Subject: Civil Trials

• From Burned Boy to Burned Investor (Allegedly)

  KNBC/Channel 4 reports that 28-year-old Dave Dave--who when he was age 6 and known as David Rothenberg had 90 percent of his body burned after his father Charles Rothenberg doused him with kerosene in a Buena Park motel--is suing for fraud a man he met at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. In his lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Dave alleges a man named Darnello Jackson and his fiance, Shanielle Gardner, tricked him into transferring ownership of a condominium in the 400 block

  May 22, 2006

• OC Diocese Paid Admitted Child Molester $100,000

  Back in 2004, the Catholic Diocese of Orange quietly settled a lawsuit filed against former Mater Dei boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade. To quote from my 2006 story regarding a current molestation lawsuit against Andrade: "In 2003, Mater Dei officials admitted to Orange County Register reporter Jim Hinch that they dismissed Andrade because of his relationship with [a 15-year-old student0]. Andrade sued Mater Dei and the Orange diocese...for invasion of privacy, stating in his argument that "

  September 17, 2007

• OC Conservatives Have Something to Cheer!

  On Monday, Orange County conservative activists lost the fight to block liberal law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky from becoming the first UC Irvine law school dean. But this morning must feel better. The United States Attorney's Office based in Los Angeles announced that it has won a guilty plea from William S. Lerach, a plaintiff's lawyer who successfully sued corporate America in class-action lawsuits. Lerach, a 61-year-old Rancho Santa Fe resident and major campaign contributor to Democrats, now

  September 18, 2007

• Chapman lawsuit dismissed, Attorney vows to appeal

  A lawsuit filed three years ago by three former Chapman University professors on behalf of the government [see "Litigating it Old School" Aug, 3] was dismissed by United States District Court for the Central District of California Oct. 22. The case was scheduled to begin a civil jury trial in two weeks. Alleging that Chapman shortchanged its students and taxpayers by ignoring classroom hour requirements at its satellite campuses, the plaintiffs filed a sealed complaint in 2004 on behalf of the

  October 26, 2007

• Poorman Sues KDOC

  As predicted, on January 18th Jim "The Poorman" Trenton and his attorney Brian D. Boydston filed suit against KDOC and its parent company Ellis Communications. The suit alleges breach of contract, and demands damages "in a sum according to proof at trial, but not less that $27,646" for revenues lost due to ads being pulled from the TV show Poorman's Bikini Beach, ads involving the adult DVD companies Landmark Video, Maximum Mojo, and genital wart removal specialist Dr. Jeffrey Lauber. Curiously

  January 23, 2008

• Smashing Pumpkins Sue Virgin, World Sheds Most Insincere Crocodile Tears Ever

  Here's a case where one only hopes both parties lose. Whom do you root for: the whiniest, most annoyingly precious recording artiste extant or a huge record label (now owned by the cuddly Capitol Music Group) that is flailing for its existence in a dismal economic climate? Gosh, I'm torn, even if Virgin Records did release these two awesome Faust albums back in the day. Apparently, Virgin has used Pumpkins songs (sans their composer Billy Corgan's permission) to shill for companies—Amazon an

  March 25, 2008

• Lawsuit Alleges OC Hospital Framed Doctor on Gun Charges

  A lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court two days ago includes stunning allegations about a bizarre incident first reported by the Weekly two years ago. On June 28, 2006, Santa Ana police arrested Dr. Michael Fitzgibbons, an infectious diseases specialist at Western Medical Center, when they found a weapon and gloves in his car after he allegedly brandished a handgun while driving near his office. They acted on a tip from an anonymous caller using a pay phone. Police found no evidence l

  July 17, 2008

• Dirty Marky

  June 26, 2003

• Wishful Adding

  January 8, 2004

• Orange County Register Settles Suit Brought By Carriers for $42M

  UPDATED WITH REGISTER'S TAKE ON THE SETTLEMENT:The Orange County Register agreed today to shell out $42 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by newspaper carriers that was hailed as "the first of its kind in the United States" by the delivery workers' Santa Ana-based law firm. Daniel J. Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, which represented carriers along with Timothy Cohelan of San Diego's Cohelan & Khoury, broke down settlement as follows in an email sent to the Weekly that announced th

  November 24, 2008

• Is Orange County Injecting Itself Into a "Judicial Hellhole"?

  Our stuck-up neighbor to the north, Los Angeles County, is among America's leading "Judicial Hellholes," which is what the American Tort Reform Association calls finalists on its annual list of the nation's most unfair civil court jurisdictions. But don't gloat too hard, Orange Countians, because we made the list of jurisdictions to watch. R. Scott Moxley's Weekly investigation of October 2006 revealed that David Gunther--the ex-drug dealer, dead-beat dad and burglar pictured here--had made a sm

  December 16, 2008

• Bishop Brown Breaks His Covenant with the Faithful for the Trillionth Time

  IUpdated, with new info on the bottom...Both the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register revealed today that Jon Kirrer of Fountain Valley filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Orange and its pedo-priest Denis Lyons alleging sexual abuse during the mid-1990s, and isn't it refreshing to know that Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown is up to his same tricks? Diocesan spinner Ryan Lilygren issued a statement to both papers that, "We intend to maintain the integrity of the judicial process and

  February 11, 2009

• The Latest Pedo-Priest Settlement: Denis Lyons (Again)

  Just got off the phone with V. James DeSimone, attorney for a man who says pedo-priest Denis Lyons molested him as a child during the 1990s. They have settled their civil suit against the Catholic Diocese of Orange for an undisclosed amount. "Our client is pleased with the settlement, and looks forward to working with the district attorney's office," to bring criminal charges against Lyons, who has cost Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown more than $4 million in civil settlements. No personnel files will

