Superior Court of California

Obama's Occidental Records Remain Under Wraps Despite Birther Orly Taitz's Lawsuit

An O.C. birther who took Occidental College to court in an attempt to get the Eagle Rock school to release President Obama's undergraduate grades and records lost the case this month, according to the campus paper, The Occidential Weekly. The woman, Rancho Santa Margarita attorney Orly Taitz, argue ... More >>

'Parent Trigger' Scores First-Ever Victory at Desert Trails Elementary: Judge Issues Historic Ruling Against Adelanto School District

See also: LA Weekly print stories "California's Parent Trigger" and "Parent Trigger's Second Try." For the first time in American history, parents with kids at an extremely low-performing school -- in this case, Desert Trails Elementary in Adelanto -- have succeeded in filing a petition to seize it ... More >>

Ben Stein's Cro-Magnon Global Warming Views Cost Him a Hollywood Gig? Judge Says B.S.

Looks like Hollywood pitchman, actor and conservative political voice Ben Stein won't get to win Kyocera's money. Most of his lawsuit against the electronics maker has been dismissed, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Stein said that he was dropped as a pitchman for the company after it learned abou ... More >>

Do Unmarried Same Sex Couples Get Inheritance When Partner Dies?

You're in a committed, same-sex relationship, but you can't get married in California. And suddenly your partner, who intended to write you into his will, dies. Then his sister steps in, and you get nothing. That actually happened, according to an L.A.-based legal claim made by Brent Beckwith, who ... More >>

Fishermen, Tidepoolers Beware: New 'Marine Protected Areas' Go Into Effect This January

algaebase.orgMove along, kelp-cutters.​About 11 percent of the Southern California coastline is about to go on lockdown, thanks to somewhat controversial new Marine Protected Areas drafted by the state Department of Fish and Game. (Map of all protected SoCal waters, below.) So what does that ... More >>

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Sues Plastic Water Bottle Companies

shrf14​A new lawsuit accuses water bottle companies of lying to consumers in California when labeling their plastic products as "100 percent biodegradable and recyclable." State Attorney General Kamala D. Harris names three companies in the "greenwashing" suit, filed in Orange County Superior ... More >>

Patrick Caleb Land Pleads Not Guilty After SoCal Prosecutors Say DNA Proves He Beat Dogs to Death

A golden retriever.​Cops say they got their killer -- through DNA no less. It's an expensive and timely investigative technique. But for a homicide, it's worth it, right? In this case, though, the victims were ... dogs. Twenty-five-year-old Patrick Caleb Land pleaded not guilty in San Diego S ... More >>

Cristian Gheorghiu, or L.A. Tagger 'Smear', in Court for Keeping Art Supplies at His House

Los Angeles TimesSmear in his garage studio​We have L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to thank for keeping dangerous criminals like Cristian Gheorghiu -- the graffiti artist better known as Smear, who has turned a life of crime into a legitimate career over the last few years, as detailed in ... More >>

Today in WTF: San Diego Mother Scratches Babies Until They Bleed

lisahench.comFeinding for babies​We don't usually care too much about what the hell those crazy San Diegans are doing down there in the bowels of California, but this chick -- excuse us, this insanely psychotic insane psychopath -- is just too fascinating to pass up. She's a high-class real-e ... More >>

Mother Sues McDonald's Over Happy Meals

Flickr/itspaulkelly​ Your kid's Happy Meal just got a little more unhappier, at least for McDonald's. Yesterday a Sacramento mother, Monet Parham, filed a class action lawsuit against the fast food giant. The suit was filed in conjunction with the Center for Science in the Public Interest in C ... More >>

Barry Minkow 2.0

L.A.'s fraud king is back — and taking the media for another ride

Manuela De Leon, L.A. Homicide No. 196: 34-Year-Old-Woman Fatally Stabbed In Boyle Heights

Google Maps​ A woman fatally stabbed September 17 has been identified as 34-year-old Manuela De Leon. The stabbing occurred in the 3000 block of Rosalind Place around 12:15 a.m., the Los Angeles Times reports. Celso Sante, De Leon's husband, allegedly stabbed her during an argument in the co ... More >>

Claim Jumper Restaurant Settles Condom-In-My-Soup Lawsuit

​Man says to his waiter, What's this condom doing in my soup? Waiter shrugs, The backstroke? But seriously, the punchline is that 51-year-old Philip Hodousek is getting a settlement from Claim Jumper after he claimed to have found a prophylactic in his French onion soup last year in Orange Cou ... More >>

