening shortly. Jackson, 45 ... More >>

Imperial Stars Band Members Face Conspiracy Charges After Blocking 101 Freeway In Hollywood For Publicity Stunt

This really happened.​The members of an Orange County band that admittedly blocked the 101 freeway in Hollywood as part of a publicity stunt last month were finally charged by the L.A. District Attorney. The D.A.'s office on Tuesday announced that three band members from Imperial Stars were e ... More >>

City of Bell Corruption

The people yell over the smell in the hell that is Bell

Grim Sleeper Suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr. Had Criminal Record, But Not Enough Of One To Require DNA Test

CBS2/KCAL9Lonnie Franklin, Jr.​Grim Sleeper serial murder suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr. was no stranger to authorities, even as neighbors said he once worked as a mechanic at the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Division. CBS2/KCAL9's David Goldstein found out this week that Franklin was co ... More >>

Breaking: Lonnie David Franklin Jr. Is Suspect In Grim Sleeper Serial Killings; Arrested Today

EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: ​"How they caught Grim Sleeper suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr: His own son's DNA trail led them straight to him." ​ By Dennis Romero, J. Patrick Coolican and Gene Maddaus [Updated at 6:18 p.m. with District Attorney Steve Cooley helping to explain, after the jump, how ... More >>

Republican Steve Cooley Wins Attorney General Primary

L.A. County D.A. Steve Cooley​With 24 precent of statewide precincts reporting, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley has won the Republican nomination for California Attorney General, according to the Los Angeles Times. The close, hard-hitting race is turning out to be a landsli ... More >>

Will Cardinal Mahony Hurt the Cooley Campaign?

For months, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, a moderate Republican seeking the GOP nomination for California Attorney General, has been taking hits from his conservative rivals during a hard-hitting primary race (see the current issue of L.A. Weekly).Los Angeles County D.A. Steve C ... More >>

Sex Offender Friend Of Deputy D.A. Drove His Car With His Badge Inside

badgehistory.com​Recent testimony by the president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the union entangled in a battle with D.A. Steve Cooley, indicates that the onetime challenger for Cooley's job once maintained a friendship with a sex offender, possibly let him stay at his home ... More >>

Sex, Justice and the D.A.'s Office

Could a prosecutor’s affair with a stripper bring down a death-penalty conviction and Steve Cooley?

Cold Snap

Mr. Freeze helps put the dems on ice

Slushed in 2003

P.I. for All

Anthony Pellicano could play both sides

Speak Easy and Carry a Big Stick

Edited by Kateri Butler

Fighting Words

Independent voices at the L.A. Times and real independent filmmaking

Tributes

Power Giving: Dr. Cardinal on Campus

Arresting Video

Halloween Shooting Haunts Rampart

Another case shows the D.A. closed the book too soon

Bad Cop, Bad Cop

The troubled careers of two LAPD officers

In Contempt

Judge Connor went beyond the call of duty to help Rampart officers

Soft on Crime Fighters

Higher-ups ignored problems with drug case, prosecutor alleges