Civil Trials

SoCal Police's Blood Money

When the DA declines to prosecute bad cops, the only justice families can get is financial

OC-Based Record, Film Producer Christopher B. Stokes Files Defamation Lawsuits

Entertainment world polymath Christopher B. Stokes filed two civil lawsuits this month in Orange County Superior Court alleging that two entities, a Youtube channel and an online radio show, violated California law by committing defamation against his character. Stokes--a music producer tied to B2K ... More >>

Sex Offender Law Reformers Sue Websites That Post Personal Details, Demand Cash to Remove

California Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL), which has been part of lawsuits against the County of Orange and Orange County cities over controversial laws that ban registered sex offenders from public parks, now has a new target. A lawsuit filed by RSOL in federal court Wednesday challenges websites ... More >>

The Nightmarish Saga of Michael Fitzgibbons

The case pitting the whisteblowing doc against Integrated HealthCare Holdings Inc. appears to be over

Cristina Talley, Anaheim's Former City Attorney, Not the Crusader Yaktivists Make Her Out to Be

The 'Rally for Talley' held outside the steps of Anaheim City Hall last week was the latest public display of support for former city attorney Cristina Talley. Since then, there's been a raging debate on the blogopshere as to the circumstances surrounding her sudden, forced resignation during the Ja ... More >>

Alex Grenier, Frequent Calvary Chapel Critic, Seeks to Have Defamation Lawsuit Filed by His Pastor Father Dismissed

Last fall, we reported how frequent Calvary Chapel critic Alex Grenier--son of Bob Grenier, pastor at Calvary Chapel Visalia--was being sued by his father for libel and defamation. Alex has long maintained on his blog that his father physically abused him, and has made other explosive claims, claims ... More >>

WhiteHouse.gov Petition Wants Birthers Like Orly Taitz to Pay Up for Frivolous Lawsuits

The petition-gathering page at WhiteHouse.gov, which aims to create the appearance of open government and we the people and yadda yadda yadda, rolled into news cycles thanks to the Sandy Hook massacre. Gun control might divide even latte-stained, beret-wearing Weeklings, but a new WhiteHouse.gov pet ... More >>

Long Beach Pot Disensary Lawsuit Highlights Two Controversial Cops

Nine medical marijuana collectives that were raided by Long Beach Police officers in the past two years have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city. The case, which was filed in the U.S. District Courthouse in Los Angeles, alleges a total of 21 raids involving strong-arm tactics and m ... More >>

Questionable Press Release Wins OC Pharmaceuticals Company A Class Action Lawsuit

A struggling Tustin-based pharmaceuticals company got more bad news this week when a federal judge in Orange County granted class action status to a pending securities fraud lawsuit. In an 18-page ruling issued this week, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter agreed that the plaintiffs, who ... More >>

Disabled Patients Sue Anaheim For Closing Dispensaries

A group of medical marijuana patients has filed a lawsuit against the city of Anaheim alleging that the city's cooperation with the federal government's crackdown on dispensaries violates state law. According to the lawsuit, the law in question, the California Disabled Person's Act, (CDPA), "prohibi ... More >>

Rancho Santiago Community College Files Fraud Lawsuit Against Ex-Official Accused of Stealing Low Income Student Grants

The Rancho Santiago Community College District official indicted in May for allegedly stealing $100,000 in federal grants intended for low income students recently received more bad news when the district filed a seven-page civil lawsuit against her.Anna Catalan cheated by systematically stealing st ... More >>

[UPDATED, with Ruling] Lawsuit Demands FBI Expunge Secret Files on OC Muslims

See the update at the end of this post on the ruling issued in Fazaga v. FBI.ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 13, 2:55 P.M.: It's no secret that the government has used informants to spy on Muslim-American communities. Orange County Muslims know it well.You may have read about them here at the Weekly. Former-con ... More >>

Granddaughter of Paul and Jan Crouch Alleges Cover-up of Rape by TBN Employee When She Was 13

A granddaughter of Paul and Jan Crouch, founders of the flock-fleecing Trinity Broadcasting Network, says the company is covering up her rape at the hands of an employee when she was 13 years old. ... More >>

[UPDATED with More Delegates Join Revolt:] Is a GOP Goon Squad Intimidating Ron Paul Delegates into Voting Romney at Convention?

See update at end of this post about 40 more national convention delegates seeking to join the 123 who have filed suit and "hundreds more" possibly ready to do the same. ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 13, 12:39 P.M.: The Republican National Committee (RNC) is using violence, intimidation and ballot stuffing t ... More >>

Disneyland and AIDS Charity Sued for Darth Vader Swinging at Angry Bird But Hitting Lady

​A woman is suing Disneyland and the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County in Superior Court because she claims her back was injured by a Disney employee dressed as Darth Vader and doing battle with a bird during the 2011 AIDS Walk Orange County at the Anaheim resort. If the incident had happe ... More >>

Sinful Sex at TBN and a Motor Home for Jan Crouch's Dogs Alleged in Lawsuit

​Sex scandals are merely crumbs from the table of a lawsuit filed this week against Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, which includes allegations that founders Paul and Jan Crouch fetched a $50 million jet through a "sham loan to an alter ego corporation" and that a $100,000 motor home was pur ... More >>

Atallah "Alibaba" Abdallah, Produce Market Owner, Accused of Raping Sales Rep in Her Costa Mesa Office

​A sales rep says a major produce market client brutally raped her in her Costa Mesa office and then tossed a $100 bill at her and told her to "Buy some pills" to terminate any pregnancy that might result from his having ejaculated inside her. The bombshell allegations against Atallah "Alibaba" ... More >>

Barkworks Sells Puppy Mill Pets: Lawsuit

​A pet store chain with two Orange County shops sold puppies supplied by a puppy mill, alleges a class-action lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles law firm.The complaint alleges puppy breeds prone to illness and other health woes are being sold by Barkworks, which has stores in Brea and Mission Viejo.