Mike Penner, Christine Daniels: A Tragic Love Story

The L.A. Times sports journalist lived most of his life wanting to be a woman. He discovered too late that he wanted his wife even more

California Chief Justice Ron George To Retire

​ According to the Associated Press, Chief Justice Ronald George announced Wednesday that he would retire from the Supreme Court of California at the end of his term in January. George, who is known for his opinion in favor of same-sex marriage in 2008, said in a statement that he plans to ret ... More >>

'State Law Does Not ... Require Cities To Allow Dispensaries'

​Bad news for supporters of Los Angeles pot shops, most of which have recently been outlawed by a city law: A judge in Orange County Wednesday upheld the city of Lake Forest's right to prohibit marijuana dispensaries. The attorney representing Lake Forest, Jeffrey Dunn, praised the ruling: "S ... More >>

LAUSD's Dance of the Lemons

Why firing the desk-sleepers, burnouts, hotheads and other failed teachers is all but impossible

Dating Game serial killer suspect Alcala cross-examines himself over his hair

​ Could the trial of alleged "Dating Game" serial killer Rodney Alcala possibly get any stranger? Yep, it can. Alcala, who is representing himself as he faces the possible death penalty in an Orange County court, took the stand Tuesday and began asking questions of himself, in third-person, ab ... More >>

Rodney Alcala: The Fine Art of Killing

One man’s murderous romp through polite society

Esteban Nunez's Friend Admits Destroying Evidence; Will Testify Against Former Assembly Speaker's Son

Just two weeks before the first anniversary of the death of 22-year-old San Diego college student Luis Santos, one of the four men charged with his fatal stabbing pleaded guilty September 16. Rafael Garcia, the son of a respected Sacramento administrative law judge, also agreed to testify against t ... More >>

OctoMom-Allred Smackdown Looms

[Update: Associated Press reported Saturday that Suleman has signed a reality TV deal for each of her 14 children with Eyeworks worth $250,000 over three years. Eyeworks will contribute 15 percent of the gross compensation into a "Coogan account" for the children, who won't be able to access the mon ... More >>

Murder Was the Case: L.A. Homicide No. 129: Redlands Woman Found Dead in Van by Los Angeles Hospital Personnel

Redlands homicide detectives are investigating the strangling death of a 49-year-old woman after her estranged boyfriend drove to the Good Samaritan Hospital on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles -- with her body in his car. Redlands Police Department According to Redlands Police Department spokesma ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

What Summer School? Due to its budget crunch, the L.A. Unified School District is canceling all of its K-8 summer school classes and most of its non-academic programs, while offering only credit-recovery courses for high schoolers. L.A. TimesThe More Things Change Dept. L.A. City Attorney-elect Carm ... More >>

Esteban Nunez Case: Bad Little Suburban Boys

The son of Fabian Nunez, and his friends, face the music in Lu Santos’ killing

Judge: Fabian Nunez's Son and Three Friends Will Go to Trial in Fatal Stabbing Case

San Diego Superior Court Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled today that former California  Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez's son, Esteban, and three friends must stand trial for the stabbing death of an allegedly unarmed 22-year-old college student outside a fraternity party.Esteban NunezBashant made her ... More >>

Mold Queen Loses in Court: July 24, 2008

DOES ASSEMBLY SPEAKER'S SON HAVE GANG TIES?

Esteban Nunez, the son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez who was arrested in the stabbing death of a 22-year-old college student, may have possible gang ties, according to search warrants released Wednesday. Nunez,19, and three of his friends -- all of whom live in the Sacramento ar ... More >>

The Toxic Mold Rush: California Mom Helps Fuel an Obsession

Ed McMahon is among those caught in paranoia over fungus' supposed perils

California GOP: The Queer Enablers of Gay Marriage

How Republicans accomplished what the Dems could not

Key Moments in the Struggle for Gay Marriage in the U.S.

Holy unions to Supreme Court battles

Pot of Gold

What Council members reap

How Alarcón Sold Out the Schools

Re-running for City Council, he got a free pass from the media over his troubling antics in Sacramento

The Addled Department

Problems pile up for L.A.’s building czar

Beheading on Mount Baldy, Part II

Collateral Damage

Vietnamese leader whipsawed by Orange County backlash