Subject: U.S. Courts

• Can You Hear Me Now?

  In this case, the President has acted, undisputedly, as FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] forbids. FISA is the expressed statutory policy of our Congress. The presidential power, therefore, was exercised at its lowest ebb and cannot be sustained. --from Federal District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's ruling issued today declaring the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program unconstitutional and ordering an immediate halt to it. In a similar recent case, a federal court

  August 17, 2006

• Parsing Sentences (Penal edition)

  In a nice bit of timing, on Friday the Times featured Todd Spitzer's rejection of an attempt to rationalize California's criminal sentencing process and take politics out of it, and today the U.S. Supreme Court declared the state's Determinate Sentencing Law unconstitutional. The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court struck down California's sentencing law Monday, reaffirming limits on judges' discretion and presaging shorter sentences for thousands of state prisoners. The 6-3 ruling in

  January 22, 2007

• James Randal Ross (1926-2007)

  Legendary outlaws and dirty jokes aren't typically mentioned in the obituaries of Superior Court judges in OC, but as the panel of judges who censured him in 1998 could have told you, James Randal Ross was not a typical judge. Ross, who served as an Orange County Superior Court judge from 1983 to 1995, died of a heart attack at his Fullerton home on Monday. He was 80 years old. Somewhat ironically for someone who served as a judge, Ross will probably be best remembered for his relationship to

  March 8, 2007

• OC Tied to Alleged Seattle IRS Scam

  The Associated Press in Seattle reported this morning that IRS agents recently busted a massive tax-shelter scheme with potential ties to Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. According to federal court documents unsealed yesterday, Robert Arant created a "warehouse bank" that allowed "people who wanted the discretion of a Swiss bank account without going to Switzerland." Arant faces angry IRS agents for allegedly helping hundreds of citizens around the country evade taxes on at least $28 million. Th

  May 2, 2007

• 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 has been a judge in Orange County since 1987, has received such criticism. The state Commission on Judicial Performance has denounced him for his courtroom remarks on several occasions, including an

  June 6, 2007

• OC Lawyer Tossed From CA Republican Bribery Case

  A federal judge in San Diego removed Mark Geragos from a sensational bribery case yesterday because the (in)famous Orange County-based defense lawyer refused to agree to a federal background check before receiving classified national-security-related data. Geragos—who worked for convicted wife-and-baby-killer Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder—was attempting to represent defense contractor Brent Wilkes in a bribery case involving tearful, ex-Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningha

  July 11, 2007

• Thursday's Headlines & Surprises: OC Judge Slaps Guv

  Will a murder inmate defeat the Guv? Orange County Superior Court Judge Kazuharo Makino — a quiet, often-expressionless fellow who is married to a court reporter — ruled yesterday that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was wrong to deny parole to Delbert “Dale” Chrittenden. The inmate was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1988 and sentenced to 17 years to life in prison. In Makino's view, the Guv abused his discretion by ignoring Chrittenden's post-crime deeds as hailed by the often-

  August 16, 2007

• Homeland Security Officer Sentenced For Hitting On Immigrant

  September 14, 2007

• Overheard in the Courtroom

  Before a recent Orange County criminal trial of a Vietnamese American defendant, Superior Court Judge William Froeberg asked if any of the prospective jurors could speak Vietnamese. There was silence and then: Juror #126: I know one word of Vietnamese! Froeberg: One word? Juror 126: It's not a good word. Froeberg: I won't ask you to say it then.

  October 19, 2007

• Accused Mater Dei Statutory Rapist Loses Again

  It hasn't been a good couple of months for Larry Stukenholtz, a former Mater Dei High choir director whom the school canned in the late 1990s for carrying on a relationship with a student. In October, his victim was part of a $6.685 million settlement that the Catholic Diocese of Orange reached with four girls molested by diocesan employees. Stukeholtz also lost his job as a music teacher at St. Louis Community College after its Board of Trustees unanimously voted to boot the bum out. Now come

