Appellate Trials

Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron Denied Medical Defense in Long Beach Pot Trial

​Why Joe Byron and Joe Grumbine, the operators of two shuttered cannabis clubs in Long Beach as well as Garden Grove's Unit D collective, were ever charged for selling marijuana in the first place is a mystery. After all, Long Beach not only does not have any laws banning marijuana clubs in the ci ... More >>

Proposition 8 Ruling: One Challenge Rejected, Another Bounced Back to State Supreme Court

​In at least a partial setback for the h8rs, the Los Angeles Times reports that a federal appeals court has rejected Imperial County's challenge to Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative, which banned same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional.The 9th Circuit Co ... More >>

City Wins One, Loses One in Supreme Week

​It's rare for a city to be involved in one case before the U.S. Supreme Court, let alone two. By refusing to hear Long Beach-related appeals this week, justices handed the city one loss and one victory.After serving nearly 14 years in state prison for a 1988 child rape, Leonard McSherry of Santa ... More >>

Supreme Court Weighs Orange County Poop

​The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to let Orange County's poop go . . . to Kern County.

Domino's Calls Out Papa John's

A while back, Papa John's claimed they used better ingredients in their pizzas than Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut sued them and won a judgment that Papa John's couldn't use the slogan "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." because it falsely implied that the competition's ingredients were not fresh or wholesome ... More >>

Rodney Alcala's Murderous Romp Through Polite Society Brings Him to an Orange County Courtroom Again

Supposedly Broke Orly Taitz Appeals Santa Ana Case

John Gilhooley / OC Weekly​When she's not posting copies of the President's late mother's social security card and asking newly elected Republican senator Scott Brown to sign on her lawsuit against Barack Obama, Laguna Niguel's Orly Taitz has lately taken to peppering her blog with statements like ... More >>

Octomom Wins Court Battle in Orange County Today

​This afternoon a California Court of Appeal slammed a former child actor who attempted to remove parental rights from Nadya Suleman, the single Orange County woman known around the world as "Octomom."In May 2009, Paul Petersen--a former child actor as a Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club--asked ... More >>

Delayed YouTube Telecast of Prop 8 Trial OK'd (For Now)

​While Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected a bid by media organizations to televise the Prop 8 trial proceedings live, groups pushing for the broadcasts are somewhat consoled court-operated cameras in his courtroom will be allowed to operate for delayed release on YouTube. And th ... More >>

Most Novel Spousal Support Idea of the Day!

Cultural clash in court​Instead of a California court deciding how much money my ex-wife should get, allow me to choose five of her friends to make the decision.--Satya Reddi's courtroom proposal to Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy A. Pollard, who was rebuked by a state court of appeal pan ... More >>

Justices Reject Convictions Against Man Who Allegedly Shot At Cops

A dog of a case?​The Orange County District Attorney's Office twice has won convictions against Ernest Benefiel related to highly questionable allegations he assaulted police officers in a bizarre 2004 Fullerton incident, and now a state appeals court for the second time has rejected the prosecuti ... More >>

UCI's Chemerinsky to Represent Teacher in 'Jesus Glasses' Appeal

James Corbett​The Register's Scott Martindale reports that the lovably liberal UCI Law dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, will help represent James Corbett in his appeal of the ruling earlier this year that he violated the Constitution by criticizing Creationism in a Capistrano Valley High School classroom. ... More >>

Free Speech Triumphs Over Gestapo in OC!

Oppression didn't end in 1945​Folks are always complaining that Congress and state legislatures should not be allowed to meet except for a couple of weeks a year. It's an idea to help curtail the nanny-state notions of politicians of both major political parties. Good enough. But what about city ... More >>

Federal Panel Gives Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona Leniency

Break out the vodka, boys!​As Orange County's Republican sheriff, Mike Carona liked to talk tough about granting no mercy to convicted felons, but ever since the ex-top cop turned convicted felon himself earlier this year he's been begging for leniency.This afternoon, the Ninth Circuit--the nation ... More >>

LGBT Groups Seek to Intervene in Prop. 8 Challenge

This just in from the ACLU, which believes the action taken today will help a judge hearing a challenge of Prop. 8 understand the unequal rights inherent in the ballot initiative . . . SAN FRANCISCO -- Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the American Civil Liberties Union ... More >>

