KPCC News In Brief

Posts about “Criminal Justice” Category

• Federal receiver nears discounted deal on prison medical care

  The federal receiver in charge of improving medical care in California prisons says he’s close to a deal with state officials on how to proceed. KPCC’s Julie Small reports this new plan would cost billions less than earlier proposals.

  Julie Small: A year ago, federal receiver Clark Kelso announced he wanted $8 billion to upgrade prison medical facilities – and to build seven new ones. His goal was to provide 10,000 medical beds for prisoners with chronic conditions.

  State lawmakers and prison officials howled at the cost. The budget crisis virtually guaranteed Kelso wouldn’t get what he wanted. But now he says he can get the job the done with just a couple new hospitals for less than $2 billion.

  The facilities would treat 3,400 inmates – far fewer than his earlier plan. But Kelso says he can compensate if he renovates more prison medical facilities already in place. Last year, Kelso asked a federal judge to hold the governor and other state officials in contempt for refusing to release the money he needed to build new prison hospitals.

  The Schwarzenegger administration countered that move by asking a federal judge to dismiss Kelso. If the judge and state lawmakers agree to Kelso’s new plan, the court fight will be over – and the rebuilding can begin.

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  • May 29, 2009 10:01 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Sheriffs clear out homeless encampment

  Los Angeles County sheriffs have dismantled an encampment of homeless people under the 605 Freeway near the 10. KPCC’s Shirley Jahad has this report.

  Shirley Jahad: The camp accommodated 35 to 40 men, women, and children, L.A. County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said. He called it the most squalid, heinous homeless encampment he’d ever seen. The people lived under the freeway bridge, behind a walled-in area. Whitmore said ventilation holes were their only way in and out of the camp.

  Steve Whitmore: There’s no light in there. They would hang the food. So the rats wouldn’t get it. You know how people when they camp they hang their food so the bears won’t get it? They did the same thing with their food. But it’s not pretty. This is heinous. It is unfathomable. It is unlivable. It is wrong.

  Jahad: Whitmore said half a dozen babies lived in the enclosure, next to human and animal waste. He said officials are trying to place the camp’s inhabitants in adequate shelter and offer them medical attention and mental health care.

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  • May 28, 2009 4:56 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Bush v. Gore attornies team up for federal suit against Prop 8

  California’s ban on same-sex marriage has compelled two well-known legal adversaries to challenge the law. Attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies argued against each other in the Bush versus Gore case that determined the result of the 2000 presidential election. But Olson said they’ve joined forces to sue against Proposition 8 in federal court.

  Ted Olson: “The case we filed is not about liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. We’re here in part to symbolize that. This case is about the equal rights guaranteed to every American under the United States Constitution.”

  They filed the suit last Friday on behalf of two same-sex couples who want to marry. Today, they filed an injunction asking the court to stop the enforcement of Prop 8 pending the case’s outcome.

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  • May 27, 2009 2:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Rancho Cucamonga councilman arrested on felony grand theft charges

  Authorities arrested Rancho Cucamonga councilman Rex Guiterrez today for allegedly misappropriating public money. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the arrest is part of an ever-widening fraud and corruption probe that involves several high-profile San Bernardino County officials.

  Steven Cuevas: The felony charges against Rex Guitterez – misappropriation of public funds and grand theft – arise from his brief stint with the county assessor’s office. He quit in January when the office became the focus of an investigation into alleged fraud and corruption.

  Assessor Bill Postmus resigned soon after. An independent investigation launched by the San Bernardino County board of supervisors portrays the office as a den of political corruption, financial fraud, and drug abuse.

  Gutierrez had been Postmus’ “intergovernmental relations officer.” But investigators say he was dubbed “intergalactic officer” because he rarely showed up for work – even when he continued to collect a paycheck. The county is suing Gutierrez and several other former assessor’s office officials over money allegedly lost through rampant timecard abuse.

  Some of Guiterrez’ colleagues on the Rancho Cucamonga city council are calling on him to step down. He’s served on the council off and on over 17 years.

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  • May 27, 2009 2:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAMBDA Legal senior counsel talks about gay civil rights strategy

  A coalition of gay rights groups says a federal lawsuit that challenges Proposition 8 is premature. Jenny Pizer is the senior counsel for LAMBDA Legal, a gay civil rights organization. She spoke with KPCC’s “AirTalk.”

  Jenny Pizer: “Federal litigation eventually of course will be very important, but our strategy for years has been to work state by state to create the foundation that we need, that we believe we need, to have a fair chance of winning in this kind of case. I mean the stakes are kind of high when you go through the Supreme Court. That court sets the rule for the entire country.”

  Attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson filed the lawsuit last week. It argues that California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and due process. Boies and Olson also are seeking a preliminary injunction against Prop 8 until the case is resolved.

  The state Supreme Court announced yesterday that it had upheld the measure. Pizer said she thinks the next appropriate step should be to return to the ballot box. Same-sex marriage proponents say they want to try and get a referendum on next year’s ballot.

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  • May 27, 2009 2:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Another ballot measure might turn tide in same-sex marriage battle

  The battle in California over same-sex marriage isn’t finished – and KPCC’s Nick Roman says the result next time could be different.

  Nick Roman: This began nine years ago when voters approved Proposition 22 – a statute that said “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Last May, the state Supreme Court invalidated that measure. Proposition 8 had the same wording as 22 – but it’s a constitutional amendment not as easily dislodged by a court decision. But voters could overturn it.

  Backers of same-sex marriage intend to put a measure on the ballot – and it might succeed. Prop 22 passed with more than 61 percent of the vote. Eight years later, Prop 8 also passed – but with only 52 percent. The 22 percentage point margin of victory that opponents of same-sex marriage had with Prop 22 was down to 4.

  And even though Prop 8 passed in L.A., Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, it earned much less support than Prop 22. One more year and one more election are all that backers of same-sex marriage might need to win.

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  • May 26, 2009 4:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Legal scholar suggests Prop 8 not settled, despite court decision

  Legal scholar Richard Hasen of Loyola Law School suggests that Proposition 8 – California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage – may not be settled despite the state supreme court’s decision in favor of the measure.

  Richard Hasen: “The California Supreme Court has said pretty straightforwardly that as far as the state power and state constitution goes, there’s a lot more power in the hands of voters. And that if the voters want to have the last word here, subject to the federal constitution, they can.”

  Last November, 52 percent of the voters overturned an earlier state Supreme Court decision that briefly made same-sex marriages legal in California. Hasen told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that if more change is on the way, it’ll probably happen through the ballot box in another statewide referendum.

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  • May 26, 2009 4:30 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Supporters of Prop 8 applaud state supreme court's decision

  Supporters of Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, applauded today’s state Supreme Court decision that upheld the vote. Andrew Pugno argued before California’s highest court that last year’s narrow approval of Prop 8 reflected the will of the people. He told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that opponents are within their rights to raise the issue in another ballot measure, but…

  Andrew Pugno: “I don’t suspect that the people of California would look favorably on being asked to vote on this yet again. We’ve already voted on it twice in the last few years, and in fact I don’t think it would be very likely to succeed in taking Prop 8 out of the constitution. Prop 8 was made a close election by the occasional young liberal voter that showed up, that is not likely to show up in those numbers for a long time to come.”

  Nine years ago, California voters approved an earlier ban on same-sex marriage by a much wider margin than they did last November.

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  • May 26, 2009 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Supreme Court nominee has reputation as tough, smart

  The scrutiny’s begun for President Obama’s pick for an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. The president praised federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York as “an inspiring woman” with varied experience on the bench. Legal Network anchor Jami Floyd has reported on cases in Sotomayor’s courtroom.

  Jami Floyd: “She’s tough, I would say hard-nosed, very smart, cuts to the issues, does not suffer fools. And she has a bit of a reputation for being prickly, but I would say if she was a man that wouldn’t be the case. I think some of it is because she is a woman and we have different expectations for women, whether it’s on the bench, at the front of a classroom, or as homemakers.”

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  • May 26, 2009 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• South LA civil rights leader applauds Prop 8 ruling

  A civil rights activist in South L.A. applauds the California Supreme Court for upholding Proposition 8. Eddie Jones is president of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association.

  Eddie Jones : “I don’t agree with same-sex marriage. It’s been voted on already. They passed it not to happen. And I think it’s wrong to try to get an amendment to it. I think it’s wrong. The people voted on it. They said ‘no’. No means no.”

  Supporters of same-sex couples’ right to marry say they’ll bring the issue before California voters again. But they haven’t decided when.

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  • May 26, 2009 3:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Some support same-sex marriage, also support court's decision

  The California Supreme Court this morning upheld Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. In response, several callers on KPCC’s “AirTalk” said they support same-sex marriage, but they also support the logic of the court’s decision. Among them was John of Santa Monica.

  John: “The people actually voted on this. And the constitution is supposed to back up the rule of the people. I mean, to complain about a constitutional issue when people vote on it, it just seems redundant – it doesn’t seem right.”

  The court’s ruling also maintains the legality of about 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place between an earlier state supreme court decision that allowed them and the November election that endorsed the ban with 52 percent of the vote.

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  • May 26, 2009 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Possible Republican response to Supreme Court nominee

  Conservative lawmakers responded quickly to President Obama’s nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ron Elving, senior Washington Editor for National Public Radio, told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that the opposition reflects differences in judicial philosophy.

  Ron Elving: “I think that it’s fair to say that Republicans are upholding a principle of strict adherence to the document of the constitution, the letter of the law if you will, and we’ve already heard quite a number of the Republican senators who are going to be handling theses proceedings on the judiciary committee talking about applying the letter of the law and not trying to interpret what the law, that is to say the Constitution, might mean in a modern context.”

  Some Republicans have questioned the way Sotomayor, a Latina, has decided on affirmative action cases. She ruled against a group of white Connecticut firefighters who’d sued their department claiming racial discrimination.

  The Supreme Court expects to rule on that case this session. If the U.S. Senate approves her nomination, Sotomayor would replace associate justice David Souter, who plans to retire from the court this summer.

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  • May 26, 2009 2:24 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader praises Supreme Court pick

  The local head of the organization founded by Martin Luther King, Jr. praised President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Reverend Eric Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California said federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor would bring needed diversity to the nation’s highest court.

  Reverend Eric Lee: “Because of her background, coming from the projects, and working class family, being able to work her way through to becoming a justice, that it adds an element of compassion and understanding about the plight of people who are struggling just for a decent living, and quality of life in our country.”

  If the Senate approves her, Sotomayor – who’s Puerto Rican – would be the first Latina associate justice. President Obama announced the nomination this morning at a White House news conference.

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  • May 26, 2009 2:22 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Gay marriage proponents respond to ruling on Prop 8

  The California Supreme Court this morning upheld Proposition 8 – and the marriages of same-sex couples who wed while their unions were legal. A coalition of faith leaders and groups that support same-sex marriage rights met today in South Los Angeles to hear the ruling on Prop 8 and offer their reactions. Attorney Jenny Pizer is on the legal team that challenged the ballot measure.

  Jenny Pizer: “Proposition 8 stole our right to marry, and it advanced a pernicious idea of equality that puts every California minority at risk. Prop 8 tore our constitution. Today’s deeply disappointing decision puts it to us as a people to repair that damage at the ballot box.”

  The coalition vowed to bring the issue of same-sex marriage before California voters again. But members haven’t decided when. Pizer said the 18,000 same-sex couples who married before voters approved Prop 8 last November will demonstrate that their rights don’t threaten anyone.

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  • May 26, 2009 2:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Men charged with phony ATM withdrawal scheme

  Authorities charged four San Fernando Valley men today in an alleged electronic crime scheme. KPCC’s Alex Cohen says the scheme involved phony ATM withdrawals.

  Alex Cohen: The scheme involves two dozen victims, including two banks. Together they lost more than $400,000. The defendants allegedly gained access to personal ID numbers by placing so-called skimming devices on automatic teller machines in Southern California and at least one other state.

  The devices read and record ATM card numbers while wireless cameras record users’ personal access code entries. Then the skimmers transmit that information to identity thieves nearby.

  The district attorney’s Bureau of Investigation began looking into the Southern California case last August after Citibank alerted them to possible ATM fraud.

  Bail for the four men charged was set at $1 million each. Similar skimming rings have been surfacing around the country.

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  • May 21, 2009 8:32 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Almost 100 members of Latino gang that targeted African-Americans arrested

  The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles is praising today’s arrests of almost 100 members of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang. Thomas O’Brien told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that the largely Latino gang targeted African-Americans in southeastern L.A. County.

  Thomas O’Brien: “You’re dealing with people who are clearly uneducated, that hang out and kinda spew racial hatred. This particular street gang, we have a number of incidents where they shot at people not because they were African-American gang members but simply because the individuals were African-American.”

  O’Brien said gederal authorities issued about 150 indictments on racketeering, firearms, and narcotics charges. The allegations and arrests resulted from a four-year investigation that followed a suspected gang member’s fatal shooting of an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy.

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  • May 21, 2009 3:49 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Law enforcement officials arrest scores of Hawaiian Gardens gang members

  Federal and local law enforcement officials said today they’ve arrested nearly a hundred leaders and associates of the dangerous Varrio Hawaiian Gardens street gang. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles is calling it the largest gang indictment in this country’s history. One-thousand-four-hundred law enforcement agents took part in the arrests in and around southeast L.A. County.

  They were armed with a federal indictment that listed 147 people, about a dozen of them women. The indictment listed nicknames such as Spooky, Looney Tunes, Casper, and Babygirl. U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien said the killing of L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Ortiz by one of the gang’s members four years ago prompted the 17-agency crackdown.

  Thomas O’Brien: Today we honor deputy Ortiz by coming together to crush the outlaw gang that took his life and to make a positive difference for the law abiding people who live in Hawaiian Gardens.

  Guzman-Lopez: The indictment charges the suspects with racketeering, drug trafficking, and illegal gun possession. Officials say Varrio Hawaiian Gardens was a self-described “hate gang” whose members targeted African-Americans.

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  • May 21, 2009 3:43 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA city attorney-elect Trutanich responds to his win

  Los Angeles’ next City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich, is pledging to change the culture of the department he’ll take over soon. The former gang prosecutor has spent much of the last 20 years in private practice, and that experience will follow him into his first elected position.

  Carmen Trutanich: “We want to make this a real law office. And the only way that a real office can function and be successful is if management and those of the support for management are one – they work as a team together.”

  Trutanich defeated L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss in the fiercest contest on Tuesday’s ballot.

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  • May 21, 2009 3:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Prosecutors indict 150 gang members, largest gang takedown in US history

  Federal authorities say raids in southeast Los Angeles County this morning netted 63 suspected members of a Latino gang indicted for targeting blacks in a series of shootings and other crimes. U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien says 1,400 federal and local law enforcement officers were involved in the hunt for 147 members of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens street gang. Prosecutors call the raids the “largest gang takedown in United States history.”

  O’Brien says planning for the gang sweep began four years ago after the killing of Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Ortiz. The 15-year veteran deputy was a member of the Lakewood Sheriff’s station gang enforcement team. He was shot and killed outside a Hawaiian Gardens apartment in June 2005 while searching for a suspected gang member he’d seen on the street. The suspect – 27-year-old Jose Luis Orozco – was arrested three days later.

  The five federal racketeering indictments handed down today includes gun, drug, and other charges stemming from racial attacks. Reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez will have reports on KPCC throughout the afternoon.

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  • May 21, 2009 11:12 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Chief Bratton praises city council voting down police hiring freeze

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton today praised the L.A. city council’s decision to reject a proposed hiring freeze at his department.

  Chief Bill Bratton: “Right now, we have in excess of 9,900 officers – pretty close to the 10,000 mark. We will within a few months reach the 10,000 mark.

  “We fully anticipate that we will get some federal help through the COPS program – hire some officers there. So we’re in pretty good shape, all things considered, on the number of officers.”

  During KPCC’s “Patt Morrison,” Bratton rejected charges he’d threatened to retaliate against City Councilman Bill Rosendahl for supporting the hiring freeze by pulling officers from his district.

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  • May 20, 2009 3:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Trutanich upsets Weiss in city attorney race

  Carmen Trutanich beat City Councilman Jack Weiss in yesterday’s election for Los Angeles city attorney. The San Pedro-based defense attorney captured 56 percent of the vote. Trutanich spoke with KPCC’s Frank Stoltze at an election night party at the Universal Hilton.

  Carmen Trutanich: “The people had an opportunity to say that business as usual at City Hall is over.”
  Frank Stoltze: “You’ve said you will not be a politician. What does that mean?”
  Trutanich: “I’m going to be the guy that my dad raised as a kid &ndsah; taught me those values that I’ve lived with, and I’m going to carry them to the city, and we’re going to lead – we’re going to lead by cleanliness and integrity.”

  The union that represents LAPD officers spent more than $700,000 on radio and TV ads for Trutanich. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – who backed Weiss in the race – promised to work cooperatively with Trutanich. Weiss congratulated the new city attorney-elect, and said he didn’t regret the highly negative campaign he ran against his opponent.

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  • May 20, 2009 10:13 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Middleman in UCLA body parts trafficking scheme found guilty

  A jury in Los Angeles has convicted a man of participating in a scheme to profit from UCLA Medical School’s willed-body program. Details from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: Prosecutors had told jurors that Ernest Nelson worked out a scheme to buy human remains from the former director of the program at UCLA that accepts bodies that donors intend for use in scientific study. Nelson owned a business that provided body parts and corpses to researchers at hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.

  Authorities say the deal netted one-and-a-half million dollars over five years. The onetime UCLA employee, Henry Reid, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grand theft – he’s serving a four-year prison sentence.

  In the just-concluded trial the jury convicted Nelson of conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft by embezzlement, and tax evasion. He also faces four years in prison.

  The scandal around UCLA’s willed-body program caused the university to voluntarily suspend it five years ago. It later reopened with a new emphasis on security and transparency – now the program requires financial and criminal background checks on all potential employees.

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  • May 14, 2009 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education, Health

• Police investigate Riverside house where pipe bombs were found

  Bomb investigators are going inside a Riverside house where someone found several pipe bombs yesterday. Riverside police sergeant Jaybee Brennan says a real estate agent discovered the explosives while inspecting the house yesterday afternoon.

  Jaybee Brennan: “Several explosive type devices were located and rendered safe. Officers also located a makeshift booby trap device and rendered this device. These items were all on the exterior of the residence.”

  Police have arrested a 42-year-old man who used to own the home. A bank is handling its sale.

  Authorities ordered people in nine nearby homes to evacuate last night while bomb experts disabled the explosives. It’s unclear whether the pipe bombs were live.

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  • May 13, 2009 10:28 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Griffith Park arsonist sentenced to 16 years in prison

  A Glendale man has landed a 16-year prison sentence for setting several fires last year in L.A.’s Griffith Park. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The fires Gary Allen Lintz pleaded no contest to starting didn’t turn into the kind that scorched more than 800 acres in Los Angeles’ biggest park a couple of years ago. But that big one heightened park officials’ concern over any threat of another like it.

  Some hikers reported Lintz last August after they saw him near where a small fire had broken out. Police arrested him and charged him with starting four fires in the park during the summer. He’s been in jail since that arrest.

  During his sentencing hearing, Lintz also admitted to causing injury to a firefighter hurt while he fought one of the fires he’d set, and to having an earlier arson conviction. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed three other charges against Lintz – and he wasted no time ordering the 16-year sentence.

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  • May 11, 2009 3:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• California Superior Court observes Juror Appreciation Week

  If you’ve got jury duty this week, you’ve lucked out. KPCC’s Susan Valot explains why.

  Susan Valot:This is Juror Appreciation Week in the California Superior Court system. Each courthouse observes it in a different way. Some decorate the jury room. Many offer refreshments to jurors as they wait to be called on court cases. Some courthouses even raffle off prizes. At Orange County superior courthouses, jurors will be given mementoes to mark the occasion.

  Eleven years ago, state lawmakers designated the second full week in May Juror Appreciation Week to honor people who volunteer their time to make the “right of trial by jury a reality.” Last fiscal year, Orange County summoned almost three-quarters of a million people to jury duty. More than 10-and-a-half-million people were summoned to serve on juries statewide.

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  • May 11, 2009 11:49 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Medical marijuana dispensary workers complain of police harassment

  The operators of a medical marijuana dispensary in Pomona say police have been harassing them. KPCC’s Shirley Jahad says they protested Friday in front of the Pomona police station.

  Shirley Jahad: The medical marijuana dispensary had been open for about a week when volunteers said Pomona police began to show up unannounced and intimidate workers and patrons, including terminal cancer patients. Volunteer Kara Hill described one incident last week.

  Kara Hill: This time they physically break down doors. They start kicking in doors. They come in they are very aggressive. They throw one volunteer down on the ground. He injures his shoulder.

  A terminally ill patient is sitting in the lobby trying to fill out his paper work. The patient just coming from chemo has cancer and says please, can I just get my medicine?

  Jahad: Police have arrested several dispensary volunteers. They said one of their co-workers, a 23-year-old on the dean’s list at Cal State Long Beach, is still behind bars. Volunteer Kara Hill said that’s unreasonable.

  Hill: She is being held on a million dollars bail. Literally she was passing out flyers. She had no medical marijuana on her. No medication. No money. Nothing.

  Jahad: A lawyer for the dispensary called the police action illegal and unwarranted.

  Note: Pomona police have not returned calls seeking comment on these allegations.

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  • May 11, 2009 11:04 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• San Bernardino authorities continue search for kidnapped 3-year-old

  Authorities in San Bernardino have received hundreds of tips about the kidnapping of a 3-year old boy last weekend. Two men apparently snatched Briant Rodriguez from his home during a robbery. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has the latest.

  Steven Cuevas: Investigators believe the kidnappers are two young Latino men who turned up on surveillance footage from a local convenience store. They’re shown two days before the alleged kidnapping buying the same kind of tape used to bind members of Briant Rodriguez’s family. Police believe they may be driving a green Ford Bronco.

  Briant’s mother says she was getting ready to take her children to the park last Sunday when the men broke into the family’s home. They allegedly tied up everyone in the house, took a small amount of cash, a cell phone, and 3-year-old Briant.

  Investigators say there’ve been no demands for ransom money, or any other communication with the kidnappers. The apparent motive is unclear. San Bernardino County Sheriff Rod Hoops said investigators hope that Briant will be returned safely. The county and the FBI have posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the kidnappers’ arrest and conviction.

  Note: Anyone with information on the Briant Rodriguez case should call the Amber Alert hotline. That number is 866-346-7632.

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  • May 8, 2009 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Sheriff Baca lobbies for money at White House

  Los Angeles County’s top cop spent the morning at the White House, explaining a federal reimbursement program to members of the Obama administration. KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was not pleased when President Obama cut funding for SCAAP, the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

  Sheriff Lee Baca: SCAAP is a pure reimbursement fund for local government who is bearing the brunt of criminals who are illegal being arrested and put in county jails.

  Felde: Almost one in four L.A. County jail inmates is undocumented. Baca said that during the Clinton administration, he could count on $35 million a year from SCAAP, money he could spend on crimefighting measures like putting more radio cars on the street.

  Baca said Attorney General Eric Holder was confused about the maze of federal reimbursement programs and didn’t understand SCAAP’s importance to local law enforcement. After his White House meeting, Baca said, administration officials “got it.” But the power to restore funding now shifts to Congress.

  Baca: A long, protracted fight is standard operating procedure in Washington.

  Felde: Now Baca’s making his case to key members of Congress from California.

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  • May 7, 2009 4:24 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Clergy abuse lawsuit filed against LA Roman Catholic archdiocese

  Los Angeles’ Roman Catholic Archdiocese is facing another civil lawsuit that alleges clergy sexual abuse. The priest named in this suit has already been convicted. He’s spent time behind bars and he’s been deported to his native Colombia.

  Lawyers for the victim are suing the Catholic Church in Los Angeles and in Rome. Attorney John Manly told reporters that church officials should have known the priest was a pedophile before the Vatican sent him to Los Angeles.

  John Manly: “We want to know what they knew before they sent him here. We want to know what the archdiocese knew. This guy does not just get here and get caught.

  “He was here for a couple of years. He was taking this boy in the rectory. He was taking him on trips. He was taking other boys. He was spending all his time with boys. And they knew. And they did nothing.”

  The Los Angeles Archdiocese hasn’t returned a call for comment. A jury convicted Reverend Fernando Lopez-Lopez of molesting several boys. The victim in this case was 14 when the abuse happened; he’s 21 years old now.

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  • May 7, 2009 4:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Murder rate continues to fall in Los Angeles

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton today said the murder rate fell 34 percent during the first four months of the year, compared to the same time last year. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Through April, 137 people were murdered in L.A. – 46 fewer than during the same period last year; 120 fewer people suffered gunshot wounds. Burglaries and personal thefts fell 4 percent, despite the bad economy.

  Chief Bill Bratton: So unlike the theories of a lot of the academics and others out there, we are just not seeing what many have been predicting.

  Stoltze: Which was an increase in crime. LAPD Chief Bill Bratton credited faster police response times to major crimes and an increase in the number of officers. The department is expected to employ a record 10,000 cops by December.

  Bratton: The more cops we have, the more we can do.

  Stoltze: The chief also acknowledged the role of gang intervention workers. Unlike in past years, police are working more closely with them to prevent crime. Other cities are also seeing a drop in their murder rates, but not as big as the one in L.A.

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  • May 7, 2009 3:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Baca lobbies for federal money for housing undocumented immigrant criminals

  Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is in Washington, D.C. this week, looking for $20 million that disappeared. He said that during the Bush administration, a federal reimbursement to help the county pay for housing undocumented immigrant criminals behind bars dried up. President Obama hasn’t put it back into the budget.

  Sheriff Lee Baca: “We haven’t had the good days since the Clinton administration, understanding that L.A. County and other counties throughout the country are bearing the cost of illegal immigrants in the county jails.”

  Baca spent this morning with White House aides, making the case for fully funding the program. He spent the rest of day speaking to key members of Congress – it holds the purse strings for the reimbursement program.

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  • May 7, 2009 3:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Crime continues to fall in LA

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton said today that crime continues to fall in the city. The murder rate dropped by a third during the first four months of the year, compared to the same time last year. Burglaries fell by a more modest four percent.

  Chief Bill Bratton: “This in the face of the worsening economy with many economists, academics, criminologists, politicians all predicting doom and gloom, that the economy is going to bring about an increase in crime.

  “We are certainly not seeing that in Los Angeles. We have not seen it over the last two years as this city unfortunately was ahead of the rest of the country in our unemployment situation.”

  Bratton credited his department’s hiring of more police officers for the drop in crime. He also noted a faster response to crime scenes and more cooperation between cops and gang intervention specialists.

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  • May 7, 2009 2:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Child porn convict killed by federal marshals in Fontana

  United States marshals shot and killed a 29-year-old man in Fontana after they tried to serve him with a warrant. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the suspect was wanted in connection with a child pornography case.

  Steven Cuevas: When his sentencing hearing for a child porn conviction took place in a Los Angeles federal courtroom, Dominic Salazar wasn’t there. So, federal marshals went looking for him. Authorities say two marshals tracked Salazar to his Fontana home. He was sitting in a black sedan in his driveway.

  He allegedly opened fire on the marshals after they blocked his path with their vehicle and moved to arrest him. The marshals returned fire. Salazar was pronounced dead at the scene. The marshals recovered a gun that apparently belonged to the suspect. The Fontana Police Department is investigating the shooting.

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  • May 7, 2009 2:11 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino official's trial moved to Orange County

  A former Inland Empire official accused of fraud will get his day his court – in Orange County. A San Bernardino Superior Court judge says Jim Erwin’s trial can take place in the new venue because of pre-trial publicity. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has details.

  Steven Cuevas: Jim Erwin is the former chief of staff for San Bernardino County supervisor Neil Derry. He resigned after his arrest two months ago on multiple perjury and fraud charges. Authorities say he took illegal gifts from a developer doing business with the county – then tried to cover his tracks.

  Erwin brokered a multi-million dollar settlement between the county and a developer called Colonies Partners. Authorities say the developer rewarded him with lavish gifts including a Rolex watch, a private jet trip to New York, and adult escort services.

  Erwin didn’t list those items in financial statements as required by law. He’s facing 10 felony counts of perjury and fraud. If a jury convicts him he could spend up to 11 years in state prison.

  The judge in the case claims that publicity surrounding Erwin’s case – and a separate case involving disgraced former county assessor Bill Postmus – could taint a San Bernardino jury. Erwin worked for Postmus until the assessor’s office also became the focus of a widening criminal probe.

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  • May 7, 2009 11:27 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• 3 found dead in apparent murder-suicide in Orange

  Police are trying to nail down a motive for an apparent murder-suicide in Orange that left a man, his girlfriend, and the couple’s young son dead. KPCC’s Susan Valot says police found the three in their apartment yesterday.

  Susan Valot: The manager of the Orange apartment called police when she realized she hadn’t seen 44-year-old Craig Rubin, his girlfriend Mary Striley, and their 3-year-old son for several days. Police entered the apartment the family had occupied for three years.

  Officers discovered the three had all been shot to death with the small handgun they found near Rubin’s body. Authorities say they may have been dead for several days.

  Police say Rubin left a suicide note that claimed responsibility for killing his girlfriend and son. Ruben apparently wrote in the note that his family was dealing with health and financial issues. But police say the motive’s not clear. They’re investigating it as a murder-suicide.

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  • May 6, 2009 2:36 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• LAUSD goes to court to stop 1-day teachers strike

  The L.A. Unified School District’s fired the first salvo against the one-day strike planned by its teachers union next week. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: In a statement, Superintendent Ramon Cortines called the planned strike “dangerous, illegal, and irresponsible.” He said school district lawyers will ask state regulators to stop the action.