Newport Beach Chevron Station Owner Who Cooked the Books Must Pay Oil Giant's Attorney Fees

​Trouble began for Newport Beach Chevron gas station owner Mansoor Ghaneeian when his bookkeeper told a Chevron USA auditor that the company's designated dealer of record kept a second set of accounting books.That eventually led to a suit against Ghaneeian by Chevron, a counterclaim that a feder ... More >>

[UPDATED with Pre-Trial Bickering:] Federal Judge in Santa Ana Sets Trial For First of Hundreds of Lawsuits Against Toyota

​UPDATE, SEPT. 9, 2:10 P.M: Earlier this week, Toyota and the lawyers representing the people suing Toyota in several unexpected-acceleration cases, presented court papers showing their disagreements on specifics of the trial. The two parties disagree on how many of the then Toyota-drive ... More >>

[UPDATED with Pre-Trial Bickering:] Federal Judge in Santa Ana Sets Trial For First of Hundreds of Lawsuits Against Toyota

​UPDATE, SEPT. 9, 2:10 P.M: Earlier this week, Toyota and the lawyers representing the people suing Toyota in several unexpected-acceleration cases, presented court papers showing their disagreements on specifics of the trial. The two parties disagree on how many of the then Toyota-drive ... More >>

[UPDATED with New $$$ Details:] Settlement of Anthem Blue Cross Suit Over Web Files on 600,000 Left Unprotected Gets Early OK

​UPDATE, JULY 21, 4:13 P.M.: A representative of a Newport Beach law firm just provided the Weekly with more details on what members of a class-action lawsuit would receive under a proposed settlement with Anthem Blue Cross and related insurance and healthcare companies over personal information ... More >>

Kobe Bryant Sued by Ohio Woman for Breaching Marriage Proposal

Bryant​An Ohio woman is accusing Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant of breaching a marriage proposal to her and now wants the wealthy Newport Coast resident to pay up.In a bizarre June 24 lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, Selina Miller--who lists addresses in both Santa Ana and Colum ... More >>

Lake Forest Cannabis Crackdown Continues

Protesting Lake Forest's Cannabis Crackdown​If you're a medical marijuana user who lives in south Orange County, you may want to consider moving somewhere else. Yesterday, the Orange County Register reported, the city of Lake Forest won a temporary restraining order allowing it to shutter seven st ... More >>

[UPDATED with Promotion for Liar:] Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick Wins Supreme Court Ruling Against County Taking Her Daughters

​UPDATE, APRIL 26, 11:52 A.M.: You might assume--wrongly, it turns out--that lying to a juvenile court commissioner so a woman's two daughters would be taken away from her for years would cost two County of Orange social workers their jobs. Even if you didn't believe those workers lied after the f ... More >>

More on Blood, Hurst & O'Reardon, One of the Law Firms Behind the Taco Bell Fake-Beef Lawsuit

Of course, it was going to be a big story, the $5 million class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court alleging Taco Bell doesn't sell real beef in its tacos. And most stories focus on the Alabama-based law firm representing plaintiff Amanda Obney: Beasley, Allen, Crow, Mehvin, Portis & Mile ... More >>

YouPorn Shared More Than Sex Videos Claims Lawsuit Filed by Newport Beach Pair

​Two Newport Beach men have filed a lawsuit accusing operators of the YouPorn adult video sharing website of "sniffing," which is not an exotic new sex act (well, at least not in this particular context) but the improper monitoring of other sites users have visited.

ACLU Accuses Feds of Retaliatory Deportation of Whistleblower Who Sued Fullerton Company

​The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is "deeply concerned" over federal immigration agents detaining and initiating deportation proceedings against an immigrant worker who filed a federal class action lawsuit against a Fullerton-based firm in August for labor and civil rights violations. ... More >>

Local School Districts Caught Up in New Study Showing Millions Blown on Litigation

​The Peabody-winning educational program South Park aired an episode the other night that took lawsuits against public school districts to despicably hilarious new heights.The real-life cartoon plays out publicly--and locally--in the Capistrano, Santa Ana and Long Beach unified school districts.

[UPDATED:] DA Sues Toyota

UPDATE: The Orange County District Attorney's Office this morning stepped up pressure on Toyota, unveiling a consumer complaint hotline, an online complaint form and access to its first civil complaint against the automaker (details after the jump) . . . Courtesy of Elizabeth JamesThis is where Eliz ... More >>

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, ... More >>

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

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. Callaha ... More >>

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

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 ... More >>

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 Wi ... More >>

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 ... More >>

Litigating It Old-School

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

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

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 la ... More >>

Mozart an Idiot!

OC lawsuit says two-year-old wrote Michael Jackson hits

Dr. Chaudhuri

Slapp-Happy

Anti-tower activists claim developer and friends are suing them into silence

Six Degrees of Schwarzenegger

Quadriplegics lawsuit claims botched bounty hunt was no coincidence

Wishful Adding

Diocese Report Cant Do the Math in Abuse Report

Dirty Marky

New lawsuits surround Surf Citys most expensive cop

I Witness

CCIR bashed immigrants, Communists, midgets

Made in Newport Beach

How Chris Cox helped produce the Enron scandal

Alien Toxins

Area 51's sci-fi folklore masks a truly spooks reality

Body Snatchers