  February 7, 2008

• Resentencing for another Sheriff Carona felon/pal

  In May 2006, OC Weekly broke the news that then-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona had allowed fellow con man Joseph M. Medawar to film the county's top secret anti-terrorism training procedures three years earlier. (See "Department of Homeland Stupidity.") A native of Lebanon, Medawar used the footage and personal endorsements from Carona and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Skipped Vietnam combat duty, pictured), to bilk more than $5.5 million from unsuspecting Republicans and religious conserv

  March 15, 2008

• Ex-Congressional Aide Sent to Slammer

  Parents of 7th, 8th and 9th grade boys can relax a wee bit more this afternoon. Jeffrey Ray Nielsen--a onetime congressional aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and a serial pedophile--is now in custody of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Superior Court Judge David Thompson sentenced the 37-year-old Nielsen, son of former Fountain Valley Mayor Ben Nielsen, to three years in an as-yet-to-be-named California prison. Read the full story of today's hearing in next week's editio

  March 25, 2008

• Wrongly Imprisoned OC Man Wins State Payment

  For Buena Park's James Ochoa, the indescribable agony of spending 16 months locked in the Orange County Jail and a California prison for crimes he did not commit is a bit less painful today. This afternoon, a state board in Sacramento voted 3 to 0 to award Ochoa nearly $30,000 in compensation in one of the final chapters of a bizarre law enforcement case. (Witnesses at the scene say board member Rosario Marin, a member of the governor's cabinet, argued against the payment but must have recorde

  April 22, 2008

• Porn and Taxes

  Getting stiffed by a porn star took on a whole new meaning Monday when Huntington Beach's Janine Lindemulder was arraigned in federal court for allegedly failing to pay about $80,000 in income taxes, The Smoking Gun reports today. The racktacular 39-year-old entered a not guilty plea and was released without bail. A Sept. 16 trial was set. Smoking Gun's item includes a copy of the original charging document that was filed June 18 in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon. Lindemulder, who moved

  July 17, 2008

• Weenie Roast

  Allen Baylis, you and your fellow nudie burgers just won the right to continue sunbathing in the buff at Trail 6 on San Onofre State Beach. What are you going to do next? "We'll probably have a barbecue at the beach this weekend." What, you thought they were going to Disneyland? Baylis, a Huntington Beach attorney, naturist and city council candidate, made the skimp on the barbie remark to the Register, which got his reaction to Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell ruling for the N

  August 28, 2008

• UPDATED: Keep That Wrap Close, Mr. and Ms. Skin

  Fox News and the L.A. Times report that the California Parks Department filed a notice of appeal Wednesday to overturn Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell's ruling from last week that nude sunbathers at San Onofre State Beach's Trail 6 can only be cited if a private citizen complains. Park rangers were all set to enforce the ban this Labor Day past before Fell's ruling reinforced a don't-cite-without-a-complaint policy that has been in place since 1979. Here (finally) is the now wor

  September 4, 2008

• Another Case of Pathetic OC Judge Work

  In addition to subscription drops, ridiculously wasteful advertising schemes, constant management blunders and savage cuts to the newsroom budget, The Orange County Register is battling a wage-and-hour class-action lawsuit filed by the good folks who deliver the newspaper to homes and businesses each morning. Those carriers claim the Register improperly classified them as independent contractors to avoid providing meal breaks, overtime pay, minimum wage and other benefits. I'm not here to take a

  September 30, 2008

• I, Cardenas

  February 17, 2000

• The Year in Rebuke

  January 4, 2001

• Crime Made Sheriff Mike Carona Hungry

  "Crab cakes sounds good. How about that French brie too?" --Then-Sheriff Mike Carona pausing temporarily in August 2007 from plotting how to foil a federal grand jury corruption probe during a meeting at a Newport Beach restaurant with Don Haidl, his onetime assistant sheriff who is secretly wearing a wire for the FBI. (R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly)

  November 7, 2008

• Perhaps Mike Carona Only Meant to Order More Crab Cakes

  "Okay." --Inside a Newport Beach restaurant in August 2007, then-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona's secretly recorded response to a co-conspirator's plan to "burn" a document concerning a federal grand jury's corruption probe. (R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly)

  November 12, 2008

• Sheriff Mike Carona Corruption Trial Quote of the Day! Part One

  "When are you going to write a positive story about Mike Carona?" --Brian A. Sun, Jones Day defense lawyer for the indicted ex-Orange County sheriff, to me in the hallway at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, California this morning prior to my response: "When I wouldn't have to lie." Thanks to an FBI and IRS investigation, Carona--OC's sheriff from 1999 to January 2008--is on trial for abusing his public office by accepting bribes and attempting to get a witness to lie

  December 9, 2008

• Why Isn't Wiley Drake Suing God Over Inauguration?