  Last week on the steps of L.A. Unified headquarters, leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles announced that members had approved a one-day strike to protest teacher layoffs. The school board approved layoffs weeks earlier to close a looming budget deficit.

  The union had urged other cuts. The superintendent and board of education argued that union member furloughs and pay cuts would be the only way to avoid eliminating jobs.

  The one-day strike is a violation of the UTLA’s contract, and union leaders said they were up front with members about the seriousness of the vote. The union argues that laying off thousands of teachers would increase class sizes and cause serious short-term and long-term disruptions to many students in the school district.

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  • May 5, 2009 7:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Newport Beach Episcopal church takes property case to Supreme Court

  A Newport Beach congregation that split from the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide who owns the parish’s property. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: St. James Church left the diocese five years ago after the Episcopal Church consecrated a gay bishop in New Hampshire. The congregation took church property with it.

  In January, the state supreme court ruled that the property belonged to the Episcopal diocese. Later, the court modified its opinion and effectively sent the case back to an Orange County trial judge.

  Lawyers for St. James say they’ll ask the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue. Chapman University Law School dean John Eastman, who’s representing St. James, said the question of who owns church property should be settled nationwide before local cases go to trial.

  Three other breakaway parishes in Southern California face similar issues. They’re All Saints of Long Beach, St. David’s in North Hollywood, and St. Luke’s of the Mountain Church in La Crescenta.

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  • May 5, 2009 7:12 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Compton Unified athletic director charged with theft

  Authorities have charged the athletic director of the Compton Unified School District with grand theft and forgery. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says he allegedly helped a high school hoops coach defraud the district of $15,000.

  Cheryl Devall: The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office says the athletic director, Ernest Carr, faked a letter from the principal of Dominguez High School in Compton that authorized the school’s basketball coach to deposit a check into his personal account.

  The check for $15,000 was from athletic wear company Nike – it was made out to the Compton Unified School District. School police arrested Carr last month. He’s free on $20,000 bail and his arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

  After Compton police investigated the check incident, prosecutors named Carr as a codefendant on theft and forgery charges with the basketball coach, Russell Otis. Otis has pleaded not guilty to an array of other charges, including burglary and child molestation.

  The coach is on leave from his job. He’s out on $75,000 bail before his next scheduled court hearing later this month.

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  • May 4, 2009 5:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• California shifts to less swine flu testing, but more focused

  California’s recorded 69 confirmed and 121 probable swine flu cases in the state. Public health officials say 97 percent of probable cases end up as confirmed. The state’s disease control authorities are responding, says Dr. Bonnie Sorensen of the California Department of Public Health.

  Dr. Bonnie Sorensen: “We are shifting our strategy, kind of transiting to less testing across the state but more focused attention on who needs to be tested.”

  Sorensen says public health agencies are going to focus testing on counties with a lot of cases, and to test people with severe cases or who’ve checked into hospitals with the flu. While the strain of swine flu that’s reached California is relatively mild, Sorensen urged county officials to keep monitoring – especially if new cases surface in schools or prisons where the virus can infect large numbers of people. The state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has banned visits to inmates from relatives and volunteers as a precaution against spreading swine flu.

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  • May 4, 2009 3:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• 3-year-old boy abducted over weekend still missing

  Investigators are trying to figure out why two gunmen broke into a home in San Bernardino during the weekend and took a 3-year-old boy. The boy is still missing.

  Lieutenant Rick Ells of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department says the gunmen ransacked the home and tied up the boy’s mother and siblings, before they took off with 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez.

  Briant Rodriguez: “The father was at work at the time. This doesn’t appear to be any sort of custody or familial abduction. The family has been unable to provide any sort of motive for this or identity to the people responsible.”

  Ells says the men also took money and other items from the home. One of the siblings was able to free himself and untie his mother and siblings. Authorities along the U.S.-Mexico border have been put on alert. FBI investigators are also helping with the investigation.

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  • May 4, 2009 2:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Authorities search for 3-year-old kidnapped boy

  Authorities are looking for a 3-year-old boy taken from a San Bernardino home over the weekend. Lieutenant Rick Ells of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department says two gunmen broke into the home yesterday afternoon and tied up the boy’s mom and four siblings.

  Rick Ells: “They ransacked the home – they took a small amount of currency and some personal property, and when they left and they took the 3-year-old, Briant Rodriguez, with them.”

  One of the children, an 8-year-old, was able to free himself – then he untied his mom and siblings. Investigators are still trying to figure out the motive for the kidnapping. The father was at work at the time. Ells says it does not appear to be about a custody dispute.

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  • May 4, 2009 2:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Judge orders review of widows' immigration cases

  A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the government to review the immigration cases of dozens of foreign-born widows whose green card applications were being processed when their American husbands died. More from KPCC’s Debra Baer.

  Debra Baer: The judge ruled in a class action lawsuit that challenged the so-called “widow penalty.” U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder said the Department of Homeland Security cannot deny the widows’ applications for residency simply because the agency didn’t process their paperwork before their spouses died.

  The agency’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services routinely denies residency petitions because of the way it interprets the law. It says that if a marriage is less than two years old and the citizen spouse dies before the immigration application is complete, the surviving partner is no longer considered a spouse.

  That’s led to hundreds of deportations of grieving spouses. The judge’s order finalizes her tentative ruling earlier this month. It could reopen more than 200 cases.

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  • May 1, 2009 4:36 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Southern California judge possible candidate for Supreme Court

  Legal observers say a federal judge from Pasadena is one of the possible replacements for Supreme Court Justice David Souter. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim Wardlaw’s been on the federal bench for almost 15 years. President Clinton nominated her as a district judge in 1995 and to the appeals court three years later.

  In each case, Wardlaw won bipartisan support during her Senate confirmation. That bodes well for her should President Obama nominate her to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  Legal observers consider Wardlaw a candidate for the high court because Mr. Obama’s expressed interest in appointing a woman. She’s also 54 years old – experienced, yet young enough to serve for several decades. Wardlaw’s also a Latina, and the president’s said he wants diversity on the court.

  Wardlaw, a UCLA Law graduate, was a partner at O’Melveny and Meyers. She’s been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Her husband is attorney Bill Wardlaw – a veteran political player who’s advised former L.A. mayors Richard Riordan and Jim Hahn.

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  • May 1, 2009 4:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Couple accused of state's largest worker's comp fraud case

  Orange County prosecutors say a Laguna Hills couple was behind California’s largest worker’s comp fraud case. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the authorities arrested the couple at their home yesterday.

  Susan Valot: Prosecutors say Michael Petronella and his wife Devon Kile used their roofing and general contracting businesses to commit millions of dollars in insurance fraud. The companies worked on lots of local projects – and had contracts with the Ocean Institute in Dana Point and the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa.

  The district attorney says Petronella and his wife reported only a fraction of their payroll so they could get cheaper worker’s compensation rates from the state. The DA says the couple also submitted dozens of fraudulent injured worker claims.

  In all, prosecutors say the couple committed more than $38 million dollars in worker’s comp fraud. The district attorney says the couple spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, including houses, jewelry, and Ferraris. They face more than 100 felony counts &ndsah; and they could face more than 100 years in prison if convicted.

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  • April 30, 2009 4:34 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Pension board member resigns over alleged ethics violation

  A member of the board that oversees pension funds for Los Angeles City employees has resigned after his involvement with a political fundraiser for city attorney candidate Jack Weiss. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Pension board member Kelly Candaele said it was a mistake for him to act as one of six hosts of a Monday night fundraiser for Weiss. City ethics rules prohibit members of the pension board from engaging in campaign fundraising activities.

  A Weiss spokesman said the campaign would return about $20,000 the event raised. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who appointed Candaele to the board, called him an upstanding leader who “made an honest mistake.”

  The Los Angeles Times has reported that two other people the mayor appointed to another pension board have received letters from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

  That agency reportedly seeks information on any income they received from companies that did business with the L.A. Fire and Police Pension Board. The paper reports that the SEC has also asked the two about any communication they’ve had with companies linked to a criminal probe of a New York pension fund.

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  • April 29, 2009 2:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA riots erupted 17 years ago today

  Seventeen years ago today, a jury in Simi Valley acquitted four white Los Angeles police officers charged with beating black motorist Rodney King. An amateur video had recorded the incident, and people around the world had expected a different verdict. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall looks back to the reaction in L.A., where large areas of the city erupted in riots.

  Cheryl Devall: Shortly after Angelenos heard about the jury’s decision, local civil rights leaders met quickly to urge a calm response. By the early evening of Wednesday, April 29th, 1992, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.

  Live television broadcast images of people beating drivers at South L.A. intersections, looting and burning stores, and facing off against armed shop owners. Officials imposed curfews and many businesses closed during the unrest; the governor called in the California National Guard to patrol Los Angeles streets.

  Despite beating victim Rodney King’s televised plea for everyone to “just get along,” more than 50 people of many races died during almost a week of rioting. There are few public commemorations scheduled on this anniversary.

  Tonight at 8 o’clock, the Korean Presbyterian Church in Gardena is hosting a multilingual forum for people who want to gather and discuss what happened during and since the 1992 riots.

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  • April 29, 2009 11:13 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Attorney general releases report showing gross misconduct by Maywood PD

  State Attorney General Jerry Brown today said his office has uncovered gross misconduct by police officers in Maywood. Brown oversaw a 16-month investigation of the police force in Maywood, a small city southeast of downtown Los Angeles that employs about 40 officers. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The report says Maywood police routinely used excessive force, conducted illegal searches, and made false arrests. Attorney General Brown said there’s evidence that one officer sexually assaulted women.

  Jerry Brown: When you have rogue cops, it’s just intolerable in a free society. So the City Council, the city administrator, they will have to shape up.

  Stoltze: Brown said he’ll ask a judge to give him oversight of Maywood police. Attorney Cynthia Anderson Barker represents victims of police abuse.

  Cynthia Anderson Barker: I think it’s long awaited. We’re very, very hopeful because Maywood has not been able to reform itself.

  Stoltze: The state’s attorney general is seeking reforms, including a ban on Maywood’s hiring of cops with criminal backgrounds.

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  • April 28, 2009 3:34 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Supreme Court upholds FCC fining broadcasters for fleeting expletives

  In a ruling that may give pause to the producers of entertainment award shows, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal policy on reprimanding broadcasters that allow fleeting expletives on the air.

  The Federal Communications Commission threatens broadcast TV and radio stations with fines over even one curse word. That policy was more lenient in the past, but Chapman Law School dean John Eastman says that changed when those verbal slips began to happen too often.

  John Eastman: “As these things, kind of, accidentally kept happening more and more frequently, the FCC changed its regulations, that says, you know, our old line isn’t working. We still got this statutory ban out there, and we’re going to have to close this, what had become a loophole.”

  Chapman told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that the language ruling steered clear of the broader question of First Amendment free speech rights. The nation’s high court is scheduled to hear the final oral arguments of its current session tomorrow.

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  • April 28, 2009 2:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Attorney general issues scathing report on Maywood PD

  California Attorney General Jerry Brown today issued a scathing report on the police department in Maywood – a small city southeast of downtown Los Angeles that employs about 40 officers.

  Attorney General Jerry Brown: “There were widespread abuses. There was gross misconduct – Tasers of citizens, young citizens. There were arrests without probable cause, stopping people.

  “I mean this was a mess. And we are going to go court and we’re going to get an order allowing the attorney general’s office to provide oversight and make sure this department shapes up.”

  At the same time, Brown praised the city for hiring a new police chief. Maywood city officials have yet to comment on the report.

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  • April 28, 2009 2:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Used car scammers take advantage of economic recession

  The economic recession is proving to be fertile ground for used-car scammers. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario spoke with online car sales experts at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

  Patricia Nazario: Representatives from leading used car outlets attended the panel. Carfax spokesman Larry Gamache said thieves are increasingly savvy, but potential buyers are falling asleep at the wheel.

  arry Gamache: American consumers are desperate.

  Nazario: So they’re looking to “sale by owner” instead of showrooms to save a few extra bucks. Experts say private party sales accounted for at least 42 million used car transactions last year. AutoTrader Vice President Joe George said sellers with sob stories are swindling buyers.

  Joe George: You know, I’m being shipped off to Iraq and I need to sell this car quickly. Send me a thousand dollars then I can have the car shipped to you. Then, you can pay me the rest.

  Nazario: George said crooks get away more often than not and consumers end up with no car at worst, a lemon at best. Participants in the panel said they want to educate consumers and expose used car scams.

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  • April 23, 2009 8:13 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Attorney general sues Wells Fargo for defrauding investors

  California Attorney General Jerry Brown today sued three subsidiaries of Wells Fargo Bank for allegedly defrauding California investors. KPCC’s Julie Small reports.

  Julie Small: Brown says the subsidiaries encouraged investors to buy “auction rate securities” that pay a higher interest rate than most savings accounts.

  Attorney General Jerry Brown: These instruments were sold to people under the idea that it’s just like cash and you get your money back in eight days. That turned out not to be true.

  Small: The market for auction rate securities froze a year ago. No one could cash out – and the attorney general’s phone started ringing.

  Brown: We got a lot of complaints. We know there’s over 2,000 people that bought these securities. They’re mad as hell and want their money back. And we believe under the laws of California, they have that right, and we’re going to court to make sure that right is vindicated.

  Small: Brown wants Wells Fargo to return a billion-and-a-half dollars to investors. Wells Fargo says it’s not responsible for the “extraordinary circumstances” that collapsed the auction rate securities market.

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  • April 23, 2009 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Judge issues tentative ruling in favor of plaintiffs in marriage immigration cases

  Judge Christina Snyder of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a tentative ruling today that would order the Department of Homeland Security to reopen a dozen immigration cases.

  The plaintiffs are widows participating in a class-action lawsuit. Immigration officials penalized them because their American-born spouses died during the naturalization process. Attorney Brent Renison is representing the women.

  Brent Renison: “Certainly this decision will have an influence on other courts. It’s not binding on other courts, but it will certainly have influence, especially, because it was well-reasoned and thoughtful and considered all the arguments of the parties.”

  Renison said the judge’s ruling excludes 10 more plaintiffs in the class action – and hundreds more across the country – because they live outside the Ninth Circuit. Her decision will, however, benefit anyone within the court’s jurisdiction who faces the same immigration problem. The circuit covers most of the Western United States.

  Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security insist that a marriage dissolves when someone dies, so widows and widowers are no longer spouses and therefore are not entitled to receive the same immigration benefits as foreigners married to U.S. citizens.

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  • April 22, 2009 10:25 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA City Council hears spirited debate about new LAPD HQ name

  The Los Angeles City Council today delayed deciding on a name for the new LAPD headquarters. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that followed after angry protests over a proposal to retain the name Parker Center.

  Frank Stoltze: Former LAPD Chief William Parker served from 1950 until 1966. He’s credited with rooting out corruption and professionalizing the department, but others fault him for racially insensitive policing.

  Monica Harmon: Chief Parker brutalized and abused the Latino and black communities.

  Stoltze: Boyle Heights activist Monica Harmon joined Morris Griffin from South L.A. in opposing the name Parker Center.

  Morris Griffin: William Parker, please don’t insult us!

  Stoltze: Councilman Bernard Parks, a former LAPD chief, defended Parker’s reputation.

  Bernard Parks: We may have people we like today and someone later doesn’t like them. We should not treat them differently.

  Stoltze: Parks noted that former mayor Tom Bradley – then a councilman – supported naming the current police headquarters Parker Center when it opened. But Councilman Dennis Zine, also a former cop, said the council should consider other names.

  Dennis Zine: And do something that doesn’t put a cloud over the new police administration building.

  Stoltze: The LAPD’s new $473 million headquarters is scheduled to open in July.

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  • April 22, 2009 4:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA City Council debates name of new police headquarters

  African-American activists today urged the Los Angeles City Council not to name the LAPD’s new headquarters Parker Center. Jasmyne Cannick said former Chief William Parker, who served from 1950 until 1966, left a mixed record.

  Jasmyne Cannick: “Chief Parker is credited with integrating police cars. He’s credited with ending political corruption, but all of that is overshadowed by his blatant and unwavering racism.

  “And all of the work and resources that LAPD has put into community relations – specifically with African-Americans – will go away if we continue to hold on to the Parker Center legacy and name.”

  Former LAPD chief and city councilman Bernard Parks – and Councilman Grieg Smith – defended Parker. They said his name is on the current headquarters – and should be on the new one too. But they lacked their colleagues’ support, and the idea was sent to committee.

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  • April 22, 2009 4:42 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Chief Bratton wants to avoid Parker legacy in HQ naming

  The Los Angeles City Council delayed a vote today on naming the new police headquarters under construction. The existing LAPD building is named for longtime chief William Parker, who professionalized the department and also promoted policies that alienated many blacks and Latinos. Current LAPD Chief William Bratton weighed in on the controversy with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

  William Bratton: “My preference is that it should be called the Police Administration Building. I’m not interested with being burdened with the legacy, the controversial legacy, of the former chief.

  “And it’s unfortunate but he was, and is, as evidenced by the speakers this morning in council, a very controversial individual. These are different times. This is a different police department.”

  Others have suggested naming the headquarters after Tom Bradley – L.A.’s first African-American mayor and a former LAPD lieutenant – or to place the word “memorial” in the building’s name to honor fallen officers.

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  • April 22, 2009 4:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA City Council considers names for new LAPD headquarters

  The Los Angeles City Council today takes up the question of what to name the LAPD’s new downtown headquarters. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that one idea is… Parker Center.

  Frank Stoltze: That’s the name of the current LAPD headquarters, a tribute to former Police Chief William Parker. He served from 1950 until 1966 and he’s credited with rooting out corruption at the LAPD and professionalizing the department.

  Anthony Pacheco: But, there were still sides of Chief Parker that represented a time that was very turbulent in our community and a time that was not progressive in its thinking relative to people of color in those communities.

  Stoltze: Police Commission president Anthony Pacheco stopped short of calling Parker a racist. African-American and Latino leaders also oppose using Parker’s name. Pacheco says that to do so would be insensitive.

  Pacheco: My own preference would be that it not be named after any one individual and frankly I would be quite comfortable with Police Administration Building.

  Stoltze: Former police chief turned city councilman Bernard Parks, an African-American, is behind retaining the name Parker Center. He argues that it would uphold a department tradition.

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  • April 22, 2009 3:46 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Fruit company Dole challenges verdict, alleges conspiracy

  Fruit company Dole is challenging a 2-and-a-half million dollar jury award to Nicaraguan banana plantation workers in a Los Angeles court. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the company is claiming the workers’ initial lawsuit is based on a fraudulent conspiracy.

  Cheryl Devall: In three days of closed-door hearings attorneys for Dole hope to prove to an L.A. Superior Court judge that a jury fell for a sham a year-and-a-half ago. The award to five workers followed a prolonged trial in which lawyers tried to prove a pesticide the men used on banana plants had made them sterile.

  The court later threw out the damages, saying it could not use the award to punish Westlake Village-based Dole for injuries that had occurred in a foreign country. Now, Dole attorneys claim that lawyers sought out poor Nicaraguans, persuaded them to pose as banana workers, and coached them on the details about the industry – all to wring money out of the corporation.

  The alleged decade-long conspiracy, Dole attorneys say, required the men to hide their children from investigators. The company says the men who’ve agreed to testify in these hearings are doing so in fear of mob reprisal back in Nicaragua. That’s why the hearings are closed.

  Note: The hearings are scheduled to continue through Thursday.

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  • April 21, 2009 3:03 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• LA County deputy honored in DC ceremony

  A Washington, D.C. memorial now includes the name of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy. Juan Escalante was shot and killed outside his Cypress Park home last summer. His name was etched today into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial where the names of nearly 19,000 other fallen officers are inscribed. Police captain Mistinette Mints from Prince George’s County, Maryland attended the ceremony.

  Mistinette Mints: “I think that we can take a little bit of time out of our own day to come down and respect them and show honor to them. And I think it’s important to do that. I think it’s important to the families that are left behind to show that the police family is still there for them and supporting them and that the memories of their loved one aren’t forgotten.”

  Two reputed gang members face trial on murder charges in the shooting death of Deputy Escalante.

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  • April 21, 2009 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Supervisor Antonovich wants investigation into child abuse deaths

  Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is calling for an investigation into the deaths of 14 children from abuse and neglect last year while their families were under the scrutiny of L.A. County child welfare officials. The L.A. Times described the deaths based on heavily redacted files the newspaper obtained. Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell responded to the story on KPCC’s “AirTalk.”

  Tony Bell: “What we don’t know and what we need to find out is why is it that the case workers and the social workers, who dropped the ball? Who let these children fall through the cracks? And how come we aren’t sharing the necessary information across all agencies that serve these families?”

  In one case, the family of a boy who died of multiple skull fractures had been reported 25 times to the Department of Children and Family Services. His mother also was known to use methamphetamine.

  Agency officials told the Times that they’ve launched investigations into 10 of the 14 cases – and that the social workers in those cases will likely be disciplined. For now, the agency has placed those workers in desk jobs.

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  • April 21, 2009 2:53 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Witnesses talk about Long Beach hospital murders

  Employees of a southern California hospital are struggling today to understand why a fellow worker shot and killed two colleagues yesterday before taking his own life. KPCC’s Steve Julian reports.

  Steve Julian: Police say they have few clues as to why 50-year-old Mario Ramirez shot his pharmacy managers just before noon yesterday at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Witnesses told police that Ramirez first shot Hugo Bustamante inside the pharmacy, then found Kelly Hales outside the hospital’s emergency room and killed him.

  One witness said Ramirez then put the gun to his own head, paced, then pulled the trigger. Police heard that Ramirez was targeting only certain individuals, telling one woman to get out of the way.

  A coworker said Ramirez may have been told that he was going to be laid off, but a hospital spokeswoman said no additional layoffs were planned beyond those that occurred in March.

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  • April 17, 2009 11:55 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Hospital employee shoots, kills boss, another manager, himself

  Police in Long Beach are trying to determine why a 50-year-old hospital employee shot and killed his boss and another manager yesterday before taking his own life. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: Neighbors and colleagues describe Mario Ramirez as a funny man who smiled a lot and often jogged with his wife. He had two young sons. All three men who died worked in the outpatient pharmacy at Long Beach Medical Center where some employees were laid off last month.

  No other reductions were planned. Long Beach police chief Anthony Batts said that, while they don’t yet know the true motive, the shootings come amid a flurry of killings across the country – a sign, he said, of the “tension that’s going on in our society today.”

  Witnesses told police that Ramirez shot 46-year-old Hugo Bustamante twice in the face, then found 56-year-old Kelly Hales outside the hospital and shot him in the leg. As Hales pleaded for his life, he was shot and killed. Ramirez then took his own life.

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  • April 17, 2009 11:52 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• UC Irvine chooses first law school class

  UC Irvine’s new law school has chosen its first class. KPCC’s Susan Valot says admissions officials got to be choosy because there were so many applicants.

  Susan Valot: For every open slot at UC Irvine’s new law school, 40 people applied. There were more than 2,700 applicants in all. School officials say they accepted 4 percent of the applicants.

  That’s a lower percentage than high-caliber law schools like Yale and Stanford. But applicants to UCI get a bonus for entering the inaugural class. All 68 people who agreed to attend will get three-year, full-tuition scholarships. Classes at UCI’s law school begin in August.

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  • April 16, 2009 4:49 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Mother speaks about son's jail suicide

  The mother of a man who committed suicide at Los Angeles County Jail spoke out about her son’s death yesterday. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Sheriff’s officials say John Thomas Horton III, hanged himself at the downtown jail on March 22nd. His mother, Helen Jones, doesn’t believe that.

  Helen Jones: I just can’t see it. I’m not saying that just ‘cause that’s my son. It’s just ‘cause I knew the kind of person he was.

  Stoltze: Jones says her 22-year-old son was a good boy who was in jail because he’d never finished a court-ordered drug program. She isn’t sure how her son died, but she says jailers never should have put him alone in a cell.

  Jones: He needed medical attention and I’m just trying to figure out how do you throw somebody who needs medical attention in a hole like that?

  Stoltze: The sheriff’s Office of Independent Review is investigating the suicide. It’s asking whether jail guards screened Horton for mental illness. Horton’s death coincides with an ACLU report that said the jail fails to identify and treat thousands of mentally ill inmates. The L.A. County sheriff denies that charge.

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  • April 16, 2009 11:48 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• ACLU calls for closure of downtown LA jail

  The American Civil Liberties Union today said Los Angeles County has failed to improve conditions at its downtown jail, and called on officials to close it down. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The ACLU’s Mary Tiedemann says while the Sheriff’s Department has reduced the number of inmates at Men’s Central Jail, the downtown lockup remains overcrowded and often filthy.

  Mary Tiedemann: I have seen cells with plumbing so backed up that the water pools on the floor, forcing the inmates to stay on their beds. The stench is rancid and rats scurry around where the detainees sleep.

  Stoltze: An ACLU-commissioned report said conditions aggravate inmates’ mental health problems. The group pointed to the suicide of a 22-year-old man last month. Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the death is under investigation. He conceded the jail needs fixing.

  Steve Whitmore: The Men’s Central Jail has outlived its usefulness and what the sheriff and the board of supervisors are working together to try to do is to dismantle that jail.

  Stoltze: But that’ll cost money the county doesn’t have. Instead of seeking federal funding for improving the jail, the sheriff is urging the board of supervisors to seek federal economic stimulus money to hire more deputies.

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  • April 14, 2009 2:42 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• ACLU calls on LA County to address 'horrific' jail conditions

  The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today called on Los Angeles County to close its downtown jail. Margaret Winter of the ACLU’s National Prison Project said the jail is “grossly overcrowded.”

  Margaret Winter: “Many thousands of men – thousands of them suffering from serious mental illness – are packed like sardines in dungeon-like barracks or they’re hidden away in solitary confinement in coffin-like cells for days, months, or even years in some cases.”

  Winter said the conditions contribute to serious mental illness among inmates. She pointed to the suicide of a 22-year-old man last month. A spokesman for Sheriff Lee Baca said Baca has reduced the number of inmates in the last three years, and has increased supervision at the jail.

  The ACLU argues that those actions have resulted in “glacial” progress toward solving the problems.

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  • April 14, 2009 2:30 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Jury forewoman speaks about Phil Spector murder conviction

  The jury forewoman in music producer Phil Spector’s murder case spoke with reporters after his second-degree murder conviction today. She wouldn’t give her name, but the woman in her late forties said the panel’s decision was painful. She said jurors reviewed every piece of evidence.

  Jury forewoman: “Until anybody is in our shoes, you have no idea. It’s tough to be in a jury, especially in a jury of what we had to decide.”

  The jury forewoman said she believed jurors could have gone either way when they started to deliberate two weeks ago. She said they voted for second-degree murder, instead of the lesser involuntary manslaughter charge, after they considered all the facts.

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  • April 13, 2009 7:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Jurors convict music producer Spector of second-degree murder

  Music producer Phil Spector remains behind bars after a jury convicted him today of second-degree murder for shooting actress Lana Clarkson.

  Prosecuting attorney Alan Jackson spoke to reporters at the Los Angeles Superior Court after the jury’s decision. He described Phil Spector as a rage-filled bully and said justice had been served.

  Alan Jackson: “And I do know that what he did, his indiscretions and his criminal activity ended up costing an innocent person her life. It could have happened years earlier with any of the other ones, but she got the bullet.”

  Jurors deliberated for about 30 hours before they reached a verdict. It was the second time the music producer had stood trial for Clarkson’s death.

  Sentencing is scheduled for May 29. Spector’s defense attorneys say they’ll appeal the verdict.

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  • April 13, 2009 5:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• State to house special inmates in Lancaster, despite opposition

  State prison officials today said they’ll proceed with plans to house special needs inmates at the lock-up in Lancaster, despite opposition from the city’s mayor. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: “Special needs” can include child molesters, inmates who’ve renounced their gang membership, former police officers, or anyone else in protective custody.

  Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris claims they are the “worst of the worst” who would draw their families and friends to northern Los Angeles County to visit or even to live. In describing those families and friends, the Lancaster mayor says often they too are criminals who “inordinately use public services.” Groups that represent the families of the incarcerated reject that characterization, but it’s still politically popular.

  State prison officials say they considered the mayor’s concerns, but they also need to find space for 1,500 special needs prisoners – and they say Lancaster is the best place in the overcrowded prison system. Most of the facility will remain a reception center where inmates are processed on their way to other prisons.

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  • April 10, 2009 4:19 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• OC car chase ends when police shoot and kill driver

  The Orange County District Attorney’s office is investigating an early morning police chase that ended when an officer shot and killed the driver. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the chase started in Buena Park a little bit after midnight. It ended about a half-hour later in Santa Ana.

  Susan Valot: Buena Park Police officers say they tried to pull over a woman in a Toyota sedan near Stanton and Orangethorpe avenues for a traffic violation. They say she was driving erratically.

  Police say the woman tried to flee in her car, with an 18-month-old baby in the back seat. Buena Park Police Sergeant Bill Kohanek says at times, the chase reached 110 miles an hour.

  Bill Kohanek: At one point in the city of Tustin, the vehicle exited the freeway and our officers attempted to make a PIT maneuver stop on the vehicle. We did activate a PIT and the vehicle spun out, but was not disabled.

  The vehicle then began to ram the Buena Park units that were in front of it, attempting to block it. The vehicle would actually go into reverse, back up, and then forward into the vehicles several times.

  Valot: The driver made it into Santa Ana. When she got to Grand Avenue and 17th Street, a Santa Ana police officer opened fire, killing her. The car slammed into some shrubbery in front of a supermarket. Police say the baby wasn’t hurt. She’s been taken to a children’s home. It’s unclear how she’s related to the driver.

