U.S. Courts

18th Street Gangster Who Used SUV As Lethal Weapon Wants Shorter Prison Sentence

It's understandable that Ruben Roa keeps fighting his violent criminal convictions. Roa, a 28-year-old member of Orange County's notorious 18th Street gang, is in the early stages of prison sentences totaling at least 40 years and he wants to have a chance to return to freedom before he's an elderl ... More >>

Trial Date Set For Kobe Bryant's Memorabilia Auction Fight With His Estranged Mother

A federal judge in New Jersey has ordered "an in-person settlement conference" for May 17 in the dispute between Kobe Bryant and an auction house planning to sell the Los Angeles Lakers' teenage memorabilia late next month for the superstar's mother, Pamela. If the mediation doesn't work, U.S. Dist ... More >>

Dirty Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona Loses Bid For Prison Sentence Reduction

Two years into his 66-month prison sentence, ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona hoped this week that a federal judge would reduce his punishment in the aftermath of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving bribery and honest service corruption cases.But today inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Cou ... More >>

Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Irvine Law School Dean, Talks Gay Marriage with Jon Gruden?

As the U.S. Supreme Court holds a session on gay marriage for the second straight day, everyone is weighing in on the controversial issue, even those who regularly foist onto the public phony news.And at least one fake newsie has once again latched onto a local muse, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of t ... More >>

Virginia's Anti-Sodomy Law Ruled Invalid--with an Assist from UC Irvine's Erwin Chemerinsky

Virginia's anti-sodomy law has been struck down, due in part to an assist from the dean of UC Irvine's School of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky.The decision came in a case involving sex between an adult male and a 17-year-old girl, which the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed shoul ... More >>

Nik Richie Squares Off Again with Ex-NFL Cheerleader "Slutshamed" on his TheDirty.com

Friday it was decided the defamation lawsuit a former schoolteacher and Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader brought against Newport Beach's Nik Richie will proceed July 8--pending an out-of-court settlement before then, of course.Sarah Jones is suing Richie in Kentucky federal court over anonymous, third ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Gallo, Drunk Driver Convicted of Killing Angels Phenom Nick Adenhart and 2 Others, Gets No State Supreme Court Relief

It's another swing and a miss for Andrew Thomas Gallo as the California Supreme Court denied the San Gabriel man's pitch for a review of his conviction on triple-homicide, drunken-driving and hit-and-run charges for the 2009 Fullerton crash that took the life of rising Anaheim Angels star Nick Adenh ... More >>

Sid Landau Suffers Another Setback in Bid to End Sexually Violent Predator Status

Sexual predator Sid Landau tried for years through the courts to be freed from a state mental institution on grounds he had not committed a crime against children in three decades, but at every turn the Orange County District Attorney's office thwarted the 71-year-old. Now, a three-justice panel at ... More >>

Is John Eastman Hiding Homo-Haters?

Former presidential candidate Fred Karger wants the former Chapman University law professor to reveal who's donating money to his fight against gay marriage

Was an Orange County Judge Too Harsh on a Methamphetamine Addict/Dealer?

Karen Dee Ableman might be the face of this nation's "war on drugs."Ableman has five criminal drug convictions and, until recently, been sent to prison four times.The incarcerations, though surely painful, weren't experiences painful enough to break her habit.In 2008, the methamphetamine addict/deal ... More >>

Welcome Back, Jim Crow

[Crossing the Line] New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Review Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's Corruption Conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused a request by Mike Carona, Orange County's onetime mighty sheriff turned federal-prison inmate, to review and possibly overturn his January 2009 corruption conviction.The high court's April 30 decision essentially leaves Carona in his federal-prison cell in Colorado ... More >>

Dana Point Harbor Marijuana Smuggler Sentenced in Federal Court

On July 9, 2011, David Rex Wilterding and his son Justin arrived in Dana Point Harbor on a 23-foot boat from Mexico and won unwanted attention by acting suspiciously.Two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the area noticed the men loitering near a boat ramp, confronted them and ... More >>

Nicholas James Needham: 9 Years for Kiddie Porn, Possibly 6 More for Touching 5 y.o.'s Penis

​Nicholas James Needham, who pleaded guilty in October to molesting a 5-year-old boy in an Orange mall restroom, was sentenced today to nine years in federal prison for a separate crime: possessing more than 200 images of kiddie porn.The 28-year-old, who'd recently moved to Orange from Laguna Beac ... More >>

Deputy Claims PTSD After Burger King Ex-Con Spits on His Whopper

​The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit weighed in today in the case of a sheriff's deputy who claims severe emotional trauma after two ex-cons working the drive-thru at a Burger King added an extra ingredient during his late-night burger break.Suspecting the fast-food employees ... More >>

Oracle Corporation Slammed By Federal Court For Cheating Employees

Stotler​A high-ranking federal court handed good news today to California's labor pool.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned an Orange County Republican federal judge who'd granted Oracle Corporation summary judgement against employees who claimed the company had systemati ... More >>

Robert Duston Strong and David Michael Knick, Presumed Killers of Sheriff's Sgt. Ira Essoe Jr., Must Be Freed

​Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Robison has ruled that the presumed killers of an Orange County sheriff's sergeant must be released immediately. Compelling legal twists led to Robison's ruling for Robert Duston Strong and David Michael Knick, the strongest being the lack of judicial supp ... More >>

[CLARIFICATION on Plea Deal:] Devon Lynn Kile, Real Housewives Wannabe, Won't Be Trading Pradas for Prison Garb

​CLARIFICATION, DEC. 2, 12:30 P.M.: An Orange County Superior Court judge ordered last month's plea-and-sentencing deal that had Devon Lynn Kile, the 46-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County wannabe out of Laguna Hills, pleading guilty in April to dozens of felony counts related to ripping off ... More >>

Quick Ruling for Gay Marriage in California Expected Despite Today's Prop 8 Ruling

​The California Supreme Court ruled today that gay marriage foes can fight the reversal of Prop 8.Because the offices of the governor and state attorney general refuse to defend the same-sex marriage ban, legal scholars such as UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky had opined that Prop 8 ... More >>

New Disneyland Attraction Involves Falling Tree Limbs?