  We've previously told you about Buena Park pastor Wiley Drake suing to prevent Barack Obama from being inaugurated as president of the United States on Jan. 20 and, if that fails, suing to stop U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts from delivering the oath of office to Obama. For good measure, Drake has tried to prevent Rick Warren from giving Obama's invocation by warning the wrath of God will strike his fellow Orange County pastor.But one even higher authority somehow escaped Drake and

  January 5, 2009

• Testimony in Newport Cop Sexual Harassment Case Finishes

  In the sensational homosexual rumor/promotion discrimination case, lawyers for both the Newport Beach Police Department and Sgt. Neil Harvey told an Orange County Superior Court judge this afternoon that they have no more witnesses.Jurors, who today looked anxious to get the case for deliberations, will hear closing arguments on Friday.Harvey, a 27-year veteran cop who is heterosexual, claims that he was denied promotion to lieutenant because other cops, some of whom are now in management, have

  March 11, 2009

• [Moxley Confidential] Police Pilots Say They Got the Pointer

  April 9, 2009

• Crash-Test Dummy

  December 5, 2002

• A Snow Job Success

  December 7, 2006

• Diary of a Mad County

  September 1, 2005

• Diary of a Mad County

  December 9, 2004

• Movin' on Up

  August 12, 2004

• Chronic Mess

  August 8, 2002

• Court Jousters

  June 27, 2002

• Tourists Trapped

  December 10, 1998

• What Happened?

  October 8, 1998

• ACLU Demanding That Feds Turn Over OC Mosque Spying Records

  The case that erupted with ex-con man Craig Monteilh's confession that he's been spying on OC mosques for the FBI will hit local federal courts this afternoon, when the ACLU makes arguments asking for the release of all theJohn GilhooleyCraig Monteilh says he spied on the Islamic Center of Irvine for the Feds. information attached to the FBI's infiltration of various local mosques. ACLU missive below: SANTA ANA, Calif. - In the wake of news that an FBI informant infiltrated several Orange County

  April 20, 2009

• To The Very End, Mike Carona is a Shameless Hypocrite

  It's not a crime if the sheriff does itPlease, please, please don't punish me for my criminal activity!--The position ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona is taking with U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Guilford, who will decide on April 27 what punishment is fitting for the former top cop's repeated illegal efforts to sabotage a federal grand jury investigating corruption at the Orange County Sheriff's Department. In other words, judge, Carona doesn't want you to follow his own official campai

  April 26, 2009

• Andrea Lafferty: Still Going Wrong

  The froth foaming out of the mouth of Andrea Lafferty, spewing hate about her opposition to an anti-hate bill in Congress, had not even hit the D.C. sidewalk when events forced her to switch topics to President Barack Obama's unannounced replacement for retiring U.S. Supreme Court justice David Souter. Having absolutely no knowledge about the subject did not keep the pie hole from opening on the face of the Washington-based executive director of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition beg

  May 4, 2009

• James Corbett's Anti-Establishment Comment

  May 7, 2009

• High Profile Ex-OC Prosecutor Launches Private Practice

  Defense Attorney Brian GurwitzBrian Gurwitz, a former top local prosecutor, announced this week that he is opening a solo private practice for both criminal defense and civil clients.While in the Orange County District Attorney's office for 13 years, Gurwitz worked on numerous high-profile cases including ones against Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo (misuse of office), Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline (child pornography) and the infamous Haidl gang rape trial. He's testified as a legal exper

  June 9, 2009

• Padilla vs. Yoo: First of Many Such Cases to Come?