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  • April 10, 2009 3:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Insurance commissioner explains how state catches drivers without insurance

  The tough economy has a lot of people trying to trim their monthly expenses. KPCC’s Brian Watt says they should think twice before they drop their auto insurance.

  Brian Watt: California law requires insurance for all cars and drivers. Without it, you can’t register your car or get a drivers’ license. Some folks try to skirt the law by ordering an insurance policy just to get the paperwork from the Department of Motor Vehicles, then cancelling the policy – or just not paying for it. But State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says a new law requires all insurance companies to tell the DMV when that happens.

  Steve Poizner: So every month now, all the insurance companies doing business in California send a computer disk to the DMV. Then, the DMV does a computer match between the people who have licenses and registrations and people who just cancelled their insurance.

  Watt: Then, the DMV sends a letter to people who are driving without insurance. It gives them 40 days to provide proof of insurance or lose their vehicle registration.

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  • April 10, 2009 3:14 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Transportation

• CHP to help Santa Ana Police crack down on gangs

  A dozen California Highway Patrol officers will be patrolling the streets of Santa Ana for gangs over the next three months. KPCC’s Susan Valot says it’s part of a grant-funded statewide program that started in Santa Ana last night.

  Susan Valot: The CHP got nearly $7 million in grant money to help local law enforcement in “high intensity gang areas.” For Orange County, that’s Santa Ana.

  Dozens of gangs call the city home. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters says it’s hard to fight those gangs with a tight budget and few resources. He says the CHP program will add some manpower.

  Paul Walters: Highway patrol traditionally sticks to freeways and state highways. They have authority to work in local communities, but they don’t. As a priority, they leave that up to the local sheriffs and the local police departments, the local agencies.

  This, in this program, the governor is actually assigning officers to go team up with our detectives, police officers to work in our higher crime neighborhoods focusing on the criminals, which is something the highway patrol would not do normally.

  Valot: The program will last 90 days. Santa Ana police will track how well it works by keeping tabs on crime stats. If it works well, they may ask the highway patrol to stay on a little bit longer.

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  • April 10, 2009 3:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• 2 indicted for faking funerals, collecting insurance

  A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted two women for cashing life insurance policies on people who’d never lived. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Federal prosecutors say the dearly departed were fakes, and so were their funerals. They allege 60-year-old Faye Shilling of Hawthorne and 67-year-old Jean Crump of Los Angeles participated in a scheme to buy – and cash in on – insurance policies for fictitious people.

  Prosecutors say the two went so far as to stage fake funerals to lend credibility to their caper – purchasing burial plots and filling caskets with various materials so workers who handled them would think the caskets contained human remains.

  Shilling is a phlebotomist and Crump is a former employee of a now-defunct Long Beach mortuary. Two other defendants have pleaded guilty. Prosecutors say the investigation isn’t over. Shilling and Crump, they say, intended to defraud insurance and lending companies out of more than three quarters of a million dollars.

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  • April 9, 2009 11:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA-based Latino civil rights group MALDEF leaderless again

  The 41-year-old Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund announced today that it’s named an interim chief as it embarks on a national search for a new leader. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: John Trasviña leaves MALDEF, as it’s known, after nearly three years as president and general counsel. On his watch, the civil rights group won back wages for California construction workers, and opposed local ordinances that denied rental housing to illegal immigrants. MALDEF also helped win monetary settlements for people struck by Los Angeles Police Department officers at a MacArthur Park rally almost two years ago.

  John Trasviña’s headed to Washington D.C. President Obama’s appointed him to lead a division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He would have been the second MALDEFian in the Obama Administration.

  The president withdrew an offer to former MALDEF lawyer Tom Saenz to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division after anti-immigrant groups and lawmakers accused Saenz of advocating for open borders.

  MALDEF board member Henry Solano, the former U.S. attorney in Colorado, will lead MALDEF while the board searches for a replacement. A former staffer says MALDEF needs a leader with more star power than legal chops – because as a non-profit, the chief’s top priority is to bring in the money that pays for the organization’s work.

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  • April 9, 2009 3:45 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA announces gun buyback program

  From Compton to Coachella, law enforcement agencies have offered to collect firearms in exchange for gift cards. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the city of Los Angeles is joining the trend.

  Cheryl Devall: The idea is to encourage anyone who wants to get rid of a gun to bring it in, no questions asked. The LAPD means that last part. Police say they won’t even run ballistics tests on the weapons that come their way through this gun buyback program.

  Instead, the department plans to melt down the weapons. The city of Los Angeles has set aside $70,000 for the collection effort. On May 9th, police personnel will staff 20 locations where people who bring in their firearms can swap them for gift certificates worth up to $200.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s anti-gang chief, Reverend Jeff Carr, noted that the collection’s scheduled for Mother’s Day weekend. He urged young people to bring in their guns to demonstrate their love for their mothers, friends, and neighborhoods. Critics of gun buyback programs maintain that they’re not very effective at parting hardened criminals from their weapons.

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  • April 9, 2009 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Settlement reached in MLK Hospital negligence case

  The family of a woman who died after waiting for treatment in King Harbor Medical Center’s emergency room is entitled to a $3 million settlement from Los Angeles County. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says large numbers of Internet users watched a security camera recording of the woman’s final hour.

  Cheryl Devall: A lawyer for the family of Edith Rodriguez says the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has agreed to the settlement of its lawsuit. The suit originated in an episode that cast the Willowbrook hospital in the glare of national publicity – 43-year-old Rodriguez writhed on the floor of the King Harbor emergency room for 45 minutes while medical and other personnel worked around her.

  She had visited the hospital several times complaining of abdominal pain, and she died from complications from a perforated bowel. A widely-seen video of her agony hastened calls to improve the county-operated hospital that closed almost two years ago after it failed several inspections.

  Rodriguez’ three children sued L.A. County claiming medical malpractice and violations of their mother’s civil rights. Their lawyer called the settlement fair. Rodriguez’ boyfriend, who accompanied her to the emergency room and called 911 from a pay phone there, received a quarter-million dollars from the county.

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  • April 9, 2009 2:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Settlement reached with hospital that dumped psychiatric patients on Skid Row

  The office of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has reached a settlement with College Hospital Costa Mesa over the alleged practice of dumping psychiatric patients on Skid Row. His office began investigating the practice a year ago – with case of 32-year-old Steven Davis.

  The hospital dropped off Davis at the Union Rescue Mission after it determined that he was suffering from paranoid delusions. Delgadillo announced the settlement on the roof of the mission.

  Rocky Delgadillo: “I think many of us have wondered why there are so many people living on Skid Row who have mental disorders. Well, our investigation indicates that in the two years prior to Mr. Davis being dumped on Skid Row, College Hospital – just College Hospital – may have dumped as many as 150 psychiatric patients on Skid Row.”

  Delgadillo added that in some cases – like that of Steven Davis – the dumping left the patients homeless. College Hospital will pay more than one-and-a-half million dollars in fines and charitable contributions to agencies that care for mentally ill and homeless people.

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  • April 8, 2009 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Investigators piece together motive behind fatal Korean religious retreat shooting

  Investigators are piecing together the motive behind a fatal shooting last night at a Korean religious retreat near Temecula. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the suspect was well known among the guests.

  Steve Julian: Police say the man who shot two people, killing a woman, is in his early 70s and called Uncle by many at the center. It’s not yet clear why he allegedly shot two people and got into a fight with another couple, but it was that fight that injured the suspect, who’s now hospitalized.

  Officers were stymied by a language barrier when they arrived at the Korean Retreat Camp in Temecula, about an hour’s drive north of San Diego. The campground is one of four U.S. branches of the Kkottongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, a Roman Catholic organization that serves the poor and homeless. It’s in a rural part of southern Riverside County in a region known for its wine production.

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  • April 8, 2009 12:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Shooting at Korean Christian Center leaves 1 dead, others injured

  A shooting last night at a Korean Christian Center in southern Riverside County has left one person dead and a few others injured. KPCC’s Steve Julian says investigators are working to figure out the motive.

  Steve Julian: The center is a mile up a winding road near Temecula, known as one of California’s prominent wine regions. Officers found one woman dead of gunshot wounds and a man who’d been shot and who’s now hospitalized.

  Inside another lodging trailer, police say they found a couple whose injuries were consistent with defending themselves. It was here, officers say, where the suspect was injured. He’s in his early 70s, well known at the center – many people there call him Uncle.

  The retreat is one of four U.S. branches of the Kkottongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, a Roman Catholic organization dedicated to serving the poor and homeless. It was founded in 1976 in South Korea. The retreat is about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County.

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  • April 8, 2009 12:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• OC sheriff gives update on county jails

  The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is making “substantial progress” on implementing recommendations to improve the county’s jails. That’s the word from Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and her staff. KPCC’s Susan Valot says they got county supervisors up to speed in Santa Ana today.

  Susan Valot: In November, a report from an auditing firm that examined the jails said Orange County should hire hundreds of additional jailers. Budget constraints make that impossible – but the Sheriff’s Department says it’s moving forward with other suggestions in the report.

  Assistant Sheriff Mike James told the Board of Supervisors that his department is re-negotiating contracts with food vendors to decrease the number of hot meals in the jails to one a day. That means another brown bag meal for inmates.

  James says they’re working with UC Irvine to rotate medical students through the jails. The assistant sheriff also says they’re looking into whether the county should bring in more civilian employees to work in the jails.

  James says that could save $10 million a year. Supervisor Bill Campbell questioned whether those savings would vanish quickly as those new civilian employees moved up the pay scale.

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  • April 7, 2009 4:05 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD cop sentenced for insurance fraud, filing false report

  A Los Angeles judge today sentenced former veteran LAPD officer Anthony Razo to a year in jail. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that Razo had pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, and to filing a false police report, in a closely watched case at the department.

  Frank Stoltze: Closely watched because in January, Razo reported he’d been attacked by two men outside his City Terrace home as he was heading out to a golf game with friends around 5 in the morning

  Razo claimed that one of the men grabbed his police-issued gun and shot him in the arm. The chief of police denounced the attack. Fellow officers held fundraisers for their 49-year-old colleague.

  Turns out the attack never happened. In a plea deal with prosecutors, Razo admitted he’d shot himself and filed a false report. He also admitted he’d set his own car on fire weeks earlier, and filed fraudulent insurance claims.

  A judge ordered him to reimburse fellow officers who’d raised money for him, and to serve three years probation in addition to a year in jail. Police say their investigation into Razo continues.

  Razo spent 14 years with the LAPD before he resigned Friday. Chief William Bratton called him a “disgrace to the badge.”

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  • April 7, 2009 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Retired judge supports marijuana legalization

  A bill in the California legislature would regulate marijuana the same way the state and federal governments do the sale of alcohol – not as an illegal substance but as a restricted one. Jim Gray, a retired Orange County Superior Court judge, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” he believes that approach makes sense.

  Jim Gray: “We’re facing two rather substantial problems in society. One is drug problems, and that certainly includes alcohol, cigarettes – it kills 400,000 people a year.

  “Those are substantial problems. The second problem we’re facing is money drug problems. And those are far worse than the drug problems themselves, and that’s what we can get away from.”

  Gray is a spokesman for an organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. California allows legal sales of marijuana when doctors prescribe it, but federal law prohibits marijuana sales for any purpose.

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  • April 6, 2009 4:07 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• New California bill seeks to regulate marijuana like alcohol

  Now that the Obama administration has signaled that federal authorities won’t pursue a hard line against medical marijuana use, one California lawmaker has raised the ante. He’s introduced a bill that would regulate marijuana in a similar way to alcohol.

  That idea underscores the gap between state and federal law, says Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Garrison Courtney. On KPCC’s “Patt Morrison,” he responded to critics who claim that his agency targets medical marijuana users in its raids.

  Garrison Courtney: “There has to be a threshold there for us to go out and arrest individuals. We can’t, you know, and arrest a user in their basement eating Cheetos and getting high, and I don’t think DEA wants to do that. We don’t have the resources, one, to go out and do that.”

  Courtney said the Drug Enforcement Administration has raided fewer than 120 of the thousands of medical marijuana dispensaries in California and other states.

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  • April 6, 2009 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Senator Feinstein reacts to Binghamton shooting

  In response to fatal gun violence incidents throughout the country, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein is seeking to reinstate an assault weapons ban she’d sponsored in the early 1990s. That legislation was in effect for 10 years; it expired five years ago. Feinstein told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that she wants to strengthen the law this time around.

  Dianne Feinstein: “I’ve had this commitment for a long, long time and I would like to get it done in a way that it is permanent, it make sense, it’s prudent. It does not remove guns from people who are law abiding but it does prevent the felon, it does prevent the nut, and it does prevent the grievance killer from obtaining these weapons.”

  Opponents to a renewed assault weapons ban say the earlier version cost the Democrats seats in Congress and deepened divisions between Americans who supported and opposed gun control. Feinstein says her bill is in the preliminary stages.

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  • April 6, 2009 3:15 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Senator Feinstein renews call for assault weapons ban

  A recent spate of violent attacks – against police officers in Oakland, immigrants in Binghamton, New York, and a family in Seattle – has prompted California’s senior U.S. senator to renew her call for a ban on the sale of assault weapons. Senator Dianne Feinstein told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that she knows Second Amendment activists in and beyond Congress will challenge her.

  Senator Dianne Feinstein: “There is huge opposition and so the killing goes on, and the clips are big so that you can fire 30 bullets in a matter of a very few seconds and kill a lot of people. I think it’s a tragic overlay of our country. It makes no sense. And we aren’t talking about taking anyone’s gun away from them; what we are talking are prudent regulations.”

  Feinstein said she hasn’t set a timeline to introduce her legislation. The first assault weapons ban she sponsored passed 15 years ago and expired after 10 years.

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  • April 6, 2009 3:12 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Gay rights activists hope Iowa gay marriage decision affects California decision

  The California Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the next two months on lawsuits to overturn Proposition 8. California voters approved that measure last November. It overturned last year’s state supreme court ruling that legalized same sex marriage.

  On Friday, Iowa’s supreme court ruled that a law in that state banning gay marriage was unconstitutional. Gay rights activists say they hope the Iowa ruling will affect California’s case. Jenny Pizer heads the National Marriage Project at Lambda Legal.

  Jenny Pizer: “One of the things that we’re hoping for here is that the clarity of the Iowa decision will reinforce to the California justices that they did something very important last year and that they should really think through – and I’m sure they will – the arguments that we presented to them in the Prop 8 litigation.”

  Pizer spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  The general counsel for the pro-Proposition 8 campaign says he doesn’t think the Iowa decision is relevant to California. He says he finds it ironic that Iowa’s supreme court would rely on a decision that voters essentially reversed.

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  • April 6, 2009 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Police union endorses Trutanich for city attorney

  The union that represents Los Angeles police officers today announced its endorsement of Carmen Trutanich for City Attorney. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that it’s important backing for any candidate running to serve as the city’s chief prosecutor.

  Frank stoltze: Police union president Paul Weber said Trutanich has worked with LAPD officers as a former gang prosecutor and “knows what it takes to win criminal cases.” He also said L.A. needs a city attorney “who knows how to work well with others” – a veiled criticism of Trutanich’s opponent City Councilman Jack Weiss, who some officers have accused of being abrasive.

  Trutanich has spent much of his legal career as an environmental attorney who represented companies accused of violating pollution laws. Weiss is a two-term city councilman and a former federal prosecutor. He also has important law enforcement backing – from the city’s popular police chief Bill Bratton. Weiss failed to win a majority of votes in the primary despite a nearly two-to-one fundraising advantage over Trutanich. The run-off is May 19th.

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  • April 3, 2009 10:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Police arrest suspect in hit and run of USC student

  Los Angeles Police say they’ve arrested the driver in the hit-and-run death of a USC freshman. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze says police have not yet named the suspect or arrested two passengers in the car.

  Frank Stoltze: The case drew widespread attention in part because of the role of one of the passengers in the hit-and-run. Police say the car hit and killed 19-year-old Adrianna Bachan and seriously injured 19-year-old Marcus Garfinkle when it ran a red light around 3 a.m. Sunday.

  After the accident, one of the passengers got out, pulled Garfinkle off the hood of the car, and placed him on the sidewalk. Witnesses say the car’s windshield was so badly damaged by impact with the victims that one of the passengers hung out a side window holding the windshield glass in place as the car sped off.

  An anonymous couple donated $100,000 to a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of the driver and passengers. That fund reached $235,000 – one of the largest in the city’s history. Police didn’t say whether the reward was a factor in the arrest.

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  • April 3, 2009 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LADWP may have to return millions due to court ruling

  The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power may have to return millions of dollars to its customers if a court ruling becomes final. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The case is part of a decade-long dispute over how the DWP manages money customers pay into its water fund. The utility has long taken money from the water fund and transferred it to the city’s general fund, where it paid for police, fire and street services, and libraries.

  Taxpayers’ rights groups said that violates state law prohibiting new levies without a vote. Two years ago, city officials took the case to court, essentially suing the public, to protect the transfer money. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association argued in response that the DWP can only charge for its own services.

  Now a tentative ruling from a superior court judge concludes that the practice of transferring money among funds violates state law. The proposed decision will become final next week if the city doesn’t challenge it – and the utility will have to return upwards of $30 million or credit it to customers’ accounts. The DWP says it’s studying the ruling.

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  • April 3, 2009 12:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• La Canada Flintridge mayor urges Angeles Crest Highway closed to big rigs

  A big-rig truck driver is in jail today after his vehicle crashed on Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge last night, causing the deaths of two people. The crash injured a dozen more; six remain in the hospital.

  The city’s mayor, Laura Olhasso, told reporters today that officials there had corresponded with Caltrans, urging the agency to further limit truckers’ illegal use of a section of the steep Angeles Crest Highway that ends on Foothill.

  Laura Olhasso: “We do not need more study, we do not need more bureaucratic double talk, we need to protect the people of our city from another horrific tragedy. The way to do that is very simple.

  “Caltrans should immediately close Angeles Crest Highway to big rigs. This is the only solution that guarantees against more disasters of the kind that we have experienced twice now in less than a year.”

  Last September in Olhasso’s city, a big rig spilled 70,000 pounds of onions when it crashed into seven cars and injured one person. A Caltrans official said during a separate news conference that since then, the transportation agency has been trying to post additional signs that warn truckers they’re not supposed to use Angeles Crest Highway.

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  • April 2, 2009 4:54 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Local officials express outrage after fatal big-rig crash

  San Gabriel Valley elected officials are expressing outrage after yesterday’s big-rig crash in La Cañada Flintridge killed two people and injured a dozen others. California Assembly Member Anthony Portantino told reporters today he’s introduced a bill that would immediately ban large trucks from using the Angeles Crest Highway, State Highway 2.

  Anthony Portantino: “Frankly this legislation, this emergency legislation authored by myself and Senator Carol Liu, as a co-author, shouldn’t be necessary. But immediately upon going back into session next week we are going try to fast track to the governor’s desk to force Caltrans to do the right thing and ban trucks from Highway 2 who shouldn’t be there.”

  During a separate press conference, Caltrans officials said they’ve been trying to post additional signs that warn truckers it’s against the law to use the steep mountain road. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested the truck driver in yesterday’s incident. He remains in jail on $200,000 bail.

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  • April 2, 2009 4:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• California wants to expand prison system

  The chief of California’s prison system wants $800 million from the state to expand three correctional institutions and add a new facility for inmates in the last year of their sentences before they re-enter society.

  The construction would help relieve chronic overcrowding in the nation’s largest prison system, state corrections and rehabilitation department spokesman Seth Unger told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

  Seth Unger: “Even if we remove some of these lower-level offenders, even if we remove some of these parole violators from our prison system, we still have a capacity issue. We still don’t have enough space in our cells to house the inmates that we have.

  “So what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to reduce the population through methods like parole reform, but at the same time there is a dire need for additional space in our prison system. We do need to do construction and that is what we’re working towards.”

  Unger said that state lawmakers and the California public works board would have to approve the request for money to expand prison facilities.

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  • April 2, 2009 3:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD chief criticizes Obama administration marijuana raid decision

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton is criticizing President Obama’s decision to curb federal raids on marijuana clinics. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Under the Bush Administration, federal agents regularly raided pot stores in California. While the state permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, federal law prohibits it. President Obama’s new policy calls for targeting pot stores only when they violate state and federal laws.
  
  

  Bill Bratton: I think that the policy of the federal government at this time is unfortunate. I think the policy in this state is Looney Tunes.
  
  

  Stoltze: LAPD Chief Bill Bratton says he supports the medical use of marijuana. But he faults state legislators for failing to come up with adequate regulations on stores that sell pot.
  
  

  Bratton: And as a result we have hundreds of these locations selling drugs to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.
  
  

  Stoltze: Two years ago, the city of Los Angeles passed a moratorium on new marijuana dispensaries. Bratton said it’s time the City Council speed up the drafting of stricter regulations for pot stores.
  
  

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  • April 2, 2009 3:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• La Canada Flintridge mayor criticizes Caltrans over accident deaths

  A big-rig truck driver is in jail today after his vehicle crashed on Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge last night, causing the deaths of two people. The city’s mayor, Laura Olhasso, said officials there had corresponded with Caltrans, urging the agency to further limit truckers’ illegal use of a section of the steep Angeles Crest Highway that ends on Foothill.

  Laura Olhasso: “Yesterday’s tragedy was foreseen. And we brought it to Caltrans’ attention, we warned them of it. They did nothing and now we’ve lost two lives.”

  A 12-year-old girl and her father died when the truck pushed their car into an intersection. Another dozen people sustained injuries after the rig, hauling cars, crashed into five vehicles and a bookstore.

  During a news conference today, a Caltrans official said the agency has been working to add more signs that warn truck drivers of the dangers ahead, and trying to find a spot for a truck brake-inspection area somewhere ahead of the downgrade that leads to the accident site.

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  • April 2, 2009 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• ACLU files lawsuit alleging squalid conditions at immigration detention center

  The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit alleging that the federal government houses immigrants in a squalid basement in downtown Los Angeles. ACLU attorney Marisol Orihuela says the area – known as “B-18” – is a group of holding rooms in which authorities process immigrants facing deportation.

  Marisol Orihuela: “During the day, 60 or more immigrants are often crammed into one room with one or two working toilets leading to filth, humiliation, and at times violence. There’s absolutely no soap, no drinking water, and no place to shower.”

  Orihuela says authorities hold immigrants in these conditions for up to 12 hours, then shuttle them to local jails to sleep. The ACLU lawsuit alleges that the federal government also routinely denies immigrants their rights to due process – such as access to mail or attorneys. Federal immigration officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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  • April 2, 2009 2:53 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• 2 killed after truck driver uses illegal route

  Two people died last night after a truck driver illegally used the Angeles Crest Highway and crashed into a La Canada-Flintridge bookstore. The town’s mayor, Laura Olhasso, said local officials had corresponded with Caltrans about limiting big-rig truckers’ access to the mountain road.

  Laura Olhasso: “We are all just heartsick. It’s… the feeling that two lives were lost over something that could have been averted had the proper action been taken, just leaves us all with such a pain in our hearts, such sympathy for the families of those that were killed, the people who were injured. We are just looking to get something done so that this never happens again.”

  Authorities arrested 43-year-old Marcos Costa today on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving. He’s in jail on $200,000 bail. A 12-year-old Palmdale girl, Angelina Posca, and her father, Angel Jorge Posca, died when the truck Costa was driving pushed their car into an intersection. The crash injured a dozen other people.

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  • April 2, 2009 11:54 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• 2 dead, 3 critically injured after runaway truck accident

  Two people are dead and three are critically injured after a runaway truck accident yesterday near Los Angeles. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the truck driver now faces charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.

  Steve Julian: Investigators arrested the driver after speaking with him much of the night. According to witnesses, the man lost control of an empty car transporting truck as he descended Angeles Crest Highway, a road that connects the San Gabriel Mountains with the town of La Canada-Flintridge.

  The driver careened down the road, passed under the 210 Freeway, then tried to make a left turn. But the truck was going too fast and struck a car, killing its occupants – a 58-year-old man and his 12-year-old daughter.

  The truck pushed that car 150 feet into a strip mall, sending patrons of a bookstore and wine store scrambling for safety. City officials accuse the state of ignoring demands to create a runaway truck lane or prohibit trucks from the highway altogether.

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  • April 2, 2009 10:25 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Crime dropping in major cities after revamped police procedures

  Police officials and crime experts had predicted that economic decline would lead to an increase in crime. The Los Angeles Times reports that the opposite has happened – crime has been dropping in L.A. and some other Southern California cities. Criminologist George Kelling says that’s not only happening in the Southland.

  George Kelling: “If you talk about New York City, Providence, Miami, a lot of the major cities, Milwaukee, are experiencing the same crime drops that Los Angeles is, and if you look at those cities they all have revamped police procedures, they all emphasize trying to prevent crime rather than waiting for crime to happen then responding.”

  Property crimes in the city of L.A. have dropped by about 6 percent so far this year compared with the same period last year. Violent crimes are also down in the city. The L.A. County sheriff’s department says it’s recorded a 10 percent drop in serious violent and property crimes in the areas it patrols.

  Not all areas are experiencing less crime. West L.A. and parts of the San Fernando Valley are reporting slight increases in property crime this year.

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  • April 1, 2009 2:39 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Obama administration focuses immigration enforcement on employers

  The Obama administration is preparing to switch immigration enforcement efforts on to employers that hire illegal immigrants. Homeland Security officials – speaking off the record – said yesterday that Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano soon will send out a directive to field agents.

  But many employers say it’s not fair to target them because they can’t tell which workers are in the country illegally. Steven Camarota is with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies. He told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that immigration laws do rely on weak documents.

  Steven Camarota: “We have a situation literally where if someone comes in and gives a name that doesn’t exist with the Social Security number that’s made up with a date of birth, the IRS and Social Security Administration, although aware that that person doesn’t exist, will not notify employer, ‘Hey! Straighten this out. This is a problem.’ We basically allow people with made-up Social Security numbers to work in the United States with impunity.”

  Employers that hire illegal immigrants can be prosecuted – but only if the government can show that they knowingly hired people in the country illegally.

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  • March 31, 2009 2:30 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD seeks hit-and-run driver who hit USC student

  The LAPD wants the public’s help in finding the driver of a car that struck and killed a USC student early Sunday morning. KPCC’s Nick Roman has details.

  Nick Roman: The LAPD can’t say for sure what kind of car hit 19-year-old Adrianna Bachan. Investigators say it may have been a black Honda Accord or Toyota Corolla – maybe 8 years old. But they know this: the front end of that car has “extensive” damage – and the windshield is broken.

  If that car’s on the street, someone will recognize it. If it’s in for repairs at a reputable shop, there’ll be a record. LAPD investigators want to hear from anyone who’s seen that car.

  It sped through a red light on Jefferson Boulevard as Bachan and another USC student – Marcus Garfinkle – were in the crosswalk at Hoover Street at about 3 in the morning Sunday. Bachan died of massive head injuries; Garfinkle suffered two broken legs and a broken arm.

  Witnesses say the driver – described as a Latino man – stopped his car to pull Garfinkle off the hood, then took off. The two freshmen were apparently headed back to campus dorms at USC after a party at a nearby fraternity house.

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  • March 30, 2009 3:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Authorities arrest man behind spring break scam

  First, a group of high school and college students found out their spring break trip to Mexico had been canceled. Then they found out that the Hawthorne travel agent they’d paid might have made off with their money. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says authorities arrested him today.

  Cheryl Devall: The name of Abel Moses Somilleda’s agency is “Big Bad Student Travel.” Three years ago, it organized what looked to be a bargain – airfare, a hotel stay, and expenses in Cancun for $700. Plenty of students signed up.

  But three months before that spring vacation, Somilleda allegedly learned that the trip wasn’t going to happen. California’s attorney general contends that the travel agent told the students only days before the trip that it was off, and then pocketed the money despite his promises that the students would get it back.

  The state’s top prosecutor also claims that Somilleda kept accepting payments for the trip after he knew it had been canceled. He’s charged with grand theft to the tune of $55,000, failure to deliver on tickets or vouchers, and failure to return money. He allegedly spent most of the money on rent, food and utilities. If a jury convicts him on all the charges, Somilleda faces up to eight years in state prison.

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  • March 27, 2009 3:43 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA County Sheriff's Department extends Gifts for Guns program

  In the next couple of months, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department plans to collect firearms in exchange for gift cards from retail chains. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario says the department recently decided to expand its Gifts for Guns program beyond the winter holidays.

  Patricia Nazario: Law enforcement officials believe there’s a direct correlation between removing guns from the street and reducing crimes that involve weapons.

  Jeff Serpa: And that’s kinda the trend we’re seeing.

  Nazario: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sergeant Jeff Serpa says that to build on the momentum, his department is planning to collect firearms at 21 drive-through locations this spring.

  Serpa: That gun may be sitting under a bed somewhere not secured properly, and they may become the victim of a burglary, and that gun may be used in a crime.

  Nazario: Turn in a handgun, get a $100 gift card. Assault weapons are worth $200 in merchandise from stores including Ralphs, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart.

  Critics of gun buy-back programs say no amount would convince hardcore criminals to turn over their weapons to law enforcement. Sergeant Serpa says the program is open to people with or without clean records – no questions asked.

  Note: The Sheriff’s Department has scheduled three collection events Saturday in Lynwood, Norwalk, and Lancaster.

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  • March 27, 2009 10:58 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA County starts 'Gifts for Guns' program

  People in Los Angeles County may turn handguns or assault weapons in exchange for 100 or 200 dollar gift cards – no questions asked.