CA Supreme Court To Business: Comply With ADA Or Expect Huge Penalties

Angelucci and Gunther: Anti-Discrimination Heroes?On Friday, the California Supreme Court overturned a Santa Ana-based Court of Appeal decision that required plaintiffs in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-type cases to prove that businesses purposely violated the law by not making their facilit ... More >>

Court Slaps Little Saigon Red-Baiter

The decades-old Little Saigon sport of falsely labeling a fellow Vietnamese immigrant "a Communist" if that person doesn't share your right-wing politics now finally has consequences. Just ask Sinh Cuong Cao. In 2007, Kimoanh Nguyen-Lam (pictured) was fired as the nation's first Vietnamese American ... More >>

Taco Bell Crime of the Week!

This one is from last week and involves Taco Bell itself!A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Taco Bell is solely liable for $42 million in breach-of-contract awards to two Michigan men who created the diminutive mascot that starred in the Irvine fast-food giant's hit $500-million advertising c ... More >>

Police Chief Operates Surf City's Only Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Cops around here have developed a nasty habit: bogarting joints. That is, they illegally confiscate medical marijuana, get dragged into court for violating state law, lollygag in chambers for years, and have the local verdict kicked up to appellate court, where they ultimately lose and have to give ... More >>

Citizen of the Week!

Don't assume that because Deep Arora won a top prize at a math competition that women wouldn't find him irresistible. On February 16, 2006, Emily, whom he'd met online that evening, invited Arora to drive from Placentia (where he lived with his parents) to her Laguna Beach apartment. The 19-year-ol ... More >>

Citizen of the Week!

Veronica Paz smoked pot with and repeatedly had public sex with Diego Gonzales, a 17-year-old high school wrestling champion, on a hillside perch overlooking Orange County. Yes, it is illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor, but that’s the least of Paz’s worries. The 26-year-old Stater Br ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Meet Catherine Cass of Santa Ana, OC's Most Annoying Neighbor

Nguyen vs. Nguyen: Janet Wins!

Ok, so the timing sort of sucks for us, since we'd have liked to include the information in our story, but it's good news for Janet Nguyen: the California Court of Appeals ruled today, the same day our cover story hit the streets, that Janet did win her election, and therefore does get to stay in of ... More >>

Dudes Gone Wild

Three odd tales from Orange Countys domestic-violence files

Overruled

Orange County Superior Court Judge James M. Brooks' unusual courtroom tactics have gotten him into trouble again. A state appeals court panel overturned his ruling on an employment-discrimination case today because of his unconventional courtroom manner. This isn't the first time that Brooks, who ... More >>

Bad News for Ladies' Night at Clubs/Bars

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court ruled that businesses charging one sex less for, say, entry or drinks cannot escape legal liability if the discriminated person fails to protest at the time. In July 2002, Marc Angelucci, Edgar Pacas, Elton Campbell and Jeff Kent were charged $20 entrance fe ... More >>

Badgering and Blunders

Judges misconduct could set OC man free from six-year prison sentence

The Beer That Made Tustin Infamous

OC cops seek to expand anti-public-drinking laws to private property

'Fags Die' Killer Wins Court Point

Party animal/prostitute/tree trimmer Gregory Pisarcik had hoped an OC jury would see him as the victim of his, well, dead victim, a retired gay INS agent. It didn't work out that way. More and more, juries here aren't buying the "gay panic" defense, and now the 28-year-old killer is in prison. But g ... More >>

Andy Get Your Gun

OC arms dealer with AK-47s, rocket launchers escapes prosecution

The Book of Judges

WEB EXCLUSIVE! An incomplete guide to obscure races

The Last Picture Shaw

Judge Susanne Shaws retirement leaves local courts less baffling, flawed, funny

'Holy Crap! I Lost Louis Eugene Craft!'

Judge loses defendant in OC Jail for 494 days

Justice Takes a Beating

OC court greenlights torture in local jails

Lawyers, Monks and Money

Fee decree may 'chill' enviro lawsuits

Made in Newport Beach

How Chris Cox helped produce the Enron scandal

Finally!

DA checks out Big J-Mos alibi

A Second Chance

Now free, OC cannabis crusader Marvin Chavez is ready to open a new front in the war on the War on Drugs

Cesar Salud

Tourists Trapped

What Happened?