Sandi Gibbons

Lois Ann Goodman, Tennis Ref Charged With Murdering Husband, Off The Hook For Now

Prosecutors said they had good evidence that a Woodland Hills tennis umpire known for her work at the U.S Open beat her husband to death with a coffee cup. Steadfastly maintaining her innocence, 70-year-old Lois Ann Goodman said he simply fell and hit his head before he crawled into bed and died. ... More >>

Erik Poltorak: Murder Charges Filed Against Allen Edward Williams, 3 Others

Erik Poltorak, a man found dead on his front porch in the Fairfax District in a shocking case earlier this month, was murdered by four people who were arraigned today, prosecutors say. The suspected hit was allegedly related to Poltorak's testimony in a robbery case, according to court documents: T ... More >>

Anthony Wayne Smith, Former Raider, Serial Killer?

Former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Anthony Wayne Smith has been with charged with three unsolved murders, the LAPD announced today. That makes the number of killings he's accused of committing four: He's currently being retried in the 2008 homicide of Lancaster mechanic Maurilio Ponce. Doe ... More >>

D.A. Will Not File Charges in John Bryson Hit and Runs

Just weeks after John Bryson quietly tendered his resignation from Obama's cabinet, the Los Angeles district attorney has declined to press charges against the ex-commerce secretary. "The District Attorney's Office has declined to file a case against former Secretary of Commerce John Bryon," Sand ... More >>

Drew Doughty, L.A. Kings Champion and Hermosa Beach Hero, Accused of Date Rape

Update: Doughty allegedly met his accuser at Sharkeez bar in Hermosa Beach. She tells police that the hockey star took her back to his extravagant pad and had sex with her against her will. Details at the bottom. Not two weeks off his smashing Stanley Cup victory and celebratory parade, L.A. Kings ... 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 >>

Caught in a Fib, Carmen Trutanich Concocts Conspiracy Charge Against D.A.'s Office

Update, Thursday: Attorney general declines to investigate. More below.D.A. candidate Carmen Trutanich was caught last week in a fib about being shot at by gang members when he was a young prosecutor in 1985. The L.A. Times' Jack Leonard discovered that in fact, there were no gang members, and no gu ... More >>

Kinde Durkee Was Trusted by California's Top Democrats — Until Millions of Dollars Vanished

Prosecutor Mario Trujillo Calls D.A.'s Policies "Archaic," Draws Rebuke From D.A. Steve Cooley

Mario Trujillo: The boss wants to see you​After three terms as District Attorney, Steve Cooley is retiring next year. Though he won't be on the ballot, he sure is taking an active interest in who will be. He's been touting Jackie Lacey, and trashing Carmen Trutanich, for nearly a year.Now he's tak ... More >>

Reza Gerami, Owner of Rave Promotion Co. Go Ventures, Sees Home, Office Raided in Coliseum Investigation

Go VenturesReza Gerami.​District Attorney's investigators raided the home and office of rave promoter Reza Gerami, owner of Go Ventures, as part of its look into alleged improprieties at the publicly run L.A. Coliseum. Authorities served search warrants at his Malibu home and West Hills offic ... More >>

Does LAPD Have Ticket Quota? 10 More Traffic Officers Say Yes, Sue City

Check.​Off the record, LAPD officers have been telling us for months that their supervisors expect them to write a certain number of traffic tickets per day -- about 18 for traffic cops, and two for patrol cops (on top of their regular duties). Which is why last week's lawsuit against the Cit ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary in Venice Called 'Kush Doctor' Raided by Authorities on 4/20

TwitVideoNo holiday in Venice.​Updated with three locations hit by authorities -- after the jump. You would think authorities in L.A. would just let stoners have their holiday in this here pot shop capital of the nation. But no. LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman tells the Weekly that cops are serv ... More >>

Jeremy Marks "Attempted Lynching" Case Reaction

Mother slams District Attorney for throwing book at teen with cell phone camera

Jeremy Marks "Attempted Lynching" Case

Black teen who filmed an LAUSD campus cop hitting a student faces bizarre charges and years in prison

West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, Appointed By Friends On Council, Illegally Used City Stamp, Listserv To Beg 2011 Campaign Support

WeHo NewsSilly ethics laws don't apply to the WeHo City Council's golden girl​New: Horvath's campaign manager explains that the listserv was a private (albeit gigantic) one. Updated after the jump with Horvath's public Facebook profile pic and more juicy links from the over-zealous editor of ... More >>