  L.A. County Sheriff Sergeant Jeff Serpa says the types of gift cards available will depend on which major stores participate at each dropoff site.

  Jeff Serpa: “Different areas have different retailers. Ralphs is one of the biggest ones. Food 4 Less, Best Buy, some areas there are Albertsons, and there are also some areas that there are Wal-Marts.

  Serpa says his department collected – and destroyed – more than 3,000 firearms it collected last year through the Gifts for Guns program. These programs do have their critics, who say that criminals are unlikely to surrender their weapons for any incentive.

  The Sheriff’s Department is planning collections at 21 drive-through locations in the next couple of months. Three events are scheduled for this Saturday in Lynwood, Norwalk, and Lancaster.

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  • March 26, 2009 4:54 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Murder trial of music producer Phil Spector goes to jury

  Now that a jury’s begun deliberations in Phil Spector’s second murder trial, veteran courts reporter Linda Deutsch of the Associated Press reviewed the closing arguments with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

  Spector is charged in connection with the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his home six years ago. Deutsch said Spector’s attorney told jurors that Clarkson’s e-mail messages before her death indicated she’d been depressed and suicidal.

  Linda Deutsch: “It’s that kind of thing that the defense has played on and said, ‘Well this shows that she was suicidal, and when she saw this gun in Spector’s house she picked it up and took matters into her own hand.’ The prosecution denies this vehemently. They say that it was Spector who shot her because she had resisted his sexual advances and was trying to leave the house.”

  Spector – a music producer best known for his work with the Ronettes, the Beatles, and other groups in the 1960s – is free on $1 million bail. Two years ago, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury deadlocked on a murder charge against him.

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  • March 26, 2009 4:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Second Phil Spector murder case goes to jury

  After five months of testimony, the second Phil Spector murder case is in the hands of a jury. The panel began deliberations today.

  Linda Deutsch, longtime legal affairs correspondent for the Associated Press, has been covering the trial. She told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that these proceedings haven’t differed much from the music producer’s first trial in connection with the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson six years ago. The two met when she was working at a VIP hostess at the Sunset Strip House of Blues.

  Linda Duetsch: “She agreed to go home with him because she knew he was an important person and thought that he might be able to open doors for her. She actually didn’t know who he was until she was told.

  “It was kind of an odd meeting that, you know just, probably just should’ve not happened. They met at about 2 o’clock in the morning as the House of Blues was closing and he said ‘Oh, you know, why don’t you come home and have a drink with me.’ And she resisted at first, but then she agreed to go.”

  More than a year and a half ago, an earlier jury deadlocked on the murder charge. This jury has the option of convicting Spector on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

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  • March 26, 2009 3:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Councilman Wesson proposes allowing third term for police chief

  A Los Angeles city councilman wants to relax term limits placed on the chief of police in the wake of the Rodney King beating almost 20 years ago. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: To many police officers, former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates was a cop’s cop who they could always count on to back them. To many civil libertarians and political leaders, he embodied a recalcitrant LAPD that refused to move beyond a sometimes racially biased and abusive police culture.

  Gates, who headed the department for 14 years, was a big reason the Christopher Commission recommended that the LAPD limit the tenure of any one chief to two five-year terms. The popular Bill Bratton now leads the LAPD, and City Councilman Herb Wesson wants chiefs to be allowed to serve a third term.

  He says that would achieve the goal of “meaningful accountability” while allowing “extraordinary” chiefs to stick around. The civilian police commission, appointed by the mayor, would still decide how many terms a chief gets.

  The head of the union that represents police officers is arguing that voters should elect police chiefs as they do the L.A. County Sheriff.

  Note: Wesson plans to raise the issue at tomorrow’s City Council meeting.

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  • March 26, 2009 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Secretary of State Clinton offers cooperation in fighting Mexican drug violence

  Shortly after she arrived in Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that this country’s insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the narcotics trade – and the deadly violence along the border between the two countries during the last year and a half.

  Roberta Jacobson, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for North America, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that Clinton hopes to offer cooperation as well as alarm.

  Roberta Jacobson: “The secretary is well aware that Mexico is not a failed state and not in danger of becoming one any time soon. And she is going to talk with Mexican government officials about what more we can do together to join in and help in this fight.”

  This week the United States committed more federal agents to work in the border region against drug trafficking. The secretary of State plans to ask Mexican President Felipe Calderon to try and end corruption within his country’s armed forces and police. Gun battles between law enforcement and drug cartels have killed more than 7,000 people, including innocent bystanders.

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  • March 25, 2009 3:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Chino opposes state prison receiver's health care plan

  California hasn’t been able to convince a federal judge to stop an $8 billion plan to overhaul prison medical care. Now the city of Chino might take a shot at it. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has that.

  Steven Cuevas: Three years ago, a federal judge put California prison medical care into a receivership. Clark Kelso has been the receiver in charge for the past year.

  He’s put together a sweeping plan to build new prison hospitals in California, including a 2,100 bed facility at CIM – the Chino Institution for Men. The proposed CIM hospital would provide care for convalescent inmates and for mentally-ill prisoners.

  China Mayor Dennis Yates: The fire district makes over 1,000 calls a year out to that facility. We even had a call out there – an inmate’s gums were bleeding. The CIM, they call 911!

  Cuevas: Chino Mayor Dennis Yates says he’s all for prison medical care reform, in part because the lack of care now at the prison in Chino puts a strain on his city. But Yates isn’t keen on the receiver’s plan.

  Yates: I’m not really against the convalescent, medical part of the proposal. It was the mental patients.

  And I even had many face-to-face meetings with Mr. Kelso, and he wants to bring in another 2,100 prisoners to further tax our safety resources when they haven’t addressed the mess the CIM is in now!

  Cuevas: Chino might sue to stop the receiver from building a prison hospital at CIM. The city of Camarillo has already gone to court to stop plans for a new prison hospital there.

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  • March 25, 2009 3:01 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• State deputy assistant secretary talks about Secretary Clinton Mexico visit

  As Hillary Clinton makes her first visit to Mexico as secretary of State, the United States is focused on increasing drug-related violence at the border between the two countries. Roberta Jacobson, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for North America, says finger-pointing is not the focus of Clinton’s trip.

  Roberta Jacobson: “There is no doubt that we are in this together, linked together because of the demand for drugs in the United States and because by geography Mexico has become the place both through which drugs move and where some drugs are produced.

  “The secretary wanted to make sure that her message was, ‘We get it.’ We understand our role in this, and our responsibility, and we are going to talk about that openly.”

  Jacobson spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Several U.S. envoys plan to visit Mexico in the next few weeks, and President Obama’s scheduled an official trip there next month.

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  • March 25, 2009 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Chino opposes new prison hospital in Chino

  The city of Chino might join the legal fight over prison medical care in California. The state wants to stop an $8 billion overhaul of prison medical care. The plan comes from Clark Kelso, the federally-appointed receiver in charge of prison medical care. It calls for a new prison hospital at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

  The hospital would treat mentally-ill inmates – and Chino mayor Dennis Yates says he doesn’t want that in his city.

  Dennis Yates: “I’m not really against the convalescent, medical part of the proposal. It was the mental patients. And I even had several face to face meetings with Mr. Kelso.

  “Our safety resources are being strained and he wants to bring in another 2,100 prisoners to further tax our safety resources when they haven’t addressed the mess the CIM is in. Now they wanna exacerbate the problem!”

  Chino might sue to keep the hospital out. The city of Camarillo has already filed lawsuit to block the receiver from building a prison hospital there.

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  • March 25, 2009 2:31 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal judge refuses to dismiss prison medical care receiver

  A federal judge in San Francisco has refused the governor’s bid to get rid of the court-appointed head of prison medical care in California. KPCC’s Nick Roman has more.

  Nick Roman: Attorney General Jerry Brown made the case that the receiver wasn’t needed anymore. He told federal judge Thelton Henderson that medical care in California prisons has improved – and that the state should be in charge of running it again.

  That argument fell flat. Judge Henderson put prison medical care in the hands of a receiver nearly three years ago – back when an inmate a day was dying from malpractice or neglect. The judge says he’s still “far from confident” that state officials have “the will, capacity, or leadership” to do the job.

  That means receiver Clark Kelso stays. Kelso angered the governor and state lawmakers when he outlined an $8 billion plan to revamp medical care in the state prison system. He’s also asked that the governor be held in contempt of court for refusing to make a $250 million down payment on that plan. Attorney General Jerry Brown says he’ll appeal the judge’s decision to keep Clark Kelso in place.

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  • March 24, 2009 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Former Mexican foreign minister talks about drug violence near border

  The Obama administration is trying to address the Mexican drug trade and its violent fallout. In the last 15 months, that violence near the United States-Mexico border has killed 8,000 people, including innocent bystanders. Mexico’s former foreign minister, Jorge Casteñeda, suggested that the casualty count has heightened the U.S.’ attention to the problem.

  Jorge Casteñeda: “There’s a new urgency in ending the violence, that does not necessarily mean that there’s a new urgency in ending drug trafficking. One can seriously ask if whether there is any possibility of ending drug trafficking, but there is a possibility of ending the violence.”

  Castañeda, who’s teaching politics and Latin American studies at New York University, spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

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  • March 24, 2009 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Criminal Justice Center executive director says parole officers overburdened

  California Attorney General Jerry Brown is calling for better monitoring of parole violators following the deaths of four Oakland police officers. Lovelle Mixon, the man accused of killing the officers, was wanted on an arrest warrant for violating his parole.

  Kara Dansky is executive director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. She told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that parole officers in California are overburdened.

  Kara Dansky: “One possibility that lawmakers are looking into now is shifting resources – and putting more resources into supervising violent offenders and releasing nonviolent and drug offenders from parole, which is something I think they should seriously consider.”

  Parole officers in large California cities typically have to keep track of 70 cases each.

  Mixon had previously served six years for assault with a firearm during an armed robbery. He also served several months in prison last year for violating his parole. Authorities say Mixon was also the primary suspect in an unsolved February rape case.

  Mixon was killed on Saturday by police gunfire after shooting the four officers.

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  • March 24, 2009 2:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Chief Bratton expresses condolences over Oakland police deaths

  LAPD Chief Bill Bratton is among those expressing condolences for the deaths of four Oakland police officers on Sunday.

  Bill Bratton: “The loss of any officer is a shock, but when you have four in one day and in such violent circumstances, our hearts certainly go out to the men and women of the Oakland police department and the Oakland community. And it’s just a tragic thing, and words don’t do enough to describe how we feel about it.”

  Oakland police say a 26-year-old parolee shot and killed two of the officers after they pulled him over for a traffic violation. He shot two SWAT officers as they tried to arrest him a few hours later.

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  • March 23, 2009 7:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Longtime LAPD shoeshine man remembered at memorial service

  At the Los Angeles Police Academy today, longtime customers and friends said farewell to David Briggs. For a couple of decades he operated a shoeshine business at police headquarters in downtown L.A.

  LAPD Chief Bill Bratton attended the memorial. He recalled how Briggs – the man he called “Dr. Dave” – loved to play his music on a little transistor radio at his shoeshine stand.

  Chief Bill Bratton: “Used to have to tell him to turn the music down a little bit. We had very different tastes in music. (laughs). Dr. Dave and I. I’d go ‘Dave,’ and he’d go ‘I know Chief, I know.’ And he’d lower the radio a little bit. He was just a wonderful presence in the building.”

  Briggs died, apparently from natural causes, last month at age 56. Officers raised money to pay for his burial and to bring his son to Los Angeles from South Carolina for today’s memorial service.

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  • March 23, 2009 2:54 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Flowers, cards left outside Oakland police station after 4 officers killed

  Flowers and cards have been piling up outside the Oakland Police Officers Association building. A gunman took the lives of four Oakland police officers during separate shootings on Saturday.

  Rex Harper was one of many people who paid tribute to the fallen officers. He’s lived in the city for 43 years – and he left a card at the makeshift memorial.

  Rex Harper: “It just said God bless and it said, we thank you for your service and we appreciate, we appreciate you for keeping us safe, and that without you we couldn’t walk down the street.”

  On Saturday, two motorcycle officers pulled over 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon in a traffic stop. Mixon shot both the officers then escaped to a nearby apartment. When a SWAT team entered the apartment, Mixon opened fire again, and hit two other officers. Police then returned fire, killing Mixon.

  Officers say Mixon was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. There had been a warrant for his arrest.

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  • March 23, 2009 12:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• OC supervisors consider appealing sheriff pensions case

  Orange County supervisors will talk tomorrow about whether they’ll appeal a judge’s ruling in the county’s lawsuit to overturn certain sheriffs’ pensions. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the supervisors plan to hold that discussion behind closed doors.

  Susan Valot: The Orange County Board of Supervisors last year filed a lawsuit to try to ditch a pension increase that it approved a few years ago. The pension plan allows sheriff’s deputies to retire at age 50 with 3 percent of their salary for every year they’ve worked.

  But now, county supervisors say the retroactive pension increase – up from 2 percent – amounts to an illegal gift of public money. Last month, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix threw out the lawsuit. She ruled that the pension increase is not a gift, and that case law backs her opinion.

  But county supervisors still think their case makes a valid point. They’ll decide whether to appeal the judge’s ruling. Cities and counties all over California are watching this case. If it were to succeed, it would give them a chance to roll back their own unfunded pension liabilities.

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  • March 23, 2009 10:23 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Mom recants story in death of her 18-month-old child

  Authorities say the mother of a toddler found dead has changed her initial story – now she says the child died accidentally. More from KPCC’s Debra Baer.

  Debra Baer: The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has not released the name of the mother of Emma Leigh Barker, whose body was found Thursday. On Wednesday, the woman reported her 18-month-old daughter missing.

  She said someone had knocked her unconscious while she was putting her daughter in her car seat in Lancaster. When she came to hours later in Palmdale, she told authorities, the girl was gone. L.A. Sheriff’s Sergeant Diane Hecht says detectives interviewed the mother for a second time Thursday night.

  Diane Hecht: She said she recanted her story—that the death had been an accident and she panicked, feeling she would be blamed. She dumped her body in the tall weeds adjacent to the 5 freeway in Sylmar.

  Baer: Sergeant Hecht says the woman was released to the custody of her parents pending the results of an autopsy on her daughter to determine the cause of death.

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  • March 20, 2009 2:58 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Attorney General Brown accuses medical labs of fraud

  State Attorney General Jerry Brown sounded like a potential candidate for governor when he spoke with reporters this morning.

  The primary reason for the news conference was to accuse medical laboratories of running a fraud and kickback scheme that’s cheated hundreds of millions of dollars out of California’s Medi-Cal program. But the former Democratic governor broadened his criticism beyond that alleged malfeasance.

  Jerry Brown: “And to me, it’s an example of the kind of waste that’s in state government. It’s not just in the Medi-Cal system. It’s in the prison system and a lot of other areas.”

  Brown went on to say that as California faces successive budget deficits, it’s important to trim government waste. The attorney general’s suing seven medical labs connected to the scheme, including Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest Diagnostics. He claims that they and others have been defrauding the state for at least a decade.

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  • March 20, 2009 2:46 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• State attorney general accuses labs of Medi-Cal fraud

  State Attorney General Jerry Brown accuses medical laboratories of running a fraud and kickback scheme that’s swindled hundreds of millions of dollars out of California’s Medi-Cal program.

  The alleged abuses came to light when medical lab owner Chris Riedel tried to do business with doctors and hospitals, but couldn’t match his competitors’ prices. The Northern California businessman told reporters he hired an attorney and began his own investigation.

  Chris Riedel: “What we found is that these laboratories were charging deeply discounted prices to their private-pay clients and overcharging the Medi-Cal program to make up for the losses on the discounts.”

  That investigation’s result is the basis of this lawsuit. The attorney general filed his case in San Mateo Superior Court against seven labs, including Quest Diagnostic.

  Brown, a potential candidate for governor, said he wants to change what he called the labs’ questionable and pervasive practices, and to reimburse California hundreds of millions of dollars.

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  • March 20, 2009 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Health

• Gas company employee murder suspect found with self-inflicted gunshot wound

  There’s a new development in the shooting deaths of two gas company employees. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says a patrol officer today found a suspect in those slayings in his SUV with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

  Cheryl Devall: The officer discovered the suspect’s vehicle outside the Anaheim police station. Authorities linked the license plate to an arrest warrant for Phong Thuc Tran. The driver’s side window in Tran’s car was blown out and he was in the driver’s seat with what officers described as serious head wounds.

  An ambulance transported him to a hospital. Anaheim police recovered two handguns from the vehicle. Police from that city and Pomona are trying to piece together clues in the homicides of two Southern California Gas Company employees.

  Supervisor Charles Santisteban died of gunshot wounds Wednesday in his driveway in Pomona. Field technician Hung Duy Dao of Westminster died Tuesday night in his car outside the gas company’s Anaheim office. Pomona and Anaheim police investigators established that the two victims had known one another, and had worked together as recently as six months ago.

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  • March 19, 2009 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Hospital executive in fraud scheme pleads guilty

  A former hospital executive pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in a scheme that used homeless patients to bilk the Medicaid and Medi-Cal systems out of millions of dollars. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: A former senior vice president at City of Angels Medical Center, Dante Nicholson, admitted to paying illegal kickbacks to recruiters who found homeless people on Skid Row and referred them to City of Angels for unnecessary treatments. The hospital then billed Medicare and Medi-Cal for in-patient services.

  Los Angeles and federal prosecutors exposed the fraud scheme last August. They said City of Angels and two other hospitals employed a man named Estill Mitts, who ran a Skid Row processing center that provided homeless “patients” with bogus diagnoses and paid them 20 or 30 dollars for a visit to one of the hospitals.

  Mitts pleaded guilty about a month later, and a few months after that, the former chief executive of City of Angels did too. They’ll be sentenced later this year. Dante Nicholson, the former senior vice president, faces up to 10 years in federal prison. He’s agreed to pay more than $4 million in restitution to Medicare and Medi-Cal.

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  • March 19, 2009 1:24 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• ACLU sues OC school district over homophobia

  The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has sued an Orange County school district, claiming that it fosters a sexist and homophobic environment. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: The civil rights organization alleges that officials at Corona del Mar High School sanction an atmosphere “hostile to female, lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender students.”

  Its complaint refers to a case in which three male students used gay slurs and threatened a female student. It claims that a fourth male student verbally threatened her. The female student ended up enrolling in another school.

  The ACLU alleges that the school assigned an assistant football coach to investigate the incident, even though three of the four male students were members of the football team. School administrators suspended two of the boys. The other two went unpunished.

  The superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District called the ACLU’s allegations serious and promised to investigate them. Earlier this year, Corona del Mar High School’s principal temporarily cancelled a student production of the musical “Rent,” which features gay characters who battle drug abuse and AIDS.

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  • March 19, 2009 1:22 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Jurors breaking court rules using new technologies

  New, portable technologies are leading to disorder in the courts. Judges and attorneys have found out in some recent proceedings that jury members are researching information about trials online, or communicating about proceedings in progress on their cell phones and portable digital devices – all in disregard of court regulations.

  Anne Reed, a lawyer and jury consultant who writes the jury blog Deliberations, says many jurors don’t realize they’re breaking the rules when they send Twitter messages from the courtroom.

  Anne Reed: “Most of the judges that I talk to have barely any idea what Twitter is. And it, it really points up the generational aspect of this issue. That’s one reason that these problems are coming up, is that lawyers and judges aren’t aware enough on the front end of what it is they need to be looking for to ask the right questions to prevent these problems, instead of pick up after them.”

  The proliferation of social networking and freely accessible online information has blurred some people’s perception of what’s private and restricted, Reed told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Some court officials maintain that the only way to curb the problem is to confiscate personal electronics from jurors until the end of a trial.

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  • March 18, 2009 2:43 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Science/Technology

• Jury convicts former FBI agent caught in sting operation

  A federal jury in Santa Ana convicted two men in connection with a drug house robbery that turned out to be an undercover sting operation. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says one of the men was a former FBI agent.

  Cheryl Devall: Authorities arrested the men in July after secretly recorded phone calls indicated they were planning to rob a home in Fountain Valley for cocaine and cash. Prosecutors charged the two with conspiracy, interstate travel to commit a crime with a firearm, and other weapons-related charges.

  The interstate charge applied to Vo Duong Tran, a former FBI agent. He flew from his home in New Orleans to scope out the house after an informant told him he’d find $300,000 inside. Investigators say that Tran and Yu Sung Park had prepared to break into the house with a machine gun, a silencer-equipped rifle, handguns, bulletproof vests, and 600 rounds of ammunition.

  Their defense attorneys maintained that the federal government had set up the two men. After a four-week trial, jurors took about five hours to agree on guilty verdicts. Each of the two men faces a minimum 30 years in federal prison. They’re scheduled for sentencing in mid-June.

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  • March 18, 2009 2:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Concern about possible restrictions sparks rise in gun sales

  Gun sales reportedly have been on the rise since the election of President Barack Obama.

  Robert Musso owns Gun Kings Armory in Glendale. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that some people who’ve purchased from him have expressed concern that the new president might restrict firearm sales.

  Robert Musso: “A lot of people are concerned that with the new administration, they may not be able to get some of the things that they want in the future so they’re buying them now. And others are concerned with the worsening economy. They’re afraid of being robbed, having their things stolen.”

  President Obama said during the campaign that he would not take away people’s guns – and that he believed it’s possible for the government to impose gun control measures that respect the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

  Musso, the gun shop owner, said his revenues have probably doubled since the election. There’s other evidence of an increase in firearm sales. The nation’s leading handgun manufacturer, Smith and Wesson, reported higher-than-expected profits last quarter. FBI statistics indicate that required background checks for firearm sales have also risen this year.

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  • March 18, 2009 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Cardinal Mahony testifies in clergy sexual abuse case

  Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles made a rare court appearance yesterday. He testified in a clergy sexual abuse case in Fresno. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: Two brothers – George and Howard Santillan – sued the central California diocese over abuse they claim happened from 1959 through 1973. During many of those years, Mahony was a high ranking administrator in Fresno – and he supervised the accused priest and had access to secret files.

  The brothers claim now-Monsignor Anthony Herdegen molested them in his bedroom; their attorney claimed Herdegen’s housekeeper knew the boys were alone with the priest. Cardinal Mahony testified that he could not recall any allegation of sexual abuse.

  He added that the church, in those days, looked upon such occurrences as “spiritual failures.” Now, he says, the church knows that’s not an appropriate response. The U.S. Catholic church has paid out more than $2.6 billion in settlements related to molestation claims.

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  • March 18, 2009 10:25 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Roman Catholic cardinal testifies in sexual molestation case

  Los Angeles’ Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony testified today in a sexual abuse case in Fresno. Mahony is not a defendant in the case brought by two brothers who say a priest molested them repeatedly over 14 years.

  Garance Burke, a reporter for the Associated Press, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that the cardinal had worked in Fresno for some of the years the plaintiffs claimed they were abused.

  Garance Burke: “The cardinal has said that he knew nothing of sexual abuse during the time he was a high ranking administrator in the Fresno Diocese during the years that George and Howard Santillan claimed they were molested.”

  Mahony has testified only once before, 11 years ago, in a case related to clergy sexual abuse. A federal grand jury is investigating his and other Catholic leaders’ handling of hundreds of abuse allegations in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

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  • March 17, 2009 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Former radical group member paroled in Minnesota

  A former member of a 1970s radical group was released from prison this morning in California. Sara Jane Olson will be paroled to Minnesota, against the wishes of that state’s governor. KPCC’s Steve Julian reports.

  Steve Julian: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to order Olson to serve parole in California. The Los Angeles police officers union, which called Olson a domestic terrorist, made the same request, but Governor Schwarzenegger backed out of the process, allowing the state corrections department to choose.

  It chose Minnesota, where Olson raised a family. In 2001, Olson pleaded guilty to planting a bomb, which never went off, under a Los Angeles police car in 1975 when she was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

  Known then as Kathleen Soliah, she also took part in a deadly bank robbery in Sacramento. She served seven years – half her sentence. Olsen is now 62 years old.

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  • March 17, 2009 10:29 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA County Supervisors approve money for jail overcrowding study

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved money to back a study of overcrowding in the jail system. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: For years, inmates and civil rights activists have complained about overcrowding in L.A. County’s sprawling jail system, where inmates sometimes slept on the floor. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a federal lawsuit. ACLU attorneys say that while conditions have improved, the jails remain “dangerously overcrowded” and that living conditions in some cases are “intolerable.”

  The Vera Institute is a nationally recognized group that helped New York City develop strategies to reduce its jail population by one third. ACLU Attorney Melinda Bird says she hopes to see similar change in L.A., including diversion programs to keep people with mental and physical disabilities out of jail.

  LINK: L.A. Country Board of Supervisors

  LINK: ACLU of Southern California

  LINK: The Vera Institute of Justice

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  • March 16, 2009 6:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Orange County District Attorney clears Anaheim officer in shooting death

  The Orange County District Attorney has cleared an Anaheim Police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man last year. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: A spokeswoman for Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas says that the law gives officers “wide latitude” when they carry out their duties, and that the D.A. found insufficient evidence to charge the officer with a crime.

  In October, police say, the officer, who’s not been named, came upon a group of juveniles standing around some broken glass outside an old Target Store in Anaheim. It was 1:30 in the morning. The officer gave chase. As the juveniles ran through his front yard, 20-year-old Julian Alexander came outside to investigate. The officer shot and killed Alexander from about 15 feet away. At the time, Police Chief John Welter conceded it was a case of mistaken identity.

  The chief says the officer remains on the job, as an internal investigation continues. Alexander left behind a pregnant 19-year-old wife. His family has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Anaheim.

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  • March 16, 2009 5:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Former Mexican Mafia member talks about how he helped mafia make money

  A man convicted for two murders takes credit for turning the Mexican Mafia from a mere criminal enterprise into a money maker. Rene “Boxer” Enriquez told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” from inside prison that before he joined the gang, its leadership harbored no political or economic aspirations.

  Rene Enriquez: “Myself and about 20 other guys had, I guess, a panoramic view rather than a micro aspect, but a macro aspect as to what we wanted to do – and that was to make money with the organization. We realized that a mafia is not a mafia without money. And when I got in nobody made money.”

  Enriquez said he and others applied a new and lucrative business model to the Mexican Mafia. He has since left the organization. He’s in protective custody in a California prison after he turned state’s evidence and testified against members of the gang.

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  • March 16, 2009 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Former Mexican Mafia member talks about gang life

  The journey of Rene “Boxer” Enriquez from middle-class kid to member of the Mexican Mafia became the subject of a recent nonfiction book, “The Black Hand.” Enriquez spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” from inside a state prison where he’s serving time for killing two fellow gang members. He said the organization left little to chance when it determined who would die.

  Rene Enriquez: “The organization is based on egalitarian principles – one man, one vote, majority vote rules. And if it’s decided that a member has to go, it’s voted upon majority rules. If a member is in the majority vote that he has to go, then he has to go.

  “And ‘has to go’ in terms of murder. Once it’s decided what member has to be killed, whoever has the first opportunity, has an obligation to fulfill that duty as a ‘carnal,’ as a Mexican Mafia member.”

  Enriquez said he’s renounced his gang membership. He’s in protective custody because he testified as an informant against the Mexican Mafia.

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  • March 16, 2009 3:36 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California and Minnesota debate where prisoner should be paroled

  As a former radical prepares for her release from the Chowchilla women’s prison tomorrow, the state in which she committed her crimes and the state she called home during her fugitive years are weighing in over where she should be paroled. More on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: For about a quarter century after her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army, Kathleen Ann Soliah kept the authorities guessing as to her whereabouts. She surfaced 10 years ago after an episode of “America’s Most Wanted” helped the law trace her to St. Paul, Minnesota.

  As Sara Jane Olson, she kept a low profile as a middle-class wife and mother. A judge has ruled that Olson can be paroled to Minnesota, where her family lives. Police unions in Los Angeles and St. Paul don’t want any guesswork about where Olson will go on probation.

  One of her convictions is for planting a pipe bomb on an LAPD squad car. It didn’t explode. The unions say that Olson should do parole in the state where she did that crime and a bank robbery that left a woman dead.

  A couple of Minnesota state lawmakers are floating a resolution to support that view – even as they concede that their state can’t keep Olson out if she’s paroled there.

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  • March 16, 2009 2:01 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Doctor wins $6 million lawsuit against hospital over bad back surgery

  A jury has awarded $6 million to a doctor at Loma Linda University Medical Center for a botched back surgery that he claims ruined his health. Details from KPCC’s Debra Baer.

  Debra Baer: Dr. Mark Macknet and his wife won the award in their medical negligence lawsuit against the hospital where he works as an anesthesiologist. Macknet claimed the surgeons who performed his back surgery more than four years ago used un-sterilized equipment that caused an infection.

  His lawyer says that botched surgery required five more to fix it, and that the doctor will need to take pain medication for the rest of his life. Macknet also claims he’ll have to retire earlier than he’d planned.

  A hospital spokeswoman says the jury reached the wrong verdict and the medical center is exploring its options, including an appeal.

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  • March 13, 2009 1:43 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Federal receiver for California prison medical care fires top aides

  The man a federal judge appointed to oversee prison medical care reform in California fired three of his top aides today. KPCC’s Nick Roman says this happened days before a court hearing in which state officials plan to ask the judge to get rid of the receiver’s office.

  Nick Roman: Receiver Clark Kelso was appointed a year ago to supervise prison medical care fixes, in part because the former receiver went nose-to-nose with state officials too often. Some observers expected Kelso, who’d worked in state government, would be easier to work with.

  Then he told the state about his $8 billion plan to upgrade prison medical care. Ever since, the governor’s office has tried to scuttle the receiver’s office. A court hearing on that comes up next week.