  Nick Schou blogged last week about a San Francisco federal judge having ruled that John Yoo, the UC Berkeley law professor who just finished a stint as a visiting professor at Chapman Law School, can "be held personally responsible for the indefinite military detention and alleged torture of an American citizen who was suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda." The U.S. citizen in question, Jose Padilla, is the alleged "Dirty Bomber" who was arrested in Chicago on May 8, 2002 and charged with plot

  June 22, 2009

• Bummer Summer for San Onofre's Nude Sunbathers

  Photo by Tim MelidoNaturist attorney Allen Baylis loses latest round in court but vows to press on. As last summer was winding down, the Naturist Action Committee scored a legal victory in their fight to retain the right for nude sunbathers to go au natural on San Onofre State Beach's traditionally clothing-optional Trail 6 strand.As this summer heats up, the committee and local nudists are reeling from a legal defeat that could force them to cover up on the same 1,000-foot stretch of sand.Cindy

  June 29, 2009

• Long Beach Violin Thief Comes Home

  If there were airport police dogs who could sniff out the delicate, old-wood scents of a violin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Anthony Eugene Notarstefano would have been caught years ago. The alleged violin thief from Long Beach connected to the 2006 robbery of violonist Mark Kashper's Hollywood home, which contained several violins worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, saw his first day in federal court today. Among the stolen items was a Carlo Tononi violin, which was owned by the

  July 20, 2009

• Starbucks Paying for Legal Defense of Former Barista, Admitted Statutory Rapist

  Generic picture of coffee lest Starbucks get snippy with any parodies of its stupid logo...​Better stop buying your Frappuccinos and whatever other drinks Starbucks brews--your hard-earned cash just might be going to the legal defense of a former barista criminally convicted of statutory rape. In a case currently winding through U.S. federal court in SanTana, a former Starbucks worker is suing the company and one Timothy Horton for civil damages regarding Horton's admitted statutory raping of

  August 19, 2009

• Teaching Museum Uses Adventure Films to Help Fund Mendez v. Westminster Exhibit

  Jonathan Copp, RIP.​What do the plucky Museum of Teaching and Learning, an internationally acclaimed film festival and the landmark Mendez v. Westminster School District case of 1946 have in common?All three could learn you something.The Fullerton-based Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) is struggling to survive amid the economic mess we find ourselves in. It's pinning its hopes on its annual summer social--which this year features selected short films from the Adventure Film Festival--to

  August 20, 2009

• Orange County Supes Authorize Appeal in Pension Case

  This just in from the County CEO office:                               Supervisors Appeal Decision in Pension Case   By a 4 to 1 vote, the Orange County Board of Supervisors today authorized an appeal of a Los Angeles County Superior Court decision in the County's challenge of a retroactive pension increase granted to many County peace of

  August 25, 2009

• 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 councils?Take the San Clemente City Council, for example. It decided that it could outfox the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court rulings that rigidly prevent the government from restricting free

  October 2, 2009

• Orly Taitz Interviews Orly Taitz

  Eh, kinda funny: See the real thing on Monday, when Dr. Taitz is in Santa Ana federal court again. About 100 people showed up last time, but one supporter on her Facebook page predicted a 10,000 spectator turnout for this one. Line up now!

  October 1, 2009

• 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 (ACLU) today asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to allow Our Family Coalition, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to intervene in Pe

  July 8, 2009

• Court Slams LAPD For Illegally Seizing Medical Marijuana Profits

  ​In a remarkable opinion issued today with potential Orange County implications, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blasted the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for committing "highly objectionable," "tainted," "reckless," "misleading" and "illegal" conduct in a 2005 attempt to seize more than $186,400 from a legally compliant Southern California medical marijuana distributorship.The justices showed no patience for LAPD's efforts to keep the cash for itself and then l

  October 20, 2009

• Judge Sends the Law after Orly Taitz for Ignoring $20,000 Fine

  ​A Georgia federal judge last month fined Laguna Niguel's Dr. Orly Taitz Esq. for repeatedly filing "frivolous" lawsuits about Barack Obama's eligibility to be president. The deadline to pay that fine came and went Thursday; Taitz told the Columbia Ledger-Enquirer that she has no intention of paying it."Absolutely not," Taitz said Thursday afternoon when asked whether she would pay. "I have filed an appeal. It was a complete abuse of power."But filing an appeal doesn't push back the deadline t

  November 13, 2009