Los Angeles Courts Burdened By Celebrity Cases

​Lindsay. Don Johnson. The "bling ring" of burglars that allegedly preyed on celebs' homes. The doctors of Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson. Leif Garrett. Roman Polanski (in absentia). And more. All have been to Los Angeles County courts recently, and all have helped to stretch the resour ... More >>

'Ferris Bueller' Actor Jeffrey Jones Accused Of Failing To Register As A Sex Offender

​Jeffrey Jones, known for his role as Dean Edward R. Rooney in the 1980s comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off was charged today with a felony count for not updating his sex offender status, according to NBC News. Jones, 63, was arrested on June 23 on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offen ... More >>

D.A. Looking Into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Ethics Surrounding Free-Tickets Scandal

Fox 11 NewsVillaraigosa at a Lakers game.​The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is looking into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's free-tickets controversy, with a spokeswoman telling LA Weekly that the office will "review" findings of the city's Ethics Commission in the matter. The may ... More >>

L.A. Administrative Officer Miguel Santana Charged With Suspicion Of DUI

​We called it a bizarre twist of fate, and that it remains: Los Angeles city administrative officer Miguel Santana was charged Monday by the District Attorney's office with suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after he was stopped last month following a roast for the District At ... More >>

L.A. D.A.'s Help Sought In Death Of 'Survivor' Producer's Wife

The Beresford-Redmans.​Two sisters of Monica Beresford-Redman, the woman found dead in Mexico this week, sought the intervention of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office in the case, Associated Press is reporting. D.A.'s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons conformed that the sisters' lawyer ... More >>

Animal Liberation Front Suspects Make Plea Deals

Animal rights gangsters (except when it comes to making plea deals).​A member of the radical group Animal Liberation Front pleaded no contest Friday to three counts of stalking and three of conspiracy to commit stalking in connection with the group's targeting of UCLA researchers and the Santa ... More >>

Sean Penn Charged In Clash With Paparazzo

FoxSean Penn was depicted on 'Family Guy' as a camera-attacking weatherman.​Sean Penn never met a camera he didn't like ... to smash. The notoriously paparazzi-unfriendly star was charged Friday with misdemeanor battery and vandalism stemming from a run in with a photog at Brentwood Country Ma ... More >>

Swiss-Versus-L.A. Standoff In Polanski Case

​Amid reports that Switzerland won't extradite famed director Roman Polanski until the fate of his sentencing in Los Angeles is clear, the District Attorney's office stated Friday that it won't make a move until Polanski's extradition is moved forward. "At present, this rests with the Swiss ... More >>

Cops Felonious In May Day Melee? D.A. Says No Way

Police who roughed-up and injured people in the so called "May Day Melee" in MacArthur Park in 2007 might have caused the city to pay out nearly $13 million in settlements but they didn't commit any crimes, the county district attorney announced today.Fox11Fox11 reporter Christina Gonzalez was pushe ... More >>

Lily Burk Death: Paperwork Snafu, or Steve Cooley Screwup?

Critics say the D.A.'s approach to the third strike makes him less vigilant

Phil Noir: Fidler Out of Tune

The judge gets threatened, the jurors get defensive, and Phil Spector beats his murder rap — for now

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?

Foreplay and Justice

The case of a prosecutor who slept with a key witness

Ay! The Jury

Robert Blake walks — and talks

Fast Justice

Lessons from New York’s handling of a police shooting

Second and Long

Retrial in Inglewood’s videotaped beating case is a test for Steve Cooley

The Marked Man

He survived a police campaign of 25 traffic tickets, four bogus arrests and a beating. All that came after he sued the LAPD for harrasment. Now, Carlos Oliva Menjivar sits in jail, awaiting trial in a case that isn’t so black and white

Rampart Secrets

Fight has begun to open corruption files

Naming Names

Defense attorneys want details on all the possibly flawed cases involving LAPD officers at the Rampart Station

Pattern and Practice

A 1980 interrogation-room shooting bears similarities to current LAPD scandal

Saving Ricky Tovar (page 1)

He should have been in school. Instead, he was in jail. And it would take his family, friends and teachers a month to get him out.

Saving Ricky Tovar (page 2)

He should have been in school. Instead, he was in jail. And it would take his family, friends and teachers a month to get him out.

Justice Delayed

Two years after, authorities still mum on Riverside deputy beatings