  Kelso says there’s no link between its timing and his decision to fire three top aides. But he does say he made that decision to help his office work more “collaboratively with the state.” The three aides sent out their own statement. They blamed their departure on “irreconcilable differences” with Kelso. They say the receiver is going in a “new direction.”

  An attorney for inmates says he hopes the dismissals don’t mean the push for better medical care in prisons is about to stall.

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  • March 12, 2009 7:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Justice Department opens investigation into Inglewood police

  The United State Justice Department has opened an investigation into the Inglewood Police Department following a series of shootings of unarmed suspects. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: In four months last year, Inglewood police officers shot and killed four people. Three of them were unarmed. A Los Angeles Times investigation found that five of 11 people shot and killed by Inglewood police since 2003 had no weapon. In each case, officers said they believed the suspects were armed.

  A notice on the Inglewood Police Department’s website says the U.S. Justice Department will examine “past procedures and tactics” in search of any pattern or practice of civil rights violations. Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks promised to cooperate with the investigation. She said the department already is re-training its nearly 200 officers to “strengthen tactical response and improve decision-making.”

  In addition to the federal probe, the state attorney general and Sheriff’s Office of Independent Review are examining the department’s tactics.

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  • March 12, 2009 4:15 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California Supreme Court chief justice wants $30 million for court safety

  The state’s courtrooms aren’t as safe as they could be, and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George wants about $30 million to address that problem.

  Ronald George: “We’ve got to do something to bring levels of security up to at least a certain minimum level. We don’t want to pick up the paper or listen to the news in the evening and find out there has been another fatal incident in our courthouses, which are supposed to be quiet places of refuge for the resolution of disputes and not pitched battlefields or crime scenes.”

  On KPCC’s “Patt Morrison,” George expressed concern about an incident a week ago in Stockton. A murder defendant in a courtroom stabbed the presiding judge with a box cutter. Courthouse security personnel shot and killed the attacker.

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  • March 11, 2009 4:06 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• State courts cutting costs due to budget crunch

  The state of California’s judiciary isn’t that different from the state of many of its other agencies and services – the courts could use more money, says Ronald George, chief justice of the California Supreme Court.

  He reiterated to KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” what he told the state legislature last night – he’s not optimistic that federal stimulus money will fill the gaps in the state budget for the court system.

  Ronald George: “We are trying to do our own best to cut down costs – eliminating meetings, doing more by video conferencing, not filling vacant positions, having about one-third of our employees engage in voluntary work furloughs – but we don’t want to get to the point where we have to cut the public’s hours of service or actually eliminate certain services provided by the courts.”

  George said the state could use 150 more judgeships. So far, there’s money for 50, but California’s postponed filling 100 more that he said the courts desperately need in underserved areas including the Inland Empire.

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  • March 11, 2009 3:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Skid row activists want investigation of LAPD policing practices

  A Skid Row organization asked the federal government today to launch a civil rights investigation into the LAPD’s policing practices. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that the group has long complained of police abuse in the 50 square block area of downtown L.A.

  Frank Stoltze: Members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network say police abuses on Skid Row continue “on a daily basis.” They say LAPD officers unnecessarily handcuff homeless people and residents of Skid Row hotels for infractions as minor as jaywalking.

  Activists say that in one case, officers “severely” beat a woman who allegedly assaulted them with an ink pen. They contend that some of the policing problems result from the LAPD’s failure to deploy enough of its officers who are specially trained to interact with mentally ill people.

  These complaints arose despite an agreement between the LAPD and American Civil Liberties Union. In it, the department agrees not to handcuff Skid Row residents unless the officer reasonably believes the suspect is a threat or will interfere with an investigation. In the past Chief Bill Bratton has said his officers are abiding by that agreement.

  Skid Row is home to more than 13,000 people. Most of them are African-American.

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  • March 11, 2009 3:07 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Reward offered for info on boxing trainer's murder 32 years ago

  The boxing trainer played by Burgess Meredith in the first three Rocky films was able to utter a fond farewell to someone close to him before he died. The man who inspired that character wasn’t so lucky. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that today his daughter appealed for help solving his murder.

  Cheryl Devall: Thirty-two years ago this week, two men jumped Howard Steindler a block from his home in the San Fernando Valley. About an hour after the assault, the California Highway Patrol found him suffocated to death in his gold Cadillac along the 101 Freeway near Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

  The victim’s daughter, Carol Steindler Ferris, said at a news conference that the pain of his loss hasn’t gone away. She urged anyone with information about the assailants to speak up. Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine’s office is offering a $50,000 reward for that information.

  Howie Steindler used to own the Main Street gym in downtown L.A., hallowed ground to Southland boxers. He’s widely believed to have inspired the gravel-voiced character of Mickey Goldmill, proprietor of the fictional “Mighty Mick’s Gym” in Rocky and its first two sequels. Tipsters may call the LAPD with information about the killing.

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  • March 11, 2009 12:24 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Esperanza Fire arsonist ruled mentally competent

  Testimony resumes today in the penalty phase of the arson-murder trial of Raymond Lee Oyler. It was suspended briefly while Oyler underwent a psychiatric evaluation. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has the latest.

  Steven Cuevas: When testimony in the death penalty phase began yesterday, Raymond Lee Oyler appeared disheveled. At times he seemed to be talking to himself. In court this morning, he slumped his shoulders and shook in his seat.

  The 38-year-old Oyler is taking medications for depression, tremors, and high blood pressure. But based on the results of a psychiatric evaluation, Judge Charles Morgan concluded that Oyler was fit to stand trial. The judge, never addressing Oyler directly, said it’s a “bad time in his life” and understandable that he’s despondent.

  On Friday a jury convicted Oyler of setting the 41,000 acre Esperanza Fire in 2006. Five U.S. firefighters died in that fire.

  During the first day of testimony in the death penalty phase, jurors listened to harrowing accounts of their deaths from fellow firefighters. Jurors can recommend that Oyler spend the rest of his life in prison, or that he be sentenced to death.

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  • March 11, 2009 12:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Esperanza wildfire arson trial's penalty phase begins

  Arguments are underway in the penalty phase of the arson-murder trial of Raymond Lee Oyler. Last Friday, a Riverside jury convicted him of setting the massive Esperanza Wildfire that killed five firefighters in 2006. Jurors must now decide if Oyler will get the death penalty. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has the latest.

  Steven Cuevas: The prosecution began the penalty phase by calling the U.S. Forest Service fire captains first on the scene after the crew of Engine 57 was overcome by flames. Captain Chris Fogle described finding bodies that were still on fire, and how he extinguished one with water from his own canteen.

  The prosecution aims to underscore the emotional impact the deaths have had on colleagues and family. That strategy seemed to work – some jurors wiped away tears during the graphic testimony, and several relatives fled the courtroom.

  Oyler has been subdued but attentive during the trial. But as the penalty phase began, he was slightly disheveled – and at times appeared to be talking to himself. His attorneys asked to meet in chambers with Judge Charles Morgan.

  When the judge returned to the courtroom, he dismissed the jury – and asked that Oyler undergo a medical exam within the next 48 hours. It’s not clear if the defendant’s mental state is now in question.

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  • March 10, 2009 3:15 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD chief lobbies for money, information in DC

  More than 200 business and political leaders from Southern California stormed Capitol Hill today to lobby for their fair share of federal stimulus dollars. KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde says one member of the group was looking for more than just money.

  Kitty Felde: It’s become an annual rite of spring – mayors, city councilmen, and the chambers of commerce from L.A. to Palm Springs head to Washington, D.C. for meetings with California’s Congressional delegation.

  This year, more than 200 people made the trek to lobby for federal dollars – including L.A. Police Chief Bill Bratton. He wants money to hire more police officers – and he wants to tap federal information about terrorism. Bratton says a healthy economy is directly related to more cops and a safe city.

  Bill Bratton: In New York City in the 1990s, we grew our police department and what happened? The economy that was in the tank in New York began to turn around. You cannot afford to have a terrorist act or see crime increase because both of those can be very damaging to a recovering economy.

  Felde: Bratton is meeting with FBI chief Robert Mueller, as well as with lawmakers with intelligence ties – South Bay Congresswoman Jane Harman and Senator Dianne Feinstein.

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  • March 10, 2009 12:45 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Smuggling ring leader sentenced to six years in prison

  A federal judge in Los Angeles has sentenced a leader of an immigrant smuggling ring to six years in prison. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says prosecutors charged the ring with transporting more than 9,000 people in four years.

  Cheryl Devall: Federal authorities began investigating the ring almost four years ago. They caught up with Guatemala native Francisco Andres-Francisco 14 months ago in Pennsylvania; he was driving a van loaded with alleged illegal immigrants.

  In November, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor, conceal, and transport such immigrants. The smuggling ring allegedly ran two drop houses in Los Angeles and Lancaster, where prosecutors say the men held people until for transport fees of up to $5600 each. The U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A. dubbed the organization the Three Franciscos because its leaders share that surname.

  A federal grand jury has indicted a dozen men in the scheme. At the time, a spokeswoman for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that operations like this one regard “people as nothing more than currency.” So far, six of the alleged participants have pleaded guilty.

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  • March 9, 2009 6:07 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• More Pellicano co-defendants receive federal sentences

  Disgraced Hollywood private-eye Anthony Pellicano is serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for racketeering, conspiracy, and wiretapping. But he couldn’t pull off all that by himself. KPCC’s Brian Watt says some people who helped Pellicano are looking at time behind bars, too.

  Brian Watt: The latest sentence – more than two years in federal prison – goes to 44-year-old Kevin Kachikian. Kachikian designed an illegal computer program that records telephone calls and stores the audio in digital files. Pellicano used that software, and prosecutors say Kachikian made $300,000 over five years of work with Pellicano.

  Last week, courts sentenced three other Pellicano helpers. They include Rayford Earl Turner, a phone company retiree, who got 10 years for helping set up the wiretaps. Former LAPD officer Mark Arneson also got 10 years, for grabbing data off police department computers and selling it to Pellicano.

  Five other Pellicano co-defendants await sentencing, and two more possible trials in the case are pending.

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  • March 9, 2009 3:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Thousands gather for funeral of veteran LAPD officer

  Thousands of friends, relatives, fellow officers, and public officials offered final goodbyes today to LAPD Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Garner was one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the department.

  Cheryl Devall: During the funeral service at the Crenshaw Christian Center Faith Dome in South Los Angeles, Police chief William Bratton praised Kenneth Garner. Bratton told the full sanctuary the officer who died unexpectedly at his home last week achieved many accomplishments in his short time on earth and with the department.

  Garner spent more than 30 of his 53 years on earth with the LAPD. A year ago, the department promoted him to commander of its South Bureau, the division that includes the 77th Street, Southwest, South, and Harbor police stations.

  That assignment placed the Arkansas native in the area of Los Angeles in which spent much of his youth. In recent years, organizations including the L.A. Association of Black Personnel, recognized Garner for his service on behalf of young people in his area, and of African Americans in the police department.

  Note: Some South L.A. activists are asking the city of Los Angeles to rename the South police station in Garner’s honor.

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  • March 9, 2009 2:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Orange County Supervisors to review audit on jail medical care

  The Orange County supervisors this week will take up an audit of a $36 million program that provides medical care in jails. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the audit makes a bunch of recommendations.

  Susan Valot: The audit suggests the Health Care Agency’s Correctional Medical Services office has mismanaged medical care in Orange County jails. To fill jobs, managers sometimes hired relatives. They also hired workers who were already on staff to second jobs as contractors. Record keeping was poor, and that problem persisted for years.

  The audit also found the jail medical staff had lots of nursing supervisors, but not enough nurses working under them. And it says the way medications are dispensed to inmates is inefficient and lacks oversight. The audit says the Health Care Agency should set up a leadership team to make changes quickly, and it should work with a local medical school to create a physician residency program in the jails.

  Auditors say the two dozen changes they’ve recommended could save several million dollars every year, although the Health Care Agency says they wouldn’t save that much.

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  • March 9, 2009 1:25 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Authorities debate where '70s radical should spend her probation

  There’s a tug-of-war in progress over where a former 1970s radical will spend her parole. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Los Angeles’ police union wants the longtime fugitive to do probation in the Southland, not with her family in Minnesota.

  Cheryl Devall: For more than two decades after her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army, Kathleen Ann Soliah evaded the law. She married an emergency room doctor in the Twin Cities and assumed a new identity as Sara Jane Olson, before investigators caught up with her and charged her in connection with the radical group’s violent activities.

  Juries convicted her of attempted murder for targeting an LAPD squad car with a pipe bomb, and of complicity in the SLA’s murder of a church secretary during a bank robbery. During her high-profile battle to stay out of prison, Olson issued a fundraising cookbook called “Serving Time.”

  Now she’s almost done serving half her 14-year sentence; she expects to leave the state women’s prison in Chowchilla this month. Olson may be allowed unsupervised parole in Minnesota. But the union that represents the LAPD is urging Governor Schwarzenegger to keep her in California “until she fulfills her parole obligations, and not a minute before.”

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  • March 9, 2009 1:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Funeral today for LAPD Deputy Chief Kenny Garner

  The LAPD buries one of its highest ranking African American officers today. Deputy Chief Kenny Garner died last week of an apparent heart attack. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Garner oversaw police operations in South L.A. That’s also where he grew up. In the neighborhoods, one activist called him a “beacon of reform and change” at the LAPD. Last week Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also remembered Garner for helping the department recruit its new officers.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: It was Chief Garner who was an early architect of our police build-up. It was his dedication, hard work, and devotion to duty that made our strategy successful.

  Stoltze: Garner was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is survived by a daughter, and his mother and father. He had been with the LAPD for 31 years.

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  • March 9, 2009 1:09 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Riverside jury convicts Oyler of murder, arson

  A Riverside jury today returned guilty verdicts in the arson-murder trial of Raymond Lee Oyler. He was convicted of murder in the deaths of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters who died in the Esperanza Fire in 2006.

  Jurors took a week to convict Oyler of more than 40 murder and arson charges. They deadlocked on three lesser charges. The 38-year-old auto mechanic from Beaumont could get the death penalty. Forest Service supervisor Gene Wade Evens spoke briefly after the verdict.

  Gene Wade Evens: “The Forest Service truly respects the work of the prosecutor, the fire investigators, the judge, and the jury. Arson is a terrible crime, one that threatens everyone and in this case took five of our own firefighters. We still feel this loss and we always will.”

  Oyler’s conviction was based on circumstantial but compelling evidence. Prosecutors had DNA matches and testimony from a witness who said Oyler was a confessed arsonist.

  Defense attorneys never denied that Oyler started some of the fires. But they insist he was not responsible for the deadly Esperanza fire.

  The defense must now try to persuade jurors to spare Raymond Lee Oyler’s life. The penalty phase of the trial begins Tuesday.

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  • March 6, 2009 5:12 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Prop 8 opponents face skepticism from California Supreme Court

  State Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism today at arguments that they should overturn Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more on the much-anticipated oral arguments in the case.

  Frank Stoltze: Gay rights lawyers argued that Proposition 8 needed two-thirds support from the legislature before the state placed it on the ballot. Justice Joyce Kennard, who’s a potential swing vote, wondered about that.

  Justice Joyce Kennard: The people are those that have created the constitution, and I think what you’re overlooking is the broad powers of the people.

  Stoltze: Chief Justice Ronald George also indicated that he didn’t think Prop 8 needed legislative approval, and that he was reluctant to overturn a voter-approved ballot measure… even if it was unfair. He noted that gays and lesbians still enjoy constitutionally protected minority status.

  Justices also considered what to do with the 18,000 gay marriages performed last summer, if the court upholds Proposition 8. Even conservative justices signaled that they believe Prop 8 failed to specify that the state should invalidate those marriages.

  They’ll issue a decision in the case within 90 days.

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  • March 5, 2009 3:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Attorney Starr to CA Supreme Court: Equal protection was considered by Prop 8 voters

  During arguments before the California Supreme Court for and against Proposition 8, Associate Justice Ming Chin asked Kenneth Starr, an attorney who argued in favor of the ban on same-sex marriage, how a majority of voters could impose what the court had defined as a form of discrimination.

  Starr, dean of Pepperdine Law School, responded that supporters of the ballot measure had considered the equal protection clause of the state constitution.

  Kenneth Starr: “There’s no question that the equal protection value is a very important value that the Chief Justice has noted that, in various and sundry ways, the people have looked at equal protection and they have carved out exceptions. And what I want to come to is, ‘What does Proposition 8 do?’ Proposition 8 does not in fact erode any of the considerable bundle of rights that this state has very generously provided.”

  Opponents of Prop 8 contend that civil unions for same-sex couples are a separate and unequal form counterpart to marriage.

  In November, a majority of California voters supported the ballot measure that defines marriage in this state as the union of one man and one woman. The court has 90 days to issue a ruling on legal challenges to that vote.

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  • March 5, 2009 2:47 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• National safety board concludes hearings on 2008 Metrolink crash

  The National Transportation Safety Board yesterday concluded two days of hearings on last September’s deadly Metrolink Train crash in Chatsworth. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more on the testimony in Washington DC.

  Brian Watt: On day one of the hearings, federal investigators detailed safety violations the crash brought to light. Metrolink train engineer Robert Sanchez texted on the job, missed signals, and allowed teenagers ride in the cab of the locomotive.

  Day two of the hearings focused on what rail systems can do to prevent collisions like the one in Chatsworth. Representatives of transportation unions recommended making sure that two employees ride in the locomotive cab of all passenger and freight trains.

  But safety board member Kitty Higgins recalled another Metrolink train accident that happened weeks after the Chatsworth crash, when a second worker rode in the cab. She said she’s not yet convinced that’s the solution.

  The Federal Railroad Administration said “human factors” caused more than 80 percent of the 189 train accidents throughout the country last year. Metrolink officials announced they plan to install inward-facing video cameras in all locomotives and passenger cars.

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  • March 5, 2009 11:09 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• California Supreme Court hears arguments on Proposition 8

  Many eyes and ears will concentrate on the California Supreme Court today, as it considers arguments in three lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. That’s the November measure that overturned the court’s May ruling legalizing same sex marriages. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Opponents of Prop 8 argue that it stripped gays and lesbians of a fundamental right, and therefore it revised the state constitution. Revisions require legislative approval before voters can decide on them. Gay rights lawyer Jennifer Pizer:

  Jennifer Pizer: One of the important things about this litigation is that there’s not a lot of relevant law. There’s not a lot of precedents.

  Stoltze: Supporters of Prop 8 say the measure was a proper use of California’s initiative process.

  Inside the court’s San Francisco chambers, Pepperdine Law School Dean Kenneth Starr will lead arguments in favor of Prop 8. The legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Shannon Minter, will lead arguments against it. Legal analysts call it the most closely watched California Supreme Court hearing in a generation.

  The court will issue a decision in the case within 90 days.

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  • March 5, 2009 11:05 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Clean Trucks Program continues to face legal challenges

  Supporters of the Southland ports’ Clean Trucks Program faced off against the trucking industry again in a Pasadena courthouse yesterday. More on the story from KPCC’s Molly Peterson.

  Molly Peterson: When the San Pedro harbor complex started making drivers who pick up cargo do their jobs in cleaner-burning trucks, the port of L.A. also made a rule companies should start hiring drivers as employees, not independent contractors.

  Trucking companies are challenging these financial and employment provisions that they must agree to in order to service the ports.

  Lawyers for both sides appeared before a panel of 9th circuit judges. That panel will decide whether to temporarily remove the challenged conditions of the program. That’s all part of a case that’ll determine whether the ports can even impose those conditions. A federal commission overseeing ports is investigating the Clean Trucks Program, and also challenging it.

  At the harbor complex, fee collection for the program has begun after a delay of several months. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have slashed cargo rates to try to hold on to business in a faltering market. Harbor imports were down 18 percent in February compared to the same month a year earlier.

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  • March 4, 2009 6:19 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment, Transportation

• Two contributors to 2004 Villaraigosa campaign charged with money laundering

  The Los Angeles mayoral campaign is barely over. Now criminal charges have surfaced over contributions to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s run for office four years ago. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has details.

  Cheryl Devall: The L.A. district attorney’s office has charged two Florida businessmen with money laundering in connection with the mayor’s first winning campaign for City Hall.

  The men own a company that runs gift shops in hotels and airports. They had dinner with Villaraigsa about a year before the 2005 election and offered to contribute to his campaign. Prosecutors claim the donors laundered more than $25,000 in contributions by having their company’s treasurer reimburse employees who fronted $1,000 each.

  Villaraigosa’s campaign reported suspicions about the money to the district attorney, and the office says the mayor has cooperated with the investigation. The businessmen, Sean Anderson and Richard Manhire, face six months behind bars and up to $100,000 in fines if a jury convicts them on charges of conspiracy and improperly identifying a campaign contributor.

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  • March 4, 2009 4:42 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Attorney: Prop 8 opponents say California should not recognize existing same sex marriages

  Supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage are awaiting tomorrow’s review of the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court.

  Attorney Emma Ruby-Sachs, who writes for the Huffington Post, described Prop 8 opponents’ arguments on the status of the same-sex marriages that were briefly legal in the state before voters passed the measure in November.

  Emma Ruby-Sachs: “Californians who were married before Prop 8 passed would have their marriages treated the same way as if you were married in Massachusetts and moved to Arkansas. So, it’s not that we are voiding your marriage; the state of California just isn’t going to recognize it.”

  Ruby-Sachs spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle. Opponents of Prop 8 maintain that same-sex marriages performed between last June and the November election should remain valid.

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  • March 4, 2009 1:12 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County supervisors order monitoring of deputies hired under relaxed standards

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today ordered the monitoring of sheriff’s deputies the department hired under relaxed standards in the last three years. More on the story from KPCC’s Frank Stoltze.

  Frank Stoltze: The board’s order follows a report by the Sheriff’s Office of Independent Review. The agency’s Mike Gennaco says the report found Sheriff Lee Baca relaxed hiring standards as he scrambled to add more deputies.

  Mike Gennaco: The department developed what they termed a holistic philosophy, which meant that essentially you looked at the whole career arc of that individual. The problem we saw with that philosophy was that there were no guidelines as to how to apply that philosophy, and essentially resulted in a sort of “all bets are off” hiring philosophy.

  Stoltze: Gennaco says that as a result, the sheriff hired less qualified applicants… including someone with a history of excessive use of force at another police department, and a man who’d sold drugs.

  Under an order by the Board of Supervisors, Gennaco’s office will monitor an estimated 2700 deputies hired under the relaxed standards during their first five years with the department.

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  • March 3, 2009 9:25 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Los Angeles county supervisors order review of sheriff's deputies

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today ordered a watchdog agency to monitor sheriff’s deputies hired in the last three years. The action follows a report by the country’s Office of Independent Review; it found the department had lowered standards during a hiring push. Mike Gennaco heads the office.

  Mike Gennaco: “One of the illustrations that’s noted in our report was an individual who had been hired by another agency up in Northern California, had run into problems with that agency – particularly allegations of unnecessary or excessive force – and eventually was released from that agency for that very reason.”

  The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department hired that individual, who later left because of problems with use of excessive force. The department hired about 2700 of its 9,000 deputies under relaxed standards. The Office of Independent Review will monitor those deputies for their first five years with the department.

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  • March 3, 2009 5:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• OC supervisors approve fee to fight real estate fraud

  Orange County is beefing up its arsenal against real estate fraud. KPCC’s Susan Valot says county supervisors today added a $3 document fee to many real estate transactions to fight real estate fraud.

  Susan Valot: Last year, real estate fraud accounted for 10 percent of fraud cases brought to the Orange County district attorney’s office. So far this year, that number’s jumped to 30 percent. It might be a sub-prime loan the homebuyer can’t ever hope to repay, or maybe an offer to help a homebuyer avoid foreclosure – for a hefty fee.

  The district attorney’s office says it doesn’t have the manpower to investigate and prosecute all of those real estate fraud cases. So it asked for – and got – the document fee. It’s expected to bring in more than one-and-a-half-million dollars next fiscal year.

  That’ll go into the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution trust fund. That will pay for establishing investigators dedicated to real estate fraud in Orange County, along with a new hotline and Web site to report such fraud. The new fee kicks in next month.

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  • March 3, 2009 4:30 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• OC supervisors consider replacing deputies in Hall of Administration

  Orange supervisors are moving forward with a plan to replace sheriff’s deputies who provide security in the Hall of Administration. The board today got a bid from the Santa Ana Police and asked staff to return with a proposal. But KPCC’s Susan Valot says it’s not a done deal yet.

  Susan Valot: The supervisors asked the Santa Ana PD to bid on the security job. It comes a few weeks after deputies used the surveillance cameras in the Hall of Administration to zoom in on supervisors’ notes during a hearing over concealed weapons permits.

  Supervisor Chris Norby sent a clear message, saying “whoever provides security should realize they’re our servant, not our master.” The Santa Ana Police Department says for less than $600,000 a year, it can take over security at the Hall of Administration and the Hall of Records and Finance in Santa Ana.

  But the sheriff’s department does the same job now for only about $470,000 a year. And it donates another $200,000 worth of manpower. An official with the union for county workers also points out the supervisors need to meet over labor agreements and double-check local laws before they make any changes in security duties.

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  • March 3, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Proposition 8 goes before state Supreme Court this week

  California’s Supreme Court is preparing to hear legal arguments for and against the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage this week. A coalition of civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, is arguing for the court to overturn the amendment to the state constitution. Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the ACLU of Southern California, helped to write the court challenge to Proposition 8.

  Mark Rosenbaum: “It is not about the constitutionality or legality of same-sex marriage. Many respect it as a far more profound question that goes to the nature of our democracy.

  “Proposition 8 represents the first time in the history of California, and really in the history of the republic, that the majority have voted to strip away a fundamental right, an inalienable right, from a historically disadvantaged minority.”

  John Eastman, dean of Chapman University’s School of Law, wrote a legal brief that supports the opposite argument in this case. To explain his reasoning, he quoted California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan.

  John Eastman: “She says that the people are entitled to preserve the traditional understanding of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. People aren’t being deprived of the ability to marry, they’re being deprived, or everyone in the state is saying, you can’t redefine the definition of marriage by something that has never been understood as being.”

  Eastman and Rosenbaum spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

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  • March 3, 2009 3:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD deputy chief, 53, dies

  Colleagues of LAPD Deputy Chief Kenny Garner are remembering a man devoted to his job – and to his old neighborhood. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze says Garner was 53 years old when he died of an apparent heart attack during the weekend.

  Frank Stoltze: Kenny Garner grew up in the heart of South L.A. – near the corner of 76th and Harvard. Five years ago, he became captain of the LAPD’s 77th Division. Its officers patrol his old neighborhood. He told KPCC’s Debra Baer during a ride-along about his priorities for policing the area.

  Kenny Garner: Getting officers out of the car. Giving them personal responsibility for an area or a beat. Getting them to know the neighborhood. It’s hard to abuse somebody you know. And it’s hard to ignore somebody you have a relationship with.

  Stoltze: Activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson called Garner a “beacon of reform and change within the LAPD.” Garner spent more than three decades with the department. He rose to become one of its highest-ranking African-Americans.

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  • March 2, 2009 4:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Judge rules in favor of San Bernardino, allows police furloughs

  A judge says the City of San Bernardino can go ahead with plans to furlough around 300 police officers. The cuts are part of a larger effort to close a $9 million budget gap. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has details.

  Cuevas: The furloughs cut the pay and hours of San Bernardino cops by 10-percent. The mayor says the city is racing “hell-bent towards fiscal catastrophe” – and needs all public workers to take pay cuts.

  So far everyone has, including firefighters. But the Police Officers Association said the furloughs violate its labor contract with San Bernardino – and violates the city charter, too. The Association went to court to block the furloughs.

  But the judge turned down the request for an injunction, saying the city’s declaration of a “budget emergency” gave it the power to impose the furloughs. The attorney for the Police Officers Association says he’ll appeal the decision.

  But the union might drop legal action if officers approve a host of proposed benefit cuts. They’ve offered to chip in $2 million more a year to pay for health insurance. The San Bernardino Police Officers Association could vote on the proposed concession later this week.

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  • March 2, 2009 4:48 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD officers remember dead colleague

  Colleagues of LAPD Deputy Chief Kenny Garner are remembering a devoted professional. Garner died of an apparent heart attack during the weekend. He was 53 years old. Fellow Deputy Chief Sharon Papa told KPCC that Garner could be intense, and funny.

  Deputy Chief Sharon Papa: “For example, we did a tour of the headquarters building recently, and he went one of my friends, and she came back and said, ‘Oh my God, he was such a cut-up.’

  “He would look at an office and go, ‘What did so-and-so do to get that office? How come he’s over here in this corner?’ And, ‘Oh yeah, I can see why he’s over here.’ Especially one of the offices looks that out over the L.A. Times, and so he had a smart-ass remark about that as well.”

  Garner spent more than three decades with the police department. He became one of its highest-ranking African-Americans.

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  • March 2, 2009 4:45 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD recruit class will push department to most officers ever

  The bad economy is contributing to the Los Angeles Police Department’s historic expansion. Commander Jim Cansler supervises the department’s recruiting efforts.

  Commander Jim Cansler: “The economy does have something to do with it. For instance, in 06’ to ‘07 fiscal year, we had about 7,800 people recruited. And this year, we’ve already gone over a thousand. We have about 1,500 people who were recruited in January.”

  LAPD officials say the latest recruit class will push the force to its highest number of officers ever – 9,895. The 63 men and women will spend six months in training before they hit the streets. A hike in the city’s sanitation tax is funding the LAPD’s build-up.