They look beautiful but you can't trust them anymore either.​Margarita Pina hoped May 1 would be an enjoyable day at Disneyland with her two toddlers.But the Riverside County mother got more than she paid for when a six-foot tree branch loaded with fruit and weighing "30 or 40 pounds" fell on her ... More >>

Euirang "Chris" Hwang, Phony Billionaire Who Preyed on Koreans, Gets 6.5 Years for Ponzi Scam

Dammit, again, it's Ponzi not Fonzie.​38-year-old Euirang "Chris" Hwang was sentenced this week in federal court to 6 1/2 years in prison for operating an Irvine investment business that was actually a front for a Ponzi scheme targeting Korean Americans.After Hwang pleaded guilty to federal wire f ... More >>

James P. Marion, OC Superior Court Judge, Dies

​Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Marion, who was assigned to the Central Felony Panel, died Sunday morning at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in San Clemente. He was 58.Marion, who was educated in New England and served in the U.S Marine Corps, was an Orange County deputy district a ... More >>

[UPDATED with NMA Video:] Supreme Court Overturns State Ban on Sales and Rentals of Violent Video Games to Kids

NMA.TV​UPDATE, JUNE 28, 2:50 P.M.: Next Media Animation, the largest full-service animation studio in Asia and subsidiary of Hong Kong's largest publicly listed print media company, is getting faster at turning around animated video on news stories around the world.Take Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ... More >>

Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Against Arizona's Controversial SB 1070 Immigration Law

If you don't like the ruling, turn your screen upside down.​A federal appeals court today upheld a lower court decision that blocked the most contested provisions of Arizona's controversial SB 1070 immigration law from taking effect. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th ... More >>

Supreme Court Rules for Reverend Fred Phelps' 'God Hates Fags' Picketing Outside Military Funerals

​The Reverend Fred Phelps' God-Hates-Faggetry that plays out outside military funerals, political conventions and Rent productions at Corona del Mar High School won U.S. Supreme Court protection this morning.Justices voted 8-1 to uphold an appeals-court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment ... 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 >>

Bradley Stewart Wagner, Ex-Cop Who Forced Immigrants to Sex Him Up, Heads to Federal Court

​Bradley Stewart Wagner, a former Anaheim police officer who was sentenced last month to four years in prison for forcing immigrant women to blow him lest he have them deported, has more legal entanglements ahead. The 63-year-old Perris resident is due in federal court in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, w ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Tosses Orly Taitz's Latest Crazy Appeal Tied to Barack Obama's Citizenship

​So, after having her latest appeal rejected this morning by the U.S. Supreme Court, where is Laguna Niguel birther/dentist/lawyer Orly Taitz to turn next? The Hague? Judge Judy? The Trill Symbiosis Commission?The Supremes did not utter a peep while tossing the appeal contesting a $20,000 fine lev ... More >>

Erwin Chemerinsky, UCI Law School Dean, Writes of Conservative War Against Constitution

​The Conservative Assault on the Constitution (Simon & Schuster, $27) argues that beginning with Richard Nixon and continuing through to George W. Bush, conservative presidents and their supporters have tried to change basic constitutional principles through their policies and appointments ... More >>

California Gay Marriages Banned Indefinitely

​So much for Prop 8 backers not having any standing.A three-judge federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely moments ago while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban.

[UPDATED:] Prop 8 Overturned

​UPDATE: More details on tonight's celebratory rally (see end of post) . . .In a landmark case, Proposition 8, the 2008 California voter initiative that outlawed gay marriage, was overturned. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco ruled that the voter initiative is unconstitution ... More >>

Judge Knocks Down Meat of Arizona's SB 1070

She ruled WHAT!?!​A federal judge has blocked the part of Arizona's controversial SB 1070 law that allows police to ask people if they are in the country legally.The tough new immigration law that has sparked national debate is scheduled to take effect Thursday. However, the ask/you'd-better-tell ... More >>

Earth Cann, a Casualty in OC's Medical Pot War

Illustration by Simon Davidson​While new fronts have opened in the legal war to keep the doors open at local medical marijuana dispensaries (more on that after the jump), there is one casualty to report.Yet to be determined is whether it is a fatal blow or merely a flesh wound. Earth Cann Wellness ... More >>

John Eastman and Tom Harman Dealt Legal Blows in GOP Race for State AG

Photo by Christopher VictorioState attorney general wannabe John Eastman's Kodak moment at the California Republican Assembly convention in Buena Park last month.​The two Orange County Republicans who want to be California's next attorney general lost their respective ballot-designation disputes-- ... More >>

How Did the OC Judge Get Potential Jurors To Laugh?

​"There are three shows that prepare you for jury duty: Columbo, The Verdict with Paul Newman and My Cousin Vinny (jury laughter). I'm serious! There are a lot of good things that happen in that movie! If you've seen those three, then you've seen everything you need to be a good juror . . . Keep a ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 Sout ... More >>

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)

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 wearin ... More >>

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. Pa ... More >>

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 o ... More >>

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 t ... More >>

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 1 ... More >>

A Snow Job Success

The shady past of OCs newest mega-philanthropist

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 D ... More >>

Crash-Test Dummy

The Year in Rebuke

I, Cardenas

More evidence that Orange County justice is just plain scary

Tourists Trapped