  February 27, 2009

• [Moxley Confidential] DA Tony Rackauckas Wins Civil Suit, Does Not Cry

  February 12, 2009

• When Mariners Church Fired Choir Director Bob Gunn for Being Gay, It Sparked a Six-Year Legal Battle

  December 18, 2008

• DA Drops Charges Against Frank Santos, Who Was Accused of Pushing a Garden Grove Cop

  November 27, 2008

• Nightlife Mogul Anton Posniak Had Plans for the OC Scene, But Now Has More Lawsuits Than Restaurants

  November 20, 2008

• Historic $618,000 Settlement Was Money Well-Spent for Owners of Low-Income Stanton Apartment Complex

  September 4, 2008

• Just How Did Those Gloves and That Gun End Up in Whistleblower Dr. Michael Fitzgibbons' Car?

  July 31, 2008

• Is Irvine Industrial Launderer Prudential Overall Supply Cheating Workers Out of a Living Wage?

  June 26, 2008

• Jane C.R. Doe Speaks

  October 11, 2007

• Litigating It Old-School

  Former Chapman instructors invoke a Civil War-era law in their multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the university

  August 2, 2007

• Eight Is Enough

  One man has four girlfriends and eight children, all of whom live in separate houses within four miles of each other. In Utah? No, Irvine

  February 22, 2007

• The Wrath of Wendy

  February 15, 2007

• The New Crips

  October 12, 2006

• Only Pawns in Their Game

  July 13, 2006

• Mozart an Idiot!

  January 12, 2006

• Dr. Chaudhuri

  September 8, 2005

• Cox by the Numbers

  June 2, 2005

• Slapp-Happy

  February 24, 2005

• The "All-Spin" Zone

  January 13, 2005

• Poison Pen Pal

  December 2, 2004

• Diploma MillKill? No, Shill!

  December 2, 2004

• Six Degrees of Schwarzenegger

  October 7, 2004

• The Army of God

  August 12, 2004

• Local Boy Makes GoodFor Child Molesters

  July 15, 2004

• Dirty Money

  He may agree to pay millions to settle sex-abuse cases, but OC Bishop Brown will still win

  June 17, 2004

• Retail Madness

  September 18, 2003

• I Witness

  May 30, 2002

• Made in Newport Beach

  March 7, 2002

• Alien Toxins

  December 9, 1999

• Body Snatchers

  September 11, 1997

• Pedo-Priest Gus Krumm Fighting to Keep His Personnel Files Personal

  If you want to fight for the side of truth and justice, join members of SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) this Sunday around 8:30 in the morn as they distribute fliers outside Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church in Huntington Beach. They'll alert parishioners about what Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown never bothered to do: that someone recently filed a lawsuit against admitted pedo-priest Gus Krumm, a Franciscan (pedo-friar?) who served for years at the parish during the

  June 25, 2009

• Laguna Beach Settles Lawsuit Over Homeless Ordinance

  Laguna Beach agreed today to settle a lawsuit over the city's treatment of disabled homeless people, according to the ACLU of Southern California.   "Under the agreement, the city's police officers will not cite, arrest or harass people under state law simply for sleeping in public places, as long as there are no reasonable public health or safety concerns," states a just-released media advisory from the civil rights group. "The agreement also establishes a process for sealing, expungi

  June 25, 2009

• OC Cities Fail to Crack 10 Meanest List, Must Try Harder

  Photo by HulagwayBoxed in.No Orange County cities cracked the top 10 Meanest Cities list included in a report released today by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. But Laguna Beach, Santa Ana (by way of Dana Point) and just-beyond-our-reach Long Beach were singled out for giving it a good try.According to "Homes Not Handcuffs: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities," which researches laws and practices in 273 cities acros

  July 14, 2009

• Man at Center of Florida Ponzi Scheme Rented Newport Beach Home, Allegedly Assaulted Guest There

  Courtesy of Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Beau DiamondA Sarasota, Florida, man with the too-good-to-be-true-name of Beau Diamond used part of the $36.5 million he stole from investors in a foreign currency Ponzi scheme to pay for a Newport Beach home where is also accused of having assaulted a woman with a taser device. A criminal complaint unveiled in Florida today states that Diamond took 200 investors for that amount and "used part of the money-$2.2 million-to live lavish

  September 3, 2009

• Anti-Obama 'Eligibility' Movement Members Breaking Ties With Laguna Niguel Birther Orly Taitz

  September 24, 2009

• Tran, Harman and Mansoor: Abuse 'Em and They Won't Sue You

  Van Tran, Tom Harman and Allan Mansoor--together at last.​If state Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), Assemblyman Van Tran (R-Costa Mesa) and Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor get hit by a reckless driver as they pull into South Coast Plaza later this morning, do not expect them or their insurance companies to sue the driver.And if the accident is the fault of some confusingly screwy signs in the parking lot, don't expect the politicos to sue the tony shopping mall.And if they find a severed h

  October 6, 2009

• The Greatest Hits of the Taitz Dismissal

  ​Judge David O. Carter today threw out Dr. Orly Taitz's Barnett v. Obama lawsuit against President Obama. This was the lawsuit filed with dozens of plaintiffs, in Santa Ana Federal court, with a judge that seemed to listen patiently to the legal theories of Taitz and co-counsel Gary Kreep.Read the judge's opinion here.Essentially, Carter ruled that the courts don't have the power to remove a sitting president -- only Congress does -- and therefor the case could not move forwards. In addition,

  October 29, 2009

• Western Medical Center's Owners Sued Their Doctors to Muzzle Them, But One Wouldn't Shut Up

  November 12, 2009