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  • March 2, 2009 3:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Police chief, mayor tout size of LAPD

  Los Angeles Chief Bill Bratton today announced that his department’s expanded to its largest number of officers ever. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that’s not entirely true.

  Frank Stoltze: The chief said 9,895 officers work in the police department. But that includes the 60 or so new recruits who just started class at the police academy. They won’t hit the streets for six months.

  So why the big announcement? Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa organized the news conference. He’s up for re-election tomorrow. City Councilman Jack Weiss tagged along. He’s on the ballot as a city attorney candidate. City councilmen Eric Garcetti and Bill Rosendahl – also running for re-election – also joined the news conference with the popular police chief.

  Mayor Villaraigosa denied that he was using city resources for political purposes – as the dozens of recruits and police personnel stood behind him and the chief for a photo opportunity with TV news cameras.

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  • March 2, 2009 2:06 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Man accused of terrorist ties pleads not guilty to other charges

  A Tustin man accused of terrorist ties pleaded not guilty today to charges that he lied on his U.S. passport and citizenship applications. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the man made his plea in federal court in Santa Ana.

  Susan Valot: Federal prosecutors say Ahmadullah Niazi, an Afghan national, tried to hide his ties to terrorist groups – including Al-Qaida and the Taliban. They say he did so by lying on his passport and naturalization applications a few years ago about past names he’s used.

  Prosecutors say the 34-year-old also lied about taking a trip to Pakistan to visit family. The feds say Niazi’s sister is married to Osama bin Laden’s security coordinator. The government’s case centers around secret recordings made by a paid FBI informant.

  That’s upset the Muslim-American community. It wants an investigation into why the FBI is planting informants in local mosques. Niazi’s pleaded not guilty to the citizenship and passport application charges.

  His family claims he’s being targeted by the feds because he refused to become an informant for them. Niazi’s being held on a half-million-dollars bail. His trial’s due to begin in April.

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  • March 2, 2009 2:00 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA County makes it easier to have juvenile criminal records sealed

  Los Angeles County is making it easier for adults to have their juvenile criminal records sealed. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that many have complained it’s been too hard to do until now.

  Frank Stoltze: Until this week, adults who wanted their juvenile criminal records sealed could only make the request at the Eastlake Juvenile Court in Boyle Heights. That meant someone in the Antelope Valley had to travel more than an hour. Now, adults can make the request at the same court that heard their last delinquency case.

  It’s an important issue for young people who’ve gotten into trouble as kids, straightened out their lives, and face employers who conduct thorough background checks. Once juvenile offenders are 18 years old, they can petition for the court to seal their records.

  They must be able to show a court that they’ve been “rehabilitated,” and that they don’t have an open civil suit regarding their juvenile record. Even if it’s sealed, prosecutors can still use the information in adult criminal cases.

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  • March 2, 2009 12:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA law firm lays off hundreds in biggest large firm layoff ever

  A major U.S. law firm founded in Los Angeles is giving pink slips to hundreds of lawyers and staff. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports it’s the largest ever layoff at a big firm.

  Molly Peterson: Latham and Watkins was founded in downtown Los Angeles 75 years ago – it’s still got headquarters here. Since then it’s grown to more than 2,500 lawyers worldwide.

  The layoffs announced today include more than 250 staffers and paralegals, and 190 U.S. based associates. That represents about 12 percent of the firm’s associate base. The move came after the firm announced tough financial news last year – two of Latham’s major clients were investment firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, both of whom collapsed.

  Overall, Latham’s revenues dropped 4 percent, and profits were down 20 percent per partner – the worst drop among major firms. The firm’s managing partner said newly unemployed associates will get six months’ worth of severance at an amount up to $100,000, and six months of health insurance.

  That package is among the most generous among major firms that have released staff lately. Latham’s not the only major Los Angeles based firm with major clients troubled by the financial crisis – they and other firms say they’re watching their wallets closely in 2009.

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  • February 27, 2009 2:33 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Islamic group says FBI informant instigated rather than informed

  The head of a Southern California Muslim group says he and other Muslims feel betrayed by allegations that the FBI used an informant to infiltrate Southern California mosques. Craig Monteilh claims the FBI paid him to identify and thwart terrorist operations in the Orange County Islamic community.

  Hussam Ayloush is executive director of the Greater L.A. Council on American-Islamic Relations. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that Monteilh was more instigator than informant.

  Hussam Ayloush: “At a same time when we’re promoting a partnership – with our law enforcement – for the sake for national security, our FBI were hiring shady characters and individuals to try to instigate against the Muslim community.

  “And instigate acts of violence to ruin the reputation of the Muslim community. We feel very betrayed by this very unprofessional behavior.”

  Ayloush notes that Monteilh had been convicted of grand theft and forgery in the past. Monteilh claims he was gathering information on Ahmadullah Niazi.

  He’s an Afghan national who authorities arrested last week on charges of lying on documents about his alleged connections to terrorist groups. Niazi denies the charges. The FBI has not confirmed Monteih’s claims.

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  • February 27, 2009 2:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Muslim group members angry at FBI over informant

  A Muslim group says its members are angry and disillusioned with the FBI. The statement by the L.A. office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations follows allegations by an Irvine man that he functioned as a paid FBI informant at several Southern California mosques.

  Craig Monteilh claims he recorded one man, Ahmadullah Niazi, talking about plans to blow up local buildings. But Jarir Saaeoun told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that he used to attend an Irvine mosque with Monteilh – and he thinks the alleged informant was an instigator.

  Jarir Saaeoun: “There’s been, like, many times when he’s come and asked about jihad and verses in the Koran, what do they mean, how can we implement them, and what sort of things like that.”

  Saeeoun also said he never heard Niazi make any kind of extremist comments. Authorities arrested Niazi, an Afghan national, last week, claiming that he’d lied on passport and citizenship applications about his alleged connections to terrorist groups.

  Niazi has denied being a jihadist. He claims the FBI is retaliating against him because he refused to become an informant.

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  • February 27, 2009 2:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Controller Chick reports on moving gang programs under mayor's office

  One year after the City of Los Angeles placed all its anti-gang programs under the control of the mayor’s office, City Controller Laura Chick says: So far, so good. She also says the hard work isn’t over yet. More on the story from KPCC’s Nick Roman.

  Nick Roman: Chick’s report surveys L.A.’s progress with the Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development. That’s the mayor-controlled umbrella office that manages the anti-gang programs formerly scattered across city government.

  Chick’s report says its first year has worked out pretty well, but there’s more to do. She says that for L.A.’s anti-gang programs to work, they’ll have to coordinate with L.A. County and with L.A. City schools.

  Her report doesn’t mention whether Los Angeles gang prevention programs are doing a good job at keeping kids out of gangs. That’s why the controller called for the management switch a year ago. Nobody knew which gang prevention programs worked; and they didn’t know how to figure it out, either.

  Laura Chick, who’ll leave as city controller when her term is up this summer, says that before she goes, she wants to have an anti-gang program evaluation process in place.

  LINK: Laura Chick’s Report - pdf file

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  • February 26, 2009 5:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Jury begins deliberations in wildfire arsonist trial

  A Riverside County jury will begin deliberating tomorrow in the trial of suspected arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler. The 38-year-old car mechanic is accused of setting the Esperanza Fire near Banning two years ago.

  Five US Forest Service Firefighters died in that wildfire. Oyler could get the death penalty. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has more on today’s closing arguments.

  Steven Cuevas: Prosecutors reviewed evidence they say links Oyler to more than a dozen fires – including the Esperanza Fire. Prosecutors said Oyler bundled matches around cigarettes to set fires.

  They said investigators found his DNA on some of the cigarettes. There’s also testimony from a relative who says Oyler is a confessed serial arsonist.

  But the defense argued that in the rush to find the person responsible for killing five firefighters, prosecutors got the wrong guy. Attorney Mark McDonald conceded that Oyler may have started some of the fires – but not the Esperanza Fire. McDonald argued the fires are the work of several different arsonists.

  The defense is also leaning on a pair of conflicting alibis. Oyler told investigators he was at a local casino the night the fire broke out. But his sister testified she was smoking methamphetamine with him that night at his apartment in Beaumont.

  If Raymond Lee Oyler is found guilty of first degree murder, he could be sentenced to death.

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  • February 26, 2009 5:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Authorities bust Sinaloa drug cartel operators in LA

  Authorities say they’ve made a big dent in the Southern California operations of a giant Mexican drug cartel. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports the bust was part of a two-year-long nationwide crackdown on the Sinaloa cartel.

  Frank Stoltze: South of the border, Sinaloa is best known for ruthless violence. Special Agent Sarah Pullen of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration says locally, the cartel’s focused on repackaging and distributing cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and other drugs.

  Sarah Pullen: What’s interesting to note is the individuals who were arrested here in Los Angeles were really the hub and the central point for the entire national and international organization.

  Stoltze: The DEA arrested more than 150 Sinaloa associates in Southern California over the past two years – 13 this week. Pullen says it’s progress, but it will hardly shut down the drug trade.

  Pullen: Obviously, we’ve got to reduce the demand for drugs before we have a very, very significant impact in this.

  Stoltze: Pullen’s pessimistic that the arrests here will have much impact in Mexico, where violence has exploded as various cartels compete for territory.

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  • February 26, 2009 1:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Authorities target Sinaloa drug cartel in LA

  Authorities say they arrested more than 150 people in the Los Angeles area as part of their crackdown on the Sinaloa drug cartel. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Sarah Pullen says L.A. was a hub for the notorious Mexican drug organization.

  Sarah Pullen: “Some of them are us citizens. Some of them are illegal immigrants – many of them Mexican nationals.

  “But the majority of the individuals that we did arrest in the local Los Angeles area were part of trafficking organizations or transshipment organizations and they were responsible for getting the drugs here, repackaging them, and then distributing them.”

  During the nearly two-year operation, authorities arrested more than 750 people nationwide. They also seized $60 million in cash and confiscated more than 40 million pounds of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and other drugs.

  Investigators say they also grabbed three boats, three planes – and 150 cars.

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  • February 26, 2009 12:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Federal grand jury awards over $1 million to wrongfully jailed man

  A federal jury has awarded more than $1 million to a Sunland man the Glendale Police Department had falsely accused of murder. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze says the man spent eight months in jail.

  Frank Stoltze: Three years ago, Glendale police arrested Edmond Ovasapyan for the murder of a 21-year-old man who’d been shot while trying to protect his mother during a home invasion robbery. Ovasapyan was working as a tile contractor at the time. He told detectives he had cell phone records that could prove he was working in Burbank when the shooting occurred.

  He said police ignored his alibi, and sued the Glendale Police Department for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. A federal grand jury agreed and awarded him just over $1 million in compensatory damages. It also found two detectives liable for $150,000 in punitive damages.

  One juror told the Los Angeles Times that “when someone is charged with murder, you must have probable cause, not possible cause, or the whole system falls apart.”

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  • February 25, 2009 6:15 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA superintendent says student abuse must be reported immediately

  L.A. school superintendent Ramon Cortines says any report of possible abuse of any student must be reported right away. Cortines says he sent an e-mail to all public school employees in Los Angeles last night to make that clear.

  The Cortines e-mail came after the schools chief reassigned six employees at Taft High following a report about alleged hazing of athletes on the boys’ volleyball team. Cortines says the police should have been told about the Taft incident, whether it was true or not.

  Ramon Cortines: “It is not who you like, it is not about what you thought. You must take action immediately. We are the stewards as it relates to our children and young people, and protecting them from what first was seen as horseplay but obviously based on preliminary information was far more serious.”

  Cortines spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Police investigators say no school employees were involved in the alleged hazing. The L.A. school superintendent says any such incident must be reported to the LAPD and the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services – without exception.

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  • February 25, 2009 4:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Closing arguments scheduled in Esperanza wildfire arson case

  Closing arguments are scheduled tomorrow in the Riverside County trial of suspected arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler. He’s charged with setting a wildfire two years ago that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters. Oyler is also charged with other arson-related offenses. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has details.

  Steven Cuevas: Throughout the month-long trial, prosecutors created a portrait of a troubled man “bent on destruction.” They say Raymond Lee Oyler set increasingly larger fires climaxing with the 40,000 acre Esperanza wildfire that killed five federal firefighters and destroyed dozens of homes. Prosecutor Michael Hestrin says the wind whipped fire was so intense it burned firefighters to the bone.

  Oyler says he’s not guilty, though several witnesses, including Oyler’s girlfriend, say the 38-year-old car mechanic is a confessed firebug. Defense attorneys say the fires are the work of multiple, independent arsonists.

  Oyler’s sister testified that she was with her brother on the night of the deadly Esperanza fire. Joanna Oyler said the two were smoking methamphetamine together. That contradicts earlier statements made by the suspect. Oyler told investigators that he’d spent the evening at a local Indian casino. If convicted, Raymond Lee Oyler could get the death penalty.

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  • February 25, 2009 12:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Riverside County approves public protest limits

  Riverside County supervisors today approved an ordinance that bars protests within 30 feet of residential property lines. The action comes a few months after a demonstration outside a Church of Scientology compound near Hemet. A protestor ended up in a scuffle with a security guard hired by the church. Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone drafted the ordinance.

  Jeff Stone: “Government must take the necessary precautions in regards to public safety witnessed and addressed in other municipalities. Many jurisdictions including the County of San Diego, the City of Riverside, and Los Angeles have adopted local laws which establish buffer zones to protect the well-being of residents and also respect the First Amendment rights and safety of demonstrators.”

  An anti-Scientology group says the ordinance violates its right to free speech. It claims the Scientology compound in Hemet is used to clamp down on members who want to leave the church. Scientology officials say the facility is the church’s media headquarters – and serves as a residence for some church members.

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  • February 24, 2009 3:48 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Bail set for OC man accused of terrorist ties

  An Afghan national who lives in Tustin has been ordered to answer charges next month that he lied on his citizenship and passport applications. KPCC’s Susan Valot says a federal judge in Santa Ana today set the man’s bail at a half-million dollars.

  Susan Valot: Federal investigators arrested Ahmadullah Sais Niazi at his Tustin home last week. They say he lied about alleged ties to terrorism groups – including al-Qaida and the Taliban – on his naturalization and passport applications.

  Prosecutors also say Niazi lied to authorities about traveling to Pakistan to visit family. They say his sister is married to Osama bin Laden’s security coordinator. Niazi calls the charges a “conspiracy.” His family says the FBI threatened two years ago to make Niazi’s life a “living hell” if he didn’t become an informant.

  His family and a Muslim civil rights group are calling for an investigation into whether the 34-year-old was arrested because he refused to become an informant. A federal judge said Niazi will have to surrender his passport and wear an electronic monitor if he makes bail.

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  • February 24, 2009 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• OC grand jury sides with sheriff over concealed weapons

  The Orange County grand jury is siding with the sheriff, when it comes to concealed weapons permits. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the grand jury released a report today in Santa Ana.

  Susan Valot: Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens came under fire by county supervisors and gun-rights advocates when she planned to revoke certain concealed-weapons permits. In the end, the sheriff left her critics grumbling when she decided to bump forward the expiration dates of the permits in question.

  Hutchens is worried about permits given out for “good cause” by former sheriff Mike Carona. Hutchens says she’s found that in many cases the “good cause” wasn’t good enough to carry a concealed weapon. The grand jury says Hutchens is simply doing her job by coming up with a comprehensive policy to deal with concealed weapons permits.

  The grand jury says criticism of Hutchens is “unfounded and not warranted.” It says county supervisors, leave the sheriff alone – and let her do her job. The supervisors are required to respond to the grand jury report.

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  • February 24, 2009 1:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Chinese man convicted of exporting sensitive imaging

  A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has convicted a Chinese man in a scheme to illegally export thermal-imaging cameras to China. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze says he’s the second man convicted in the case.

  Frank Stoltze: Prosecutors say intelligence agencies can use the thermal-imaging technology to observe what the human eye can’t usually see. They say Zhi Yong Guo was an engineer at a technology development company in Beijing when he asked an accomplice to obtain ten thermal-imaging cameras for the Chinese Special Police.

  Prosecutors contend that the U.S. company that makes the cameras repeatedly warned that nobody could export them without a special license from the federal Commerce Department. Authorities arrested Zhi Yong Guo and Tah Wei Chao at L.A. International Airport last year and found the cameras hidden in suitcases, stuffed in shoes, and concealed in clothing.

  Both have yet to be sentenced. Zhi Yong Guo faces up to forty years in prison.

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  • February 23, 2009 6:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Authorities indict three Southern California men on movie piracy charges

  Just before the Academy Awards, the feds have indicted three Southern Californians for movie piracy. KPCC’s Brian Watt says two of the cases involve films nominated for Oscars.

  Brian Watt: The crime is called “uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution.” It carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and at least $250,000 in fines.

  A federal grand jury indicted Owen Moody of San Marcos, alleging he’d uploaded a copy of “Slumdog Millionaire” to a Web site called “thepiratebay.org.”

  The grand jury charged Derek Hawthorne of Moorpark with uploading the films “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Australia” to Web sites where visitors could download them to their own computers.

  Authorities arrested Jack Yates of Porter Ranch last week in another case. Yates allegedly copied a screener of Mike Myers’ comedy “The Love Guru” before Paramount Pictures was set release it last June. The government contends that he distributed the copy to others and it wound up on the Internet before the release date.

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  • February 20, 2009 5:46 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino furloughs police

  Two days after agreeing not to cut its public safety budget, San Bernardino city officials have voted to slash the salaries of more than 300 police officers. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the move widens a rift between the city and its cops.

  Steven Cuevas: The furloughs would require police officers to take off four hours a week without pay. It might not seem like much – but city officials reckon it would save San Bernardino more than $600,000 over the next three months. It could also spark a lawsuit by the cops who say the furloughs violate their contract.

  The Police Officers Association already offered to take about $3 million in cuts over the next two years. But there’s a caveat in that offer. The officers union wants the city to dump police chief Michael Bildt. He was scheduled to step down next month anyway, but will stay on a little longer until a replacement is named. The city says it’s sticking to that plan.

  San Bernardino is trying to close a $9 million budget shortfall. On Wednesday, the city council laid off more than 50 workers and imposed job furloughs on municipal workers.

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  • February 20, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Appeals court strikes down video game age restrictions

  A federal appeals court has struck down a state law that bans the sale of violent video games to minors. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law a little more than three years ago, the video game industry fired back with legal challenges. So, the law never took effect.

  It would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. It also mandated strict labeling requirements for video game makers.

  The video game industry argued that California’s law could open the door for other states to limit minors’ access to other material under the guise of protecting children. A lower court – and the federal appeals court – sided with the industry. The latest decision said there are less restrictive ways to protect children that include the industry’s current voluntary rating system.

  The Democratic state senator from San Francisco who wrote the law is also a child psychologist. He wants state attorney general Jerry Brown to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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  • February 20, 2009 4:19 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Criminal Justice

• Tustin man arrested, accused of terrorist connections

  An Afghan national is due in federal court in Santa Ana this afternoon. He’s accused of trying to hide terrorist connections. KPCC’s Susan Valot says federal agents arrested the man at his Tustin home this morning.

  Susan Valot: Members of a federal anti-terrorism task force say Ahmadullah Sais Niazi lied on his U.S. naturalization and passport applications about various names he’s used and about his connection to terrorist groups.

  In a newly-unsealed indictment, federal authorities say the 34-year-old denied having ties to radical groups, including al-Qaida and the Taliban. Authorities also say the Tustin man lied about traveling to Pakistan a few years ago to visit family.

  The feds say that visit included a meeting with Osama bin Laden’s security coordinator. Niazi now faces federal charges of perjury, naturalization fraud, and other charges. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years in federal prison and a more than $1 million fine.

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  • February 20, 2009 2:58 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA city officials hope to receive millions from federal stimulus

  Los Angeles city officials say they hope to receive millions of dollars from the federal stimulus package President Obama signed this week. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that police and gang prevention programs may be among the beneficiaries.

  Frank Stoltze: The stimulus bill provides $4 billion for law enforcement programs nationwide – a quarter of that for new cops.

  Bill Bratton: One billion dollars for new police – approximately 13,000 new police – and we will aggressively compete for those additional positions.

  Stoltze: LAPD Chief Bill Bratton says that, unlike an earlier federal program to help cities hire police officers, this bill requires no matching funds. Democratic Congressman Xavier Becerra of L.A. says stimulus money for transportation and other projects do.

  Xavier Becerra: To be competitive and get those monies, the federal government’s gonna want to know that it doesn’t have to foot the entire bill for a particular project, which means you gotta bring in some matching dollars.

  Stoltze: He said L.A. County is well positioned in this regard, with its recent passage of a half-cent sales tax for transportation. At the same time, cities and counties across the region face falling tax revenues and may not have enough matching funds.

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  • February 19, 2009 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Probation and community service for man involved in starting Malibu fire

  It’ll be five years’ probation and community service for one of five men accused of starting a destructive wildfire in Malibu a year and a half ago. More on the sentence from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: The fire that started in the Corral Canyon area eventually destroyed 53 homes and burned almost two dozen others. Investigators traced its origin to a popular party area in a cave on state park land.

  One of the five men charged with starting an illegal campfire was 28-year-old Brian Franks. He pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to testify against the four other men.

  During his sentencing hearing in Van Nuys, about 20 people who’d lost their homes in the fire spoke up. One denounced Franks’ sentence as an insult, and described him and the others as cowards who ran off and left homeowners to die in their beds.

  Franks’ public defender said the sentence was fair because his client was the only one of the accused who tried to put out the fire. The presiding judge noted that Franks’ testimony in other hearings provided key information in the prosecution’s case against four other men who will be tried later.

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  • February 19, 2009 12:15 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD could soon clear 10 percent of untested rape kit backlog

  About 10 percent of the LAPD’s nagging backlog of untested rape kits could be cleared within a few weeks. L.A. Police Chief William Bratton told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that 400 cases have been sent to the lab for priority analysis.

  Chief William Bratton: “We are prioritizing those that are most likely to produce results immediately. But the goal is, over the next year or so, to get rid of the backlog totally, and then stay contemporary with the issue of rape kit analysis.”

  Bratton says the rape kit backlog that had been calculated at about 7,000 is actually about 4,000. The LAPD was loudly criticized last year after news reports about the backlog of untested rape kits. Some of the potential evidence from those kits might no longer fall within the statute of limitations.

  The LAPD isn’t the only law enforcement agency with a rape kit backlog. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has about 800 untested kits.

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  • February 18, 2009 5:43 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino approves deep budget cuts

  State lawmakers take note – bipartisanship is possible in times of deep fiscal crisis – at least at the local level. San Bernardino officials worked late into the night Tuesday to close a mounting budget deficit. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the city’s revised $150 million budget includes dozens of layoffs.

  Steven Cuevas: In all, about 50 people will lose their jobs. Most of those people work in city parks and libraries. Every other city department will also feel the pinch through pay and spending cuts – all departments, that is, except the police.

  The San Bernardino Police Officers Association vowed to sue the city if it did make cuts. Association president Richard Lawhead says 49 officers were sent layoff warnings last week.

  Richard Lawhead: “It’s robbing the city of the resources we have. The reason they’ve been able to enjoy such a low crime rate now and they’ve been touting it everywhere is the amount of visibility we’ve had on the street, the amount of men and women that are out there on the street protecting the citizens of this city.”

  In the end, San Bernardino council members decided not to lay off any police officers. But the council may still pressure officers to take a 10 percent pay cut to help the city close a $9 million budget shortfall.

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  • February 18, 2009 1:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• County unions agree to no pay raise amid financial crisis

  Labor unions that represent more than 17,000 Los Angeles County government employees have agreed to forgo cost-of-living and salary increases for the next year. Steve Remige of the union that represents sheriff’s deputies said the county’s plunging tax revenues prompted the move.

  Steve Remige: “Ya know, we knew that these times were going to be, and we felt that it was more productive for our membership to make sure that we didn’t have to go through any type of concession bargaining with the county, like a lot of the other cities and counties up and down the state are currently experiencing with their employee unions.”

  Some cities and counties are laying off workers and cutting back on salaries. In addition to falling tax revenues, Los Angeles County could face more than $1 billion in deferred payments from the state of California through August.

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  • February 17, 2009 5:17 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Garden Grove to install Amber Alert signs on city streets

  The Amber Alert is moving from highways and freeways to city streets. KPCC’s Susan Valot says soon you’ll see Amber Alert signs on two streets in Garden Grove.

  Susan Valot: The electric signs flash vehicle descriptions to alert drivers so they can help police nab alleged kidnappers fast. Right now, you see those signs only on freeways. But Garden Grove plans to install two signs by the end of this month on Harbor Boulevard at Flagstone Avenue and on Valley View Street at Tiffany Avenue.

  Garden Grove traffic engineers say Harbor and Valley View carry tens of thousands of commuters each day – so lots of people will see the signs. The city’s using federal and state money to pay for the two-and-a-half-million-dollar project.

  The signs also will be hooked into the city’s 40-camera traffic management system. When the signs aren’t being used for Amber Alerts, they’ll tell drivers about traffic jams. Garden Grove’s the first city in California to install Amber Alert signs on city-owned streets.

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  • February 17, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• San Bernardino proposes public safety layoffs, higher fees

  It could be a late night for San Bernardino officials as they hammer out a budget. The city is facing a $9 million deficit. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the revised budget will probably include higher fees – and some severe cuts.

  Steven Cuevas: If there’s any good news to be had in San Bernardino’s bleak budget outlook, it’s that 200 city workers won’t lose their jobs as first thought. One reason is because the city plans to raise fees for weed abatement, pet licenses, and parking meters. That would enable San Bernardino to reduce the number of proposed layoffs by half.

  The city could try to keep library branches open with the help of volunteers. An education program for the disabled could stay open with the help of private money.

  San Bernardino had proposed laying off a handful of cops and firefighters. Now it looks like the cops will stay on the job – but they might have their hours reduced. That’s not going over well with the police union. It’s promised to sue if San Bernardino goes ahead with pay cuts for police officers.

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  • February 17, 2009 2:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Judge delays decision on Orange County Sheriff deputy pensions

  A Los Angeles judge has decided to delay making a decision about Orange County Sheriff’s deputy pensions. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the judge today put off making a ruling until later this month.

  Susan Valot: Orange County supervisors last year filed a lawsuit to roll back sheriff’s deputy pensions.

  The supervisors say boosting the pension plan to “three percent at 50” a few years ago and making it retroactive amounted to an illegal gift of state funds. They say the plan encourages deputies to retire earlier, at age 50. The supervisors also say the pension hike is an unfunded liability that digs the county deeper into debt.

  The union for deputies says the pension increase does not violate the state Constitution. It also says a deal’s a deal.

  L.A. County Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix earlier this week indicated she might side with the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and throw out the lawsuit. But now she’ll mull it over a little more… and rule on or before February 23.

  Local lawmakers up and down California are watching this case. It could set a precedent that could allow them to sue to save money on unfunded pensions.

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  • February 13, 2009 6:31 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• City attorney goes after Mara Salvatrucha's LA drug headquarters

  The Los Angeles City Attorney is seeking to take over an apartment complex that the Mara Salvatrucha gang allegedly uses as a drug headquarters. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: More than any previous Los Angeles City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo has used nuisance laws to seize control of properties gang members have allegedly owned or overrun. In this case, he’s filed a lawsuit against the owner of a 24-unit apartment building in the Pico-Union district just west of Downtown.

  A Delgadillo spokesman says the building is a hangout for Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. He says the gang uses the complex for drug sales and distribution. The suit asks a judge to appoint a receiver who would take control of the property and work with police to eliminate criminal activity. It also seeks civil penalties and the recovery of law enforcement investigation costs from the owner.

  The owner of the building tells the Associated Press he has no knowledge of illegal activity there.

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  • February 13, 2009 6:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Elgin Baylor files discrimination lawsuit against Los Angeles Clippers

  Elgin Baylor worked 22 years as general manager for the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, he’s suing the team, its owner Donald Sterling, and the National Basketball Association for age and race discrimination.

  The 74-year-old basketball Hall of Famer said the team’s owner and president began harassing him about his age four years ago. Then last August, Baylor said, the team gave him a take-it-or-leave it offer to retire and work as a consultant.

  Elgin Baylor: “I did not retire. I have so much more to give. The way I was treated by the NBA and the Clippers was unfair, and in many ways discriminatory. It was wrong.”

  Baylor says that after the 2006 season, when the Clippers made the playoffs, the team gave coach Mike Dunleavy a new four-year, $22 million contract… while Baylor’s salary remained at $350,000.

  An attorney for the Clippers says Baylor received numerous salary increases over 22 years, and was always treated fairly.

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  • February 12, 2009 5:41 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Sports/Recreation

• Court rules that vaccines don't cause autism

  A special federal court ruled today that vaccines do not cause autism. More than 5,000 families had filed claims seeking compensation for their children’s autism, on the grounds that it was caused by vaccinations for measles or other diseases.

  NPR science correspondent John Hamilton has covered this issue for many years. He told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that the government presented a much stronger case.

  John Hamilton: “The arguments put forth by the government were very persuasive – they involved large numbers of people in very highly controlled scientific experiments and epidemiological studies, of which there have been many.

  “And, on the other hand, the plaintiffs often were individual pediatrician, who said ‘well in my clinical judgment I think the vaccine could have caused this,’ and so it did not seem like a close contest.”

  One of the judges on the special court said the families seeking compensation were “the victims of bad science conducted to support litigation rather than to advance medical understanding” of autism. The families’ lawyers said they may appeal today’s ruling.

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  • February 12, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Science/Technology

• Federal court rules against families in autism/vaccine case

  A special federal court today dealt a major blow to those who claim that routine childhood vaccinations cause autism. The U.S. Court of Claims ruled against three families seeking compensation for their children’s autism.

