Subject:

U.S. Courts

  • Blogs

    May 18, 2012

    High Yield Investment Scammer Learns His Fate: Federal Prison

    A federal judge in Santa Ana has sentenced a New Jersey restaurant owner for his participation in a fraudulent, high yield investment scheme that promised no risk and a 20 percent weekly return.In league with several other men, Ralph Divino--the owner of Steffano's Wood Burning Restaurant in Branchb ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 1, 2012

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    April 26, 2012

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    March 15, 2012

    Nicholas James Needham: 6 Years for Touching Boy's Penis to Go with 9 Years for Kiddie Porn

    ​As expected, registered sex offender Nicholas James Needham was sentenced today to six years in state prison for touching a 5-year-old boy's penis in an Orange mall restroom.The Laguna Beach 28-year-old's sentence will be served concurrent with a nine-year term he received in federal court chil ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 27, 2012

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    February 9, 2012

    PETA Loses Whale of a Slave Suit But Still Crows

    ​A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that argued five orcas should be freed from SeaWorld under the anti-slavery 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Judge Jeffrey Miller of the U.S. District Court in San Diego reasoned in ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 12, 2012

    Judge Richard W. Stanford Removed from Bench for Playing Favorites

    ​The state Commission on Judicial Performance has ordered Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr. to step down after determining he waived traffic fines for family and friends. Nine incidents between 2003 and 2010 played a part in the 11-member oversight panel's decision, includ ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 11, 2012

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    December 13, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    December 6, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    December 2, 2011

    [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 >>

  • Blogs

    November 17, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    October 18, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    October 4, 2011

    Chriss Street, Ex-OC Treasurer: I Want $8.8 Million In Damages

    Nightmare on Chriss Street​Just when we'd thought we'd heard the last of Chriss W. Street, the disgraced former Orange County treasurer/tax collector has reappeared on the public scene and, like all Street sightings, this one is bizarre.Street is blaming his sensational $7 million bankruptcy court ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 22, 2011

    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 >>

  • Calendar

    September 8, 2011

    Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

    Nixon Library

  • Blogs

    July 11, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    June 28, 2011

    [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 >>

  • Blogs

    May 25, 2011

    [BREAKING:] Jared Lee Loughner Ruled Incompetent to Stand Trial in Giffords Shooting

    ​UPDATE, MAY 25, 1:02 P.M.: A federal judge just ruled Jared Lee Loughner is incompetent to stand trial for January's shooting spree in Tuscon that killed six and injured 12, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona).Loughner will be sent to a federal facility for up to four months in a b ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 11, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    March 2, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    January 25, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    January 21, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    January 10, 2011

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    September 30, 2010

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    September 18, 2010

    Cal State Fullerton Grad Student Grad Finds Missing Link Between Alex Bernal Housing Covenant Case and the Supreme Court

    Courtesy of the Bernal familiaThe pioneering Bernals of Fullerton​It was a pleasure earlier this summer to report on the story of Alex Bernal, the longtime Fullerton resident who successfully fought off a lawsuit filed by racist white neighbors in 1943 that wanted him out of their neighborhood sol ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 16, 2010

    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.

  • Blogs

    August 4, 2010

    [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 >>

  • Blogs

    July 28, 2010

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    July 21, 2010

    Orly Taitz Wants to Verify Clarence Thomas's Signature

    ​Ever notice that the biggest conspiracy theorists are also the biggest skeptics? Laguna Niguel's birther leader Orly Taitz's application to the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify $20,000 in penalties levied upon her by a federal judge, was denied last week. Some people might have simply accepted s ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 17, 2010

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    April 2, 2010

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    December 14, 2009

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    August 19, 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 ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 29, 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 ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 4, 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 Sout ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 12, 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)

  • Blogs

    November 7, 2008

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    September 30, 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 eac ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 4, 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. Pa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 22, 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 o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 14, 2007

    Homeland Security Officer Sentenced For Hitting On Immigrant

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    May 2, 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 t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 8, 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 1 ... More >>

  • News

    December 7, 2006

    A Snow Job Success

    The shady past of OCs newest mega-philanthropist

  • Blogs

    August 17, 2006

    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 >>

  • News

    December 5, 2002

    Crash-Test Dummy

    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 >>

  • News

    January 4, 2001

    The Year in Rebuke

    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 >>

  • News

    February 17, 2000

    I, Cardenas

    More evidence that Orange County justice is just plain scary

  • Columns

    December 10, 1998

    Tourists Trapped

    More evidence that Orange County justice is just plain scary

  • More >>
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