  One of the “special masters” sitting on the court called the families’ evidence “weak, contradictory, and unpersuasive.” NPR Science Correspondent John Hamilton says researchers have come to the same conclusion for years.

  John Hamilton: “It is pretty uniform. Every time they have done a study that looked at populations where you compare kids who got vaccines with kids who didn’t both in this country and in other countries, you find the same thing, that there is no difference in the rate of autism among the kids who got vaccinated and the kids who didn’t. And that makes a pretty convincing case that the vaccines are not causing autism.”

  Hamilton spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” The ruling is unlikely to persuade those who are convinced of a link between vaccinations and autism. Lawyers for the families say they may appeal.

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  • February 12, 2009 4:23 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Science/Technology

• Skid Row hotel reaches settlement with low-income residents

  The Western Center on Law and Poverty says it’s reached a settlement with a Skid Row hotel that kicked out low-income occupants to make way for renovations. The center’s Andrea Luquetta says the settlement strengthens requirements that Los Angeles city-financed redevelopment projects help relocate the people they displace.

  Andrea Luquetta: “This is a policy to address the fact that when there is redevelopment, particularly in a low income building, there is tremendous incentive to get rid of the poorest tenants. And often that includes the elderly, people with disabilities, including mental and physical disabilities, which was many of the client population at the Alexandria.”

  The center’s lawsuit alleged that the Alexandria Hotel in downtown L.A. gave as little as three days’ notice and failed to pay relocation costs. The settlement provides up to $400,000 in payments to 100 people.

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  • February 12, 2009 4:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Former Clippers GM files age, race discrimination suit against Clippers

  The owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, envisioned a plantation-type structure for his team, says the Clippers’ former general manager Elgin Baylor.

  Baylor is suing Sterling, the Clippers, and the National Basketball Association for race and age discrimination. Baylor says that during his 22 years as general .anager, the team limited his authority.

  Elgin Baylor: “It was like working with one hand tied behind my back. But given the shortage of blacks in the executive roles within the NBA, I felt obligated to hang in there and endure whatever came my way.”

  Baylor says that after the 2006 season, when the Clippers made the playoffs, the team gave coach Mike Dunleavy a new four-year, $22 million contract – while Baylor’s salary remained at $350,000.

  In a statement, the Clippers’ attorney called Baylor’s claims ridiculous and said the team will defend itself vigorously against them.

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  • February 12, 2009 2:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Sports/Recreation

• LA City Attorney reaches settlement deal with Health Net

  The Los Angeles City Attorney has reached a settlement with Health Net over accusations that the insurance company wrongfully terminated the policies of people who’d filed expensive medical claims. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: State regulators already have reached settlements with Los Angeles-based Health Net. Jeff Isaacs of the city attorney’s office argues that L.A.’s settlement is better, starting with its requirement that Health Net pay people whose policies it terminated.

  Jeff Isaacs: Six-point-three million that will be distributed to approximately 800 or so rescission victims. And it will be distributed automatically so they don’t have to do anything. And the average amount of the distribution will be close to $8,000 per victim.

  Stoltze: The state settlements include no such provision. Isaacs says the city’s deal also makes it easier to obtain reimbursement for medical costs incurred after people lost their coverage, although it caps the total amount at $3 million. Health Net also has agreed to pay $2 million in civil penalties.

  The state insurance commissioner also has announced a settlement with Anthem Blue Cross that includes reinstating the policies of 2300 people.

  In recent years Los Angeles, two state regulators, and policy holders have sued various health insurance companies over their alleged practice of dumping people who make expensive claims.

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  • February 11, 2009 6:18 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA police file charges in severe burning attack

  Los Angeles police charged a Tarzana woman today in connection with last week’s fiery attack on an exotic dancer outside a bar. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says authorities are still trying to establish a motive.

  Cheryl Devall: The incident happened outside the Babes and Beer bar in Van Nuys around 1:30 in the morning last Thursday. The dancer, Roberta Dos Santo-Busby, was counting her tips near the end of her shift when someone called her outside.

  Prosecutors say it was Rianne Theriault-Odom, who allegedly argued with the dancer before dousing her with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire. Santo-Busby, who has two children, is in critical condition with burns over 60 percent of her body.

  Her alleged attacker is in jail in lieu of $1 million bail. The L.A. County district attorney’s office says that if a jury convicts her on felony counts related to the assault, Theriault-Odom could face life in prison.

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  • February 11, 2009 3:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Experts say moving inmates onto parole/probation can work... with lots of support

  A panel of federal judges could soon order California to release thousands of prison inmates. The judges say it’s the only way to improve overcrowded prisons. They also say the state could do it through parole reform.

  Jerry Powers, the chief probation officer for Stanislaus County, says sweeping thousands of prison inmates onto parole or probation could be a disaster.

  Jerry Powers: “I’ve heard discussions about direct discharge, which would result in these offenders coming out straight into the community with no parole supervision. I’ve heard discussions about a system where they come out and they have a very short parole period. You’re talking about an order that will potentially drop these people into counties and cities with virtually no resources available to them.”

  Powers says counties would need more parole and probation officers.

  Phyllis MacNeal, who’s a parole officer in Pomona, says expanding parole can’t work without enough resources.

  Phyllis MacNeal: “Inmates potentially need programs, like drug programs, vocational programs. They need jobs. They need something to be released to on the positive level versus just shooting them out to the streets, because they will re-offend again.”

  The federal judges have told state officials to prepare plans to release more than 50,000 inmates over the next three years.

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  • February 10, 2009 5:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Orange County joins lawsuit against state over budget deferrals

  Orange County is joining several other counties in a lawsuit against the state. KPCC’s Susan Valot says they want the state government to pay what it owes the counties.

  Susan Valot: Orange County’s budget director says if the state goes through with a plan to defer some payments for up to seven months, it would leave the county with a more than $100 million hole in its budget by the end of June.

  So the Orange County supervisors have agreed to get in on a lawsuit by several counties against the state. Supervisor Chris Norby says they’re basically suing the state for money it doesn’t have.

  Supervisor Chris Norby: We did it anyway, because we think that while they may not have it, we’ll at least be first in line once they get it. And it will send a shot to the legislature that you’ve got to resolve this one way or the other.

  Valot: The counties haven’t field the lawsuit yet. San Diego, Sacramento, and San Francisco counties are already on board. In the meantime, Riverside and San Bernardino county supervisors say they’ll join other county supervisors Thursday in Sacramento, to put pressure on state lawmakers to come up with a budget and keep the money flowing.

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  • February 10, 2009 5:33 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Corrections Department fights ruling requiring prisoner releases

  The state Corrections and Rehabilitation Department says it will fight yesterday’s ruling on prison overcrowding. A three-judge panel tentatively ruled that California must release tens of thousands of prisoners to improve conditions in state prisons that have been declared unconstitutional.

  Corrections spokesman Seth Unger told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that the panel can exercise many legal options, should its ruling become final.

  Seth Unger: “Well we strongly disagree with the panel’s tentative ruling that the release of 36- to 50-thousand prison inmates would be appropriate and that it wouldn’t jeopardize public safety. This would be the equivalent of us letting out seven to 10 full prisons onto the street.”

  Unger insists that medical care has improved in state prisons. He said the department could appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  The judges want the state to come up with a plan for releasing the prisoners in two to three years. They may hold additional hearings before they make the decision final.

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  • February 10, 2009 2:54 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Car wash manager used machete to intimidate workers

  Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has filed a criminal complaint against the owners of four car washes.

  Delgadillo says Benny Pirian and his brother Nissan mistreated workers at their four car washes in Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Northridge.

  Delgadillo told KPCC his office and the federal Department of Labor have been investigating the car washes for four months, interviewing workers who were willing to talk.

  Rocky Delgadillo: “One of the managers, Manuel Reyes, actually brandished a machete to intimidate these individuals to not cooperate with us in our investigation. If they did cooperate, the brave souls who did, their hours were reduced or their job was eliminated.”

  Delgadillo alleges some workers earned as little as $35 for eight hours of work – and that some worked just for tips. Delgadillo also says the workers received no additional pay for working overtime and that managers discouraged the workers even from taking water breaks.

  Benny and Nissan Pirian have denied similar allegations in the past.

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  • February 10, 2009 2:52 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• City attorney files complaint against car wash owners

  Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has filed a criminal complaint against the owners of four L.A.-area car washes. Delgadillo told KPCC that brothers Benny and Nissan Pirian pay dozens of their employees less than minimum wage and subject them to harmful working conditions.

  Rocky Delgadillo: “There were individuals who received acid burns, lacerations, puncture wounds, and none of those individuals were aided in any way, shape, or form by their employer to get medical attention. They were left to their own devices.”

  The complaint seeks $450,000 in wages Delgadillo believes the workers should have earned.

  The Pirians have denied allegations of low wages in the past, and they’ve accused the workers of falling under the influence of labor union organizers.

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  • February 10, 2009 11:37 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Judges order prisoners released to relieve prison overcrowding

  A special panel of federal judges tentatively ruled today in Sacramento that California must release thousands of inmates to relieve prison overcrowding. The judges say it’s the only way to improve conditions so bad that inmates often die from suicide or lack of proper care. KPCC’s Nick Roman has details.

  Nick Roman: The legal case has been going on for years – and state officials have expected an order like this. Governor Schwarzenegger warned about prison overcrowding two years ago – and he pledged to do something about it.

  Since then, the state’s transferred a few thousand inmates to private or out-of-state lockups – but California prisons still hold about 58,000 more inmates than the 100,000 they were designed for. Inmates are triple-bunked in cells. Gymnasiums double as dormitories.

  Unacceptable, say the judges – but reducing the inmate population doesn’t mean wardens will throw open the doors of California’s 33 prisons. The judges say the state can change parole and other policies so there’s no risk to public safety.

  They also say it doesn’t have to happen now. They want a two- or three-year plan to cut the number of inmates. The Schwarzenegger administration would draw up that plan – but the job of carrying it out would largely fall to the next governor.

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  • February 9, 2009 5:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• ACLU attorney talks about newly released immigration documents

  The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California hopes newly released documents will shine a light on what it calls illegal immigration raids and unlawful detentions.

  ACLU attorney Marisol Orihuela says internal memos a New York law professor obtained indicate that federal agents routinely robbed immigrants of their constitutional protection from unlawful search and seizure. In many cases, she says, agents arrested and deported those immigrants.

  Marisol Orihuela: “Any time the government detains someone where they take someone’s liberty away, it should be held accountable for its alleged basis for justifying that detention.”

  That professor and his students used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain internal memos about Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices.

  The memos suggest that immigration officials presented homeland security-based arguments to Congress to justify federal spending on searches for people with criminal records, but ordered raid teams to carry out broader searches. They also authorized agents to arrest immigrants who were not criminals or terrorists.

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  • February 9, 2009 4:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Obama 'Hope' artist Shepard Fairey sues Associated Press

  The legal back-and-forth continues over the rights to a ubiquitous image of the new president. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the L.A.-based artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster is suing the distributor of the photo on which it’s based.

  Shepard Fairey: That’s because the Associated Press wants credit and compensation from artist Shepard Fairey for the image that became a touchstone for the Obama presidential campaign. Fairey argues that he worked with the shot by AP photographer Mannie Garcia under fair use guidelines that don’t violate the news cooperative’s copyrights.

  The lawsuit in a New York federal court also seeks to prevent the AP from using its copyrights against Fairey or anyone in possession of the poster. In theory, that would include the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., where an original of the red-white-and-blue graphic has been on display since inauguration week.

  The new court complaint isn’t the 38-year-old artist’s only dance with the law. On Saturday, Boston police arrested Fairey – who started his street art career pasting up posters under cover of night – on two outstanding warrants related to graffiti tagging. Police released him a few hours after his arrest.

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  • February 9, 2009 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Professional players hold baseball camp benefit for family killed in Christmas Eve attack

  Rain or shine, big leaguer Mike Sweeney says, he’ll be on the baseball field at Ontario High Saturday morning to raise money for the family killed in the Christmas Eve attack in Covina.

  Sweeney organized an instructional camp for kids in honor of 17-year-old Michael Ortiz. The Ontario High baseball player was one of nine people killed in the savage attack carried out by his aunt’s ex-husband.

  Sweeney, who’s a four-time All-Star,says when he got the call to help the Ortiz family, he jumped at the chance.

  Mike Sweeney: “I know there’ve been a lot of people wondering, ‘Is the camp gonna go on with the rain?’ And my feeling is, the Ortiz family has been through a huge storm. And I don’t think it’s asking much of us to sit out in the rain for a couple of hours, if it is drizzling, with a bunch of kids and have some fun playing baseball.”

  Sweeney says a dozen current or former big leaguers will help at the Ontario High School camp. They’ll start at 10:00. He’s asking families that participate to donate $50. He’s already collected $20,000. Sweeney has played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons. He’s signed with the Seattle Mariners this year.

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  • February 6, 2009 7:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation

• Orange County Sheriff to give update on concealed weapons permits next week

  The Orange County Board of Supervisors’ meeting will likely be packed tomorrow Tuesday. That’s when the sheriff plans to give an update on her department’s concealed weapons permit policy. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: Gun rights advocates have blasted Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens because she wants to tighten guidelines for concealed weapons permits. Hutchens considered revoking the permits, but county supervisors were concerned that revocations would show up in federal criminal databases, and raise suspicions about people whose jobs rely on security clearance.

  Now, the sheriff’s thinking of moving up the expiration dates on the permits. That way, they’d expire and not show up on the permit holder’s record. But gun rights advocates don’t like that, either.

  When Sheriff Hutchens talked to county supervisors about concealed weapons permits last month, an official with her department used surveillance cameras to zoom in on the notes and Blackberry messages of county supervisors. The supervisors, and some free speech advocates, were extremely angry. This’ll be the first time the sheriff’s addressed the board since then.

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  • February 6, 2009 7:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• San Bernardino County tax assessor Postmus resigns

  San Bernardino County’s embattled tax assessor Bill Postmus abruptly resigned this afternoon. The move comes a month after he was charged with drug possession, and a week after some voters launched a recall effort. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas reports the resignation probably ends a once-promising nine-year career in politics.

  Steven Cuevas: Before he was assessor, Bill Postmus was chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. The young Republican raised thousands of dollars for George W. Bush’s presidential bids, and he was considered a shoe-in in for higher office.

  But his career began to unravel last year. A grand jury accused him of fraud and corruption. The District Attorney started looking into questionable real estate deals and allegations that Postmus traded county jobs for political favors. Rumors circulated of a methamphetamine habit and stints in rehab.

  Last month, Postmus was charged with felony drug possession. All the while, he refused to quit as assessor, even as the county hired a special prosecutor to look for ways to remove him from office.

  In his letter of resignation, Postmus said he’ll vacate his office next week. He cited his battle with substance abuse for his resignation.

  In a statement, Bill Ovitt, who chairs the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, hoped Postmus could overcome his problems.

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  • February 6, 2009 7:01 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Activists demand U.S. Border Patrol records of immigration raids

  Rain or shine Saturday morning, dozens of immigration activists are planning to march from Riverside City Hall to the city’s U.S. Border Patrol office. They want details about recent immigration raids in the area. Several Border Patrol officers claim the agency has imposed an arrest quota. Immigration activist Emilio Amaya is with the San Bernardino Community Service Center.

  Emilio Amaya: “We have noticed increased activity by the Border Patrol since the beginning of last year in Lake Ellsinore, Perris, Temecula… so its been going for at least a year now. We wanna get numbers on how many people have been arrested under this quota system, and we wanna know for sure if this is policy and practice.”

  The Border Patrol says it doesn’t have an arrest quota, but says it will investigate the allegations. The agency refuses to give out arrest figures for the Inland area. This week, day laborer groups submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to get that information.

  The “Stop the Raids” march begins at the steps of Riverside City Hall Saturday morning at 10.

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  • February 6, 2009 6:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• 1 dead, 6 wounded in San Gabriel coffee shop shooting

  Police in San Gabriel are searching for two gunmen who opened fire in a crowded coffee shop last night. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze says the attack left one man dead and six wounded – two of them are in critical condition.

  Frank Stoltze: The Coffee Shop cafe sits in a strip mall along busy Valley Boulevard in the heart of San Gabriel. A Chinese bakery and Vietnamese restaurant are nearby. L.A. County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Pat Nolan told Channel Four that two gunmen with bandanas over their faces entered shortly after 11pm.

  Lieutenant Pat Nolan: They specifically targeted a particular table and then turned their attention to the rest of the cafe, fired additional shots, and then fled.

  Stoltze: The Associated Press described workers mopping up pools of blood and sweeping away blood-soaked playing cards after the shooting. Police said robbery did not appear to be the motive.

  They believe the attack was gang-related, but they’re having a hard time finding witnesses willing to talk. Police said the shop’s surveillance cameras were broken and did not record the incident.

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  • February 6, 2009 3:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Silver Lake robberies not targeting gays

  Los Angles police today sought to calm fears in the Silver Lake gay community, after a rash of robberies that targeted men in the neighborhood just north of downtown. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Kitty Felde: Police say attackers have robbed 10 men in the last two months. They stabbed one man and crushed another’s cheekbone.

  Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz: In none of the crimes that we identified the suspects said anything or did anything to indicate that this was a hate crime or targeting gays.

  Felde: The LAPD’s Sergio Diaz said it appears gang members went after people who walked alone, mostly at night. News of the attacks first surfaced on the Internet, where writers speculated that gays were the target.

  Diaz: Quite frankly, we are adjusting to the new technology, because of the blogs, because people can do Twitter and all that, there’s a lot of communication within the community.

  Felde: Diaz said that communication sometimes fosters rumor mongering. He also conceded that the LAPD was slow to recognize the crime trend, and to inform people in Silver Lake.

  Note: The city has scheduled a public meeting about the attacks for 6 o’clock tonight at Ivanhoe Elementary School.

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  • February 5, 2009 4:36 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA mayor supports $13 million LAPD settlement

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today said he supports a $13 million settlement with immigrant rights protesters who clashed with police in MacArthur Park two years ago. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The mayor said he’ll sign the settlement. He also said he supports resolving similar lawsuits filed by nine journalists whom police hit that day.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: I am urging a settlement in this matter. I think we recognize that mistakes were made – that it’s time to move on.

  Stoltze: The settlement with demonstrators requires new crowd control training at the LAPD and bans officers from striking passive protesters with batons. Police Chief Bill Bratton belittled the need for court oversight on these points.

  Police Chief Bill Bratton: Indeed, prior to this settlement, the whole department has been through that training that is only referenced in the document.

  Stoltze: Civil rights attorneys said that reference allows a federal judge to ensure that a department historically resistant to change does change.

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  • February 5, 2009 3:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries generates debate

  This week’s federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in West Los Angeles have generated new debate over the extent to which federal drug laws supersede California law that permits doctor-prescribed pot use. John Eastman, dean of Chapman University’s law school, said that as far as the feds are concerned, it’s all illegal.

  John Eastman: “The impact of the medical marijuana business in California extends beyond its borders. You can’t distinguish marijuana that’s moved in interstate commerce from that which has not. And so therefore it’s within the federal government’s power. The federal law prevails or trumps the state law.”

  Eastman spoke on KPCC’s “AirTalk.” Although the new president said on the campaign trail that he supports the idea of regulated medical marijuana, federal policy has not changed in the two-and-a-half weeks since Barack Obama took office.

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  • February 5, 2009 3:01 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Judge rules Defense of Marriage Act illegally denies benefits

  A judge has ruled that the gay spouse of a federal employee does have the right to receive federal benefits – and that the federal Defense of Marriage act unconstitutionally denies the same-sex spouse the right to those benefits.

  Judge Stephen Reinhardt was ruling on a discrimination claim filed by an attorney with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Robert Iafolla wrote about the case for the L.A. Daily Journal and spoke with the attorney who filed the claim.

  Robert Iafolla: “He told me that he went into this just trying to get benefits for his spouse, you know, just like any of his other coworkers, and the fact that Reinhardt went this extra step and ruled on the constitutionality of DOMA. He was very pleased.”

  DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act. Another judge issued a similar ruling in another case involving a Ninth Circuit employee, but he didn’t go as far as Reinhardt in declaring the law unconstitutional. Both judges issued their decisions as part of internal hearings within the Ninth Circuit, so it’s unclear what precedent – if any – these rulings will set.

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  • February 5, 2009 2:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Activists demand US Border Patrol records of immigration raids

  Immigration activists gathered outside the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters in Riverside this morning. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says they’re upset about claims by agents who say they’ve been given an arrest quota.

  Steven Cuevas: Under this alleged quota system, agents supposedly are pressured to arrest at least 150 undocumented immigrants a month or risk losing days off, and other punishment. The Border Patrol says it has no arrest quota.

  But Emilio Amaya with the San Bernardino Community Service Center says agents have stepped up raids of Inland day labor sites in the last month. He says he’s hearing stories about harassment and racial profiling.

  Emilio Amaya: We have complaints from legal residents and U.S. citizens who were stopped and questioned just because of their ethnicity. We understand they have a job to do, but we also, the fact that someone is Latino does not mean they are violating the law. So it increases racial profiling in our communities.

  Cuevas: The Border Patrol says it will investigate the allegations. Day laborer groups submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for arrest and detention records. On Saturday, they’ll lead a “Stop the Raids” march from the steps of Riverside City Hall to the city’s U.S. Border Patrol station.

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  • February 5, 2009 2:09 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Los Angeles demolishes house that headquartered Drew Street Gang

  Los Angeles City officials today demolished a house in Northeast L.A. that served for two decades as a hub of the Drew Street Gang, one of the most violent gangs in the Southland. Jackson Musker has the story.

  Jackson Musker: The so-called “Satellite House” in Glassell Park was an unassuming old one-story stucco, with rusted railings enclosing the yard. But behind its walls, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo says, Drew Street Gang lords dealt drugs and orchestrated murders.

  City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo: By the end of the day the satellite house, which for years was the symbol of the Avenues Gang here on Drew Street, will be reduced to a pile of rubble…

  [Sound of house demolition]

  Musker: For twenty years, a gang haven. After twenty minutes, a heap of sticks and twisted iron. Police Chief Bill Bratton says he has a new home in mind for Drew Street Gang members who face federal prison terms.

  Chief Bill Bratton: And they’re not going to see the light of day, at least this beautiful light. They may see it in Iowa somewhere, looking over a prison wall, or in Alaska, so they better bring their long johns.

  Musker: The chief says the LAPD will maintain pressure on the Drew Street Gang.

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  • February 4, 2009 5:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• ICE spokeswoman defends arrests of those without criminal records

  In the last five years, federal immigration agents have conducted many surprise searches of homes. Their stated intent was to capture illegal immigrants with criminal records. But newly released information suggests that most of the 96,000 people arrested in those raids didn’t have criminal records.

  Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that didn’t invalidate the work of the agency’s National Fugitive Operations Program.

  Virginia Kice: “These teams prioritize case involving individuals who’ve demonstrated a threat to national security or public safety. But we have a clear mandate to pursue all immigration fugitives, even those who have no documented criminal history in the United States.”

  Kice spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Information about arrest and detention patterns, obtained from internal immigration agency records, was released today in a report by the non-profit Migration Policy Institute.

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  • February 4, 2009 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• ICE spokeswoman defends federal policy

  Published reports indicate that the initial targets of federal immigration home searches - people with criminal backgrounds - constitute a small proportion of those detained and deported.

  In five years, close to three-quarters of the people the raids captured across the country did not have criminal records. Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the practice.

  Virginia Kice: “These are people who’ve had their day in court, who’ve had an opportunity to go before an immigration judge, who’ve been ordered deported, and who’ve failed to comply with those orders. These are the people that these teams are targeting.”

  Kice spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Federal immigration agency records indicate that administrators broadened the intent of the searches without consulting Congress. A law professor and his students obtained the records through Freedom of Information Act requests and leaked it to the New York Times.

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  • February 4, 2009 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal agents seize marijuana hidden in concrete donkeys

  Federal agents last night seized a different kind of drug mule in the Southland. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has the details on the one-and-a-half million dollar marijuana bust.

  Cheryl Devall: It’s not the first use most of us would imagine for concrete garden donkeys. But that’s where federal Customs and Border Protection officers found 1,800 pounds of pot - stashed inside a shipment of 200 decorative donkeys.

  They filled a 40-foot shipping container that landed at the Port of Los Angeles, bound for a fictitious company in Fontana. Federal agents rounded up 15 suspects. Authorities are holding one of them on an outstanding criminal warrant and the rest on immigration violations.

  With the help of L.A. and Fontana police, a multi-agency federal task force traced the mules - the concrete ones - after a series of traffic stops and searches in Sun Valley and Fontana.

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  • February 4, 2009 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino proposes sweeping public safety layoffs

  A couple of years ago, San Bernardino launched an aggressive anti-crime crusade. The city hired more cops and invested in the latest crime fighting gear. But KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says, with its budget in tatters, San Bernardino is now drawing up plans to fire dozens of police officers and firefighters.

  Steven Guevas: Mayor Pat Morris was swept into office a few years ago on a pledge to put more cops on the streets of San Bernardino. Now he may have to oversee the firing of 29 officers to help fill a $9 million city budget deficit. Police helicopter patrols could be grounded. It’s not clear who might get the ax but it’s likely some of those positions are already vacant.

  Nearly 200 other city workers could lose their jobs, including 10 firefighters. City workers are also being asked to take a 10 percent pay cut. That means some city offices could also be closed on Fridays.

  The San Bernardino city council has yet to sign off on the proposed budget cuts. But it did tell department heads to begin preparing layoff notices. Layoffs could be approved at the council’s next meeting later this month.

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  • February 4, 2009 2:30 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA agrees to pay $13 million to demonstrators beaten by police

  The Los Angeles City Council today agreed to pay almost $13 million to people beaten by police in MacArthur Park during an immigrant rights rally two years ago. It’s one of the largest payouts ever involving LAPD misconduct. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: On May Day of 2007, riot officers from the LAPD elite Metropolitan Division swarmed MacArthur Park after a few demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at police. Video of the incident shows officers firing rubber bullets into a peaceful crowd and striking passive protesters with their batons. More than 200 people filed claims alleging that police injured them.

  Afterward, Police Chief Bill Bratton apologized for what his officers did. He called it his worst day in law enforcement, and ordered new crowd control training for all officers. An LAPD board recommended disciplinary action for 11 cops. Critics said that number was too low.

  The City Council’s $12.85 million settlement with demonstrators is subject to approval from the mayor and a judge. It does not resolve a lawsuit by journalists who police also hit that day.

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  • February 4, 2009 2:01 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• L.A. County sheriff's department agrees to tighten anti-bias policy

  The ACLU says the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has agreed to tighten its anti-bias policy and provide more diversity training to its deputies. ACLU Attorney Catherine Lhamon says the agreement settles a discrimination claim involving a drug raid at L.A. Trade Tech College two years ago.

  Catherine Lhamon: “Some 14 officers from the Sheriff’s Department swarmed the campus at L.A. Trade Tech College and stopped and detained 33 black men and one Latino student. The Latino student was detained because he was videotaping the incident and the officers wanted him to stop doing that. The 33 black students were stopped because the officers were engaged in what they called a drug interdictions. They were trying to find drug dealers on campus.”

  Of the detained students, two were arrested. A sheriff’s spokesman denies any racial profiling was involved, but says the department is always interested in improving its training. An independent sheriff’s monitor agreed there was no racial profiling. He said the deputies had observed the students earlier in what they thought was drug dealing.

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  • February 2, 2009 7:22 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD Chief Bratton endorses Jack Weiss for City Attorney

  Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss won a key endorsement in his campaign for City Attorney today. The current City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is termed out in July. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Weiss received the backing of Police Chief Bill Bratton. The chief called Weiss, a former federal prosecutor and chair of the city council’s public safety committee, a “crime fighter” who knows how to take on gangs and guns.

  Not all in law enforcement like Weiss. Sheriff Lee Baca and District Attorney Steve Cooley have endorsed Carmen Trutanich, a former deputy district attorney. In a jab at Weiss, Cooley said the city attorney should be “independent,” not an “overly ambitious partisan politician.”

  Weiss has raised $1.5 million; Trutanich less than half that. Deputy City Attorney Michael Amerian has raised about a quarter million dollars in his bid for the top job. A total of five candidates want the post. If no one wins a majority of votes in the March 3 election, the top two will face off in May.

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  • February 2, 2009 5:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Extradited South Korean auto executive to be arraigned on charges in Orange County

  A former executive with Hyundai Motors who was extradited to the Southland Friday from South Korea is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana today. KPCC’s Debra Baer reports he’s facing charges in connection with a deadly car accident.

  Debra Baer: The Orange County District Attorney’s office says Youn Bum Lee is charged with felony vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run, and DUI in a 2005 car crash that killed Ryan Cook, a 23 year-old from Fountain Valley.

  Prosecutors allege that Lee had 14 drinks at a company-sponsored dinner and then more to drink at a karaoke bar before he drove home in his company-issued SUV. They say he was so drunk that he drove with his lights off, and on the 55 Freeway, he veered into the carpool lane and crashed into the center divider.

  The victim slammed into the SUV on his motorcycle and died. Lee left the scene in his vehicle, prosecutors say. And the next day, after he consulted with a co-worker and an attorney for Hyundai at work, an employee and a supervisor drove Lee to L.A. International Airport. He flew to Seoul, leaving his wife and child behind.

  The victim’s parents have filed a separate wrongful death suit against Lee and the Hyundai Corporation. On the criminal charges, Lee faces up to 15 years in prison.

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  • February 2, 2009 12:56 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Los Angeles County Sheriff settles with ACLU on bias case

  The ACLU says the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to revise its anti-bias training for deputies to bring it more in line with other law enforcement agencies. The agreement is part of a settlement over the arrest a group of black students at L.A. Trade Tech College. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The ACLU’s Catherine Lhamon says the sheriff’s department has agreed to prohibit deputies from using race to stop and question people except when there is specific race-related information about a suspect. Before, the policy said deputies could not use race as their “sole reason” for stopping people.

  Catherine Lhamon: The difference is the new definition is more concrete and more specific for the officers, so they understand what not to do. It’s rare for race to be the sole reason that an officer is looking for a person. So prohibiting race as the sole reason for searching for somebody doesn’t give an officer enough information about what they ought not to be doing.

  Stoltze: Lahmon says the sheriff’s also agreed to more diversity training. The settlement resolves a claim brought against the department for stopping 33 African American students during a search for drugs at L.A. Trade Tech College two years ago. A sheriff’s spokesman maintains no profiling occurred, but says the department is always looking for ways to improve training.

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  • February 2, 2009 12:48 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• City Attorney Delgadillo: L.A. law enforcement driving gangs out... to other places

  Law enforcement officials in the city of Los Angeles say this year could be a “tipping point” in their fight against gangs. They’re promising to devote more resources to the effort, and to work more closely with gang intervention workers. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: In the city of Los Angeles, gang crime declined 23 percent in the last five years.

  City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo: Ya know, for the first time in my law enforcement career, with respect to gangs, it feels like we’re winning.

  Stoltze: City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo credits gang injunctions, more police resources, and a new commitment to improving intervention and prevention programs. Delgadillo says he found out at a recent conference that some gang members are fleeing the city.

  Delgadillo: Prosecutors from across the state – San Diego, Barstow, Fresno, Bakersfield – all came up to me and said, “Stop what you’re doing in Los Angeles because you’re sending them to us.”

  Stoltze: That’s not to say gangs don’t continue to dominate some neighborhoods. Indeed, while Police Chief Bill Bratton has pledged to reduce gang violence another 15 percent this year, he’s also said gangs are here to stay in the city of Los Angeles.

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  • January 30, 2009 6:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Hospital exec busted in fraud probe

  Federal investigators today arrested a hospital executive who once was in charge of L.A.’s City of Angeles Medical Center. KPCC’s Nick Roman says it’s the latest move in a long investigation into hospital billing.

  Nick Roman: The executive – Robert Bourseau - has been in trouble with the feds before. Five years ago, they sued him and his business partner over Medicare bills at a psychiatric hospital in San Diego. But the fraud allegations he faces in connection with City of Angels Medical Center are a lot more serious.

  The feds say recruiters scouted homeless people who qualify for Medicare or Medi-Cal. They paid them up to $30 to visit an “assessment center” that allegedly cooked up phony diagnoses - and then sent them to City of Angels for treatments they didn’t need. The bills went to the government.

  Bourseau’s business partner pleaded guilty last month to his part in the scheme. Seven years ago, an “L.A. Business Journal” article looked at how Bourseau and his partners had turned City of Angels Medical Center into a success. It said the hospital showed “what works, and what doesn’t, in urban health care.” Put the emphasis on the “what doesn’t” part - and the line is still true.

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  • January 30, 2009 4:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Police union says LAPD should mandate helmets

  The union representing LAPD officers today filed a formal grievance over how commanders handled a recent pro-Palestinian demonstration. The union argues commanders jeopardized officer safety by not allowing them to wear helmets. As KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports, department brass has long debated the issue.

  Frank Stoltze: Cops look pretty fierce in their helmets and riot gear. Some argue the look is intimidating - and can raise anxiety levels and even provoke confrontations during crowd control. That’s why commanders at a recent pro-Palestinian rally decided against ordering officers to use their helmets.

  The LAPD argues officers had the option of wearing them. The union says commanders should have mandated helmets, and point to an officer who was hit in the head at the rally with a wooden post as evidence that officer safety was ignored.

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  • January 30, 2009 3:19 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• L.A. city leaders promise more sophisticated gang intervention efforts

  Los Angeles city officials promise more focus on gang prevention and intervention under a set of initiatives unveiled today. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The mayor’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development Director Jeff Carr says L.A. intends to better identify kids who need help.

  Jeff Carr: So now our prevention is focused on the kids that – through a whole research-based screening system – are targeting the kids that really are most at risk of joining a gang, not just any kid that lives in the neighborhood.

  Stoltze: The city’s setting up a new training academy for gang intervention workers. It’s dismantled the Bridges program and refocused resources on the 12 most violent neighborhoods.

  Carr: I mean, this is radically different than what the city’s done in the past.

  Stoltze: LAPD Chief Bill Bratton promises that police will work more closely with gang interventionists, many of whom are former gang members. He said he’ll also assign more officers to gang crime, and add a unit to seek out gangsters’ cars for traffic violations. The chief predicted that the combined efforts would serve as a “national model.”

  Note: Chief Bratton pledges the new anti-gang initiatives will lead to a 15percent reduction in gang crime this year.

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  • January 29, 2009 6:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Mayor, chief unveil new gang initiatives

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton today pledged to reduce falling gang violence by another 15 percent this year. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that Bratton made the promise as he and the mayor introduced a set of new gang initiatives.

  Frank Stoltze: Bratton said the new approach will allow the LAPD to work more closely with gang intervention workers.

  Bill Bratton: Instantly, as soon as that BlackBerry message comes over that we have had a shooting, we’ll be reaching out to the gang units, we’ll be reaching out to the intervention workers to start flooding that neighborhood to basically prevent retaliation.

  Stoltze: Gang intervention workers - many of them ex-gang members - will go through a new training academy. Four hundred LAPD cops will undergo specialized gang instruction.

  The chief’s also created a new unit that’ll seek out gang members’ cars for traffic violations, and he’s assigned a night commander to focus resources where they’re most needed. The chief and mayor said there’s no new money for the effort, but they predicted the initiatives would become a national model for fighting gang violence.

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  • January 29, 2009 4:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Attorneys for 2005 Metrolink crash victims say operator at fault

  Attorneys for victims of the Metrolink train crash almost four years ago in Glendale claim the train’s engineer was at fault. The train derailed after it hit a sport utility vehicle left on the tracks. Last August a jury convicted the driver of that vehicle – Juan Alvarez – of murder.

  Attorney Jerry Ringler said the train’s engineer noticed a reflection from Alvarez’ vehicle when the train was three-quarters of a mile away, but didn’t apply the emergency brakes for another six seconds.

  Jerry Ringler: “The train engineer testified in December at deposition that when he saw the vehicle across the track, he was obligated to place his train into emergency and that if he failed to do so, he violated Metrolink’s own rules. The black box showed that he failed to do so.”

  Ringler and another attorney are suing Metrolink for negligence on behalf of a dozen victims. They expect to argue their case in L.A. County Superior Court in June.

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  • January 29, 2009 4:30 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Court ruling favors governor's furlough plan

  California’s budget crisis is emergency enough for the governor to order state employees to take two unpaid days off every month. That’s what a Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled in a lawsuit those workers had filed challenging the legality of the furlough order.

  Unions including the Professional Engineers in California Government plan to appeal the decision. The furlough’s scheduled to take effect next Friday. If that happens, union representative Bruce Blanning says anyone who relies on state services will notice.

  Bruce Blanning: “Whether it’s keeping a state office open so you can renew your driver’s license - or whether it’s getting projects ready to go out to construction and create construction jobs. So it affects everybody.”

  State Controller John Chiang also opposed the governor’s plan in court. But after the judge’s ruling he says he’ll follow the court’s order. Chiang says the cuts to workers’ salaries won’t solve the California’s serious cash shortage - he’ll still have to delay state tax refunds and college grants starting next week.

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  • January 29, 2009 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Cardinal puzzled by grand jury investigation reports

  Cardinal Roger Mahony says he’s puzzled by reports that he’s under investigation. The Los Angeles Times reports that U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien has launched a federal grand jury investigation into the way L.A.’s Roman Catholic cardinal dealt with priests accused of sexual abuse.

  Two sources told the Times that the investigation is looking into whether Mahony committed fraud by failing to remove the priests from direct contact with children. L.A. Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg told KPCC’s “AirTalk” he’s frustrated by the leaks.

  Tod Tamberg: “We kind of are wondering why this was done, who did it, what their purpose was, and none of us really know what the focus of this investigation is about.”

  Tamberg said the Archdiocese knew that subpoenas had been issued, but added that his understanding is that Mahony is not the target of the investigation.

  The Times reports that authorities are seeking to use a federal statute that makes it illegal to scheme to deprive others of the “right of honest services.” Under that theory, the idea is that Mahony was responsible for keeping children safe from abusive priests.

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  • January 29, 2009 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• US Attorney launches grand jury investigation of Catholic cardinal

  The U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles has reportedly launched a federal grand jury investigation into Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony. But a spokesman for the L.A. Archdiocese is denying that Mahony is the target.

  Two law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that the investigation focuses on whether Mahony committed fraud by failing to adequately deal with priests who were accused of sexual abuse.

  KPCC’s Larry Mantle asked Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg about Mahony’s reaction to the report.

  Tod Tamberg: “Well, the cardinal has said he’s puzzled and I think I would add to that, there’s a sense of frustration here in the way that this investigation has been brought to light.”

  In a statement yesterday, Mahony’s attorney called for an internal investigation into the leak.

  The Times reports that authorities are using a novel legal theory as part of their investigation. They’re trying to determine whether Mahony deprived parishioners of the right to honest services. The federal statute usually applies to people who defraud others of money.

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  • January 29, 2009 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• L.A. Times: Federal fraud investigation targets Cardinal Roger Mahony, L.A. Archdiocese

  The Los Angeles Times says the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles has launched a grand jury investigation into Cardinal Roger Mahony and the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the L.A. Archdiocese. KPCC’s Nick Roman has more.

  Nick Roman: The L.A. Times reports that federal prosecutors intend to pursue a novel legal theory in this case. They’re looking into whether Cardinal Mahony committed fraud as he dealt with allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

  Abuse victims have claimed for years that Mahony and others within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese covered up the scandal by moving priests from parish to parish. To get a criminal case into court, federal prosecutors would have to show that Mahony used mail or other communication to deprive Catholics in L.A. of “honest services.”

  The L.A. Times refers to information from two law enforcement sources who are familiar with the investigation, but who refused to speak on the record.

  An attorney for the cardinal says federal prosecutors have contacted the Archdiocese. He says church officials will cooperate with them. He also says he’s been told that Cardinal Mahony is not a target of the investigation.

  LINK: L.A. Times article

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  • January 28, 2009 5:53 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• Culver City police officer killed in wrong-way collision

  Culver City Police have released the name of the officer killed in this morning’s head-on collision on the 10 freeway. Sergeant Curtis Massey was driving to work around five in the morning when his department-issued Dodge Charger ran into a late-model Toyota Camry headed in the wrong direction.

  Massey was 41 years old; he’d worked 17 years for the Culver City Police Department. Chief Don Pedersen called him a dear friend and a dedicated colleague, who’d earned the department’s highest honors.

  Chief Don Pedersen: “Curt had a very deep and special interest in working with the youth in this community, and outside this community. He was very active in our juvenile diversion program, and he touched the lives of hundreds of young men and women in this city.”

  Police have not named the other driver killed in the accident. They have identified him as a 21-year-old man from Van Nuys.

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  • January 28, 2009 5:49 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• ACLU asks Orange County Sheriff to change taser policy

  A civil rights group doesn’t like the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s policy when it comes to tasers. So KPCC’s Susan Valot says the group is asking the sheriff for changes.

  Susan Valot: The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California says the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has an “inadequate” taser policy. It says the sheriff’s policy doesn’t take into account concerns about the safety of tasers.

  The ACLU says in last three years, five people in Orange County died after they were zapped with tasers… part of what it says is a national trend of more deaths linked to tasers.

  The ACLU sent a letter to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens asking that deputies use tasers only when they’re in life-threatening situations. The civil rights group wants the sheriff to do a better job of tracking taser use in her department; to make that information available to the public. And the ACLU wants Sheriff’s Department supervisors to be called out every time an Orange County deputy uses a taser.

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  • January 28, 2009 5:35 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Investigator says Wilmington man who killed family in deep debt

  We’re learning more about the Wilmington man who apparently killed his family before turning the gun on himself yesterday. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the lead investigator has released more details.

  Susan Valot: That investigator says Ervin Lupoe was deep in debt when he killed his wife, five children, and himself. LAPD detective David Cortez says Lupoe was at least a month behind on his mortgage, owed thousands of dollars on credit cards, and owed the Internal Revenue Service at least $15,000.

  Lupoe and his wife were fired recently from their medical tech jobs at the Kaiser Permanente hospital in West L.A. They allegedly lied about their income to try to qualify for cheaper childcare.

  Investigators say the couple pulled their kids out of school last week and planned to move in with a relative in Kansas. Detectives found the Lupoe’s SUV packed with children’s clothing and snow chains. It’s not clear why that trip didn’t happen.

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  • January 28, 2009 3:08 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino County hires prosecutor to investigate assessor

  San Bernardino County is increasing the pressure on embattled assessor Bill Postmus. He was arrested last month on drug charges - and his office is the target of a fraud and corruption probe. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says county supervisors have hired a former federal prosecutor to investigate ways to remove Postmus from office.

  Steven Cuevas: John Hueston was lead prosecutor three years ago in the trial of the top bosses at failed energy giant Enron. Now he’ll lead the probe of Assessor Bill Postmus. San Bernardino County supervisors are looking for sufficient grounds to remove him from office.

  David Wert: One of the causes for action would be neglect or abandonment of duties.

  Cuevas: County spokesman David Wert says the county can remove an elected official from office who’s been convicted of a felony - or who’s violated a law related to the duties of the office.

  Wert: So, whatever the board comes up with has to be defensible in court, which is why the board would need a special counsel to actually make the findings, because these are things that county may have to defend in court.

  The law intentionally makes it very difficult for an elected body to overrule the voters of the decision they made on Election Day by electing him into office.

  Cuevas: The county investigation of Bill Postmus is expected to last about six weeks. His legal troubles will persist longer than that. Postmus faces felony drug possession charges.

  Prosecutors say a raid of his home and office last month turned up methamphetamine. Last year, a grand jury accused Postmus of using his office for partisan politics – and rewarding cronies with jobs.

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  • January 28, 2009 2:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Attorney general files motion to terminate health care receivership

  State Attorney General Jerry Brown is calling for an end to federal oversight of the state’s prison health care system. Brown described federally-appointed prison receiver Clark Kelso’s $8 billion proposal for new, improved prisons as boondoggle the state can’t afford.

  Jerry Brown: “And what the receiver’s become is a parallel government, operating virtually in secret, not accountable, not subject to public scrutiny. And the result of that is this wild spending – that far exceeds what the constitution requires and far exceeds what California is capable of.”

  During a state capitol press conference today, Brown conceded that Kelso has helped to improve the quality of medical care for inmates in recent years. But he insists it’s time for the state to reassert its responsibility for prison health care. Brown has filed a motion in federal court to terminate the federal receivership.

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  • January 28, 2009 11:57 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Attorney general seeks to terminate prison health care federal receiver

  The state is filing a motion to terminate the federally-appointed receiver in charge of improving health care in California prisons. Attorney General Jerry Brown says the state will also ask a federal judge to terminate the $8 billion plan that receiver Clark Kelso has proposed to build more prison medical facilities.

  Jerry Brown: “We maintain now it’s time to return the management of our prisons to the people who are authorized by law to do that. What’s happened in the interim, like any good idea it’s gone to excess, and what the receiver’s become is a parallel government, operating virtually in secret, not accountable, not subject to public scrutiny.”

  Brown accuses Kelso of engaging in wild spending that far exceeds what the constitution requires. State officials also insist that the health care system has improved and is no longer in need of federal oversight.

  Kelso told the Los Angeles Times that the state’s impending move was “outrageous” and would lead to more unnecessary deaths and suffering among inmates.

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  • January 28, 2009 11:49 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Apparent murder-suicide a 'despondent familicide'

  There’s a name in criminology circles for the apparent murder-suicide that claimed the lives of seven members of the Lupoe family in Wilmington. Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that men like the father in this case commit “despondent familicide.”

  Louis Schlesinger: “They develop a fixed idea that the solution to their problem is to kill the future victim, and in this case to kill multiple victims of family. The idea starts very slowly, it grabs them. And their thinking becomes very narrow and very focused. And unfortunately, when they act out it’s just a horrible, horrible situation.”

  Schlesinger said that interviews with offenders who survive these incidents reveal that they regard the homicides as an effort to save their victims from humiliation or financial ruin.

  Investigators in this case have not established a clear motive for Lupoe’s suicide or the shooting deaths of his wife and five children. Officials at Kaiser Permanente West L.A. Medical Center have acknowledged that the husband and wife used to work there.

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  • January 27, 2009 4:23 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Police investigate apparent family murder-suicide

  Los Angeles police are trying to get to the bottom of an apparent murder-suicide that left seven people dead in Wilmington. The dead include a mother, a father, and their five children. It happened this morning. KPCC’s Susan Valot has been on the scene in Wilmington, a few blocks from Banning Park.

  Susan Valot: Police say a man faxed a two-page letter to a local TV station, saying he was upset over problems at his job and planned to kill his family and himself. LAPD Deputy Chief Kenneth Warner:

  Kenneth Warner: The suspect in this murder called not only Channel 7, but also called our communications division. We’re not exactly sure if it was him, but a man called saying that he’d just returned home and that his family had been killed. Officers came out within minutes and found the grisly scene.

  Valot: The entire family had been shot - 2-year-old twin boys, 5-year-old twin girls, an 8-year-old girl, the mother and the father. Warner says officers found a revolver near the father.

  Warner: It’s a family tragedy and it’s our worst fear in these tough times, having people who don’t see any alternative to finding a way out of either financial problems or job problems.

  Valot: Kaiser Permanente Medical Center West Los Angeles has confirmed that the parents were former employees at the hospital. The two have been identified as Ervin Antonio Lupoe and his wife Ana. The reason for the apparent murder-suicide is not clear. Right now, investigators say they have more questions than answers.

  Note: Police will provide more details about the investigation at a community meeting tonight at Holy Family Church in Wilmington.

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  • January 27, 2009 3:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• 5 children, 2 adults dead in apparent murder-suicide

  Los Angeles police this morning found the bodies of five children and two adults in a house in Wilmington. Officers went to the home after receiving a call from a man. The caller said he had come home and found his family dead.

  Separately, KABC Channel 7 received a fax from someone who said he planned to kill himself and his family. The man said he was despondent over his job situation.

  L.A. deputy police chief Kenneth Garner says investigators are still trying to figure out what happened.

  Kenneth Garner: “We believe it’s a murder-suicide but that’s just a belief right now. Right now, we’re investigating any possibility of an outside person or the husband being the suspect in this grisly matter.”

  Police found the bodies of the father and three girls in one bedroom. A revolver was near the man’s body. His wife and twin boys were found dead in a separate bedroom.

  Garner said he had not seen anything like it in his 32 years with the police department.

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  • January 27, 2009 12:35 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• 7 dead in family murder-suicide

  Police are still trying to sort out the details of an apparent murder-suicide that left seven members of the same family dead this morning in Wilmington. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has what we know so far.

  Cheryl Devall: The family on McFarland Avenue included a husband and wife, an 8-year-old girl, and two sets of twins: 5-year-old daughters and 2-year-old sons. A police spokesman said the father, apparently distraught over problems on his job, shot and killed the rest of his family and then turned the weapon on himself.

  Before he killed himself, police say, the man sent a two-page typed letter about what he intended to do to television station KABC in Burbank. Upon receiving the letter, someone at the station called Burbank police and they contacted officers in Wilmington near the port of Los Angeles.

  LAPD officers responded to a call about a shooting in progress shortly before 8:30 this morning; not long after, they found the victims throughout the house.

  Note: Authorities have not released details about the family’s identity.

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  • January 27, 2009 12:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Supreme Court: District Attorneys can't be sued for trial mistakes

  The Supreme Court ruled today that a defendant convicted by mistake cannot sue a district attorney for the trial error. KPCC’s Nick Roman says the decision comes in a Los Angeles case that dates back 30 years.

  Nick Roman: That’s when John Van de Kamp was the L.A. County District Attorney. His office went after Thomas Goldstein, a Long Beach man accused of murder. Investigators didn’t have anything solid on him, so they put an informant in his cell who later testified Goldstein confessed. That cinched the conviction.

  Goldstein insisted he was innocent… and after 24 years in prison, he convinced a judge the informant lied when he said he got nothing for his testimony. Turned out he got a lighter sentence for grand theft because he’d testified in other trials.

  Goldstein was freed, and immediately sued Van de Kamp and the top prosecutor in charge of D.A.’s office. He claimed the lying informant wouldn’t have testified if Van de Kamp had run the office better.

  But the Supreme Court tossed the claim aside. The unanimous ruling says the law already says defendants can’t sue prosecutors who make mistakes during trials… and now the same protection extends to their bosses.

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  • January 26, 2009 5:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Officials warn against foreclosure scams

  First come the foreclosures… and then come the foreclosure scams. State and local officials say con artists are offering help for an upfront fee. You know what happens next. KPCC’s Brian Watt says in the midst of this housing crisis, it’s a new and very real challenge.

  Brian Watt: In the last year, more than 12,000 Angelenos fell victim to foreclosure. More foreclosures mean more desperate homeowners trying to save their homes… and, says L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, more scammers trying to take advantage.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: They tell you to give some of their money up front. They offer dream deals, and promise to rework your loans for a small fee. And then, they take the money and run.

  Watt: California Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi says his department has shifted its attention to deal with a rising number of foreclosure fraud cases: nearly 300. He said anyone facing foreclosure should know…

  Jeff Davi: …in California, if a notice of default has been filed against your property, nobody can charge you an advance fee for loan modification services.

  Watt: Davi said homeowners should ask anyone who offers those loan modification services to see a license first. Commissioner Davi and Mayor Villaraigosa say legal aid groups and other certified counselors offer free help to anyone who needs to clear up a foreclosure… and doesn’t want to get scammed doing it.

  LINK: Department of Real Estate

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  • January 26, 2009 5:51 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Lancaster considers regulating pit bulls

  The city of Lancaster is considering imposing stiff fines on owners of pit bulls and other breeds it considers vicious. City Manager Assistant Kelvin Tainatongo says officials are trying to crack down on gang members who own the dogs.

  Kelvin Tainatongo: “We’ve got irresponsible pet owners who are letting their dogs out on the streets roaming, attacking our residents. Oftentimes, they themselves cannot control their pets so they’re letting them go out because they can no longer take care of them. And so we do have an overpopulation of pit bulls and Rottweilers.”

  Dave Merriam of the American Kennel Club says Lancaster should target dog owners, not specific breeds. He raised the example of former NFL star Michael Vick, who’s doing prison time after a jury convicted him of staging dog fights.

  Dave Merriam: “The majority of those dogs have been rehabilitated and are in loving homes now. They are not aggressive. And those are dogs that were used for pit fighting. So that, it’s very much how the dogs was raised, how it was treated, and how it was kept.”

  Merriam and Tainatongo spoke on KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Lancaster’s proposed ordinance would require owners of pit bulls and Rottweilers to have their dogs spayed or neutered. It would be the toughest dog law in the region.

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  • January 26, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA Mayor, state officials, non-profits warn of foreclosure scams

  More foreclosures means more scams that target homeowners desperate to save their homes. Government and non-profit officials are warning borrowers about con artists who promise to help renegotiate a mortgage in exchange for an upfront fee - then walk away without following through.

  California Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi told reporters at L.A. City Hall that his office is looking at nearly 300 cases of possible fraud.

  Jeff Davi: “We have people that are facing dire straits, contemplating loss of their home, that are approached by these illegal operators, to give their last few dollars. Offering a solution, offering a salvation, and then providing no services for that. What we do find is that a lot these individuals aren’t even licensed.”

  Davi says when someone offers help to modify a loan, homeowners should ask to see a license first.

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  • January 26, 2009 1:16 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Funeral held for 4-year-old boy killed by stray gang gunfire

  At the Cathedral of our Lady of Angels today, Cardinal Roger Mahony led a funeral mass for Roberto Lopez Junior. Police say gang gunfire killed the 4-year-old boy just west of downtown Los Angeles. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Police say Lopez died when a stray bullet fired by a gang member struck him hear his home. Officers have arrested a 25-year-old suspect.

  [Cardinal Roger Mahony speaking in Spanish]

  Standing near Lopez’s tiny white casket, Mahoney described gang members as terrorists. He urged the hundreds of mourners to pray for the Lopez family.

  Roberto Lopez Junior had a little brother and sister. His father and mother are expecting their fourth child next month.

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  • January 23, 2009 4:12 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Hundreds gather for funeral of boy killed by stray gang bullet

  Family and friends gathered today to remember 4-year-old Roberto Lopez Junior. Police say Lopez died when he was hit by a stray bullet fired by a gang member just west of downtown Los Angeles. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Hundreds of people gathered at downtown L.A.’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. A tiny white casket sat before the altar. In a photograph positioned nearby, Robert Lopez Junior wore a mariachi suit. Many of the mourners wore white t-shirts with the same image. Flor Banegar lived across the street from the Lopez family.

  Flor Banegar: Incredible boy. Friendly. (continues in Spanish)

  Stoltze: She says he was very active and sweet, that people liked him, that “Robertito” - as he was known – stole people’s hearts.

  Cardinal Roger Mahony led the funeral mass in Spanish. He implored people to cooperate with police in fighting gangs. In this case, detectives say they did. Police arrested a 25-year-old suspect three days after the killing.

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  • January 23, 2009 2:45 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA police arrest suspected burglary ring mastermind

  Los Angeles police have arrested a man they suspect of masterminding a ring of burglars who stole $10 million worth of property from some exclusive L.A. neighborhoods. LAPD chief William Bratton said a lengthy investigation and DNA evidence led to the arrest.

  William Bratton: “They took a lot of high-end jewelry, watches, cameras, small things that they could get away with very easily. We have yet to determine where they got rid of those pieces property, but we’re hopping that the rest of the investigation will eventually disclose that.”

  Bratton told KPCC that officers haven’t yet arrested all the alleged Hillside burglars. Police believe they’re responsible for 150 break-ins during three years.

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  • January 22, 2009 5:24 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Feds charge Californian with shipping sensitive technology to China

  A federal grand jury has indicted a Southern California man on charges related to exporting sensitive technology to China. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Authorities accuse Michael Ming Zhang of Rancho Cucamonga of exporting electronic components with dual civilian and military uses. That’s a violation of federal law.

  The items included “static random access memory” devices, a type of semiconductor that can be used on military tanks.

  The indictment alleges that Zhang refrained from buying the technology from one supplier after he found out it was illegal to export it to China. He then allegedly bought the components from a different supplier.

  The indictment also accuses Zhang and Policarpo Coronado Gamboa of Foothill, California, of conspiring to sell counterfeit computer parts in the United States. Zhang allegedly imported more than 4,000 fake Cisco networking parts from China.

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  • January 22, 2009 12:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Judge releases juror notes in trial of ex-OC sheriff

  The federal judge who oversaw the corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona has released a couple of notes by jurors. KPCC’s Susan Valot says they sent the notes to the judge during deliberations.

  Susan Valot: A juror sent one of the notes two days before the jury acquitted Carona of all but a single charge of witness tampering. The note said that another juror “wishes to acquit” and “wants to party with Carona and his women.”

  The juror told Judge Andrew Guilford there were certain jurors “who slept all through the presentations, who have not written down one single word in their trial notebooks, but, who have suddenly ‘come alive’ and just want to acquit.”

  Another juror asked to talk to the judge about a matter the juror thought should be brought to his attention. The note did not say what the juror was talking about.

  Judge Guilford questioned both jurors, and told the panel to continue deliberating. He released the notes at the request of prosecutors. Carona’s attorneys say they might use the notes in their appeal of his witness tampering conviction.

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  • January 21, 2009 3:06 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Jury selection nearly finished in Esperanza Fire arson trial

  Jury selection is nearly finished in the trial of the man accused of starting the deadly Esperanza Wildfire in the Banning Pass two years ago. Raymond Lee Oyler faces five counts of first-degree murder and dozens of arson-related charges. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says once the jury’s in place, opening statements will begin.

  Steven Cuevas: Riverside County prosecutors plan to portray Oyler as a skilled and ambitious arsonist who set larger and larger fires until he touched off the 40,000 acre Esperanza Fire.

  Five U.S. Forest Service firefighters from Idyllwild were overtaken by flames in the first few hours of the wind-driven wildfire. All five died.

  Many of the arson charges against the 38-year-old auto mechanic stem from smaller fires set in the days before the Esperanza Fire. Oyler has pleaded “not guilty” to all charges.

  Soon after Oyler’s arrest two years ago, the district attorney vowed to seek the death penalty. Oyler’s defense attorney wanted the trial moved from Riverside County - claiming his client faced a vigilante atmosphere.

  Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan refused. The judge and the trial attorneys whittled down a pool of more than 300 prospective jurors. The ones who made the cut can expect a two-month trial.

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  • January 21, 2009 1:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• Corrections Department says prisoner medical transfer unnecessary

  The court-appointed federal receiver for California’s prison health care system wants 7,000 inmates transferred from Central Valley prisons into facilities where they can get better medical care.

  Scott Kernan, undersecretary for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, contends that won’t be necessary. He says the department has transferred inmates when the receiver says they need medical care.

  Scott Kernan: “It is not a unique situation that we transfer inmates that the receivership identifies. Where I think they went too far is to identify wholesale without any reasonable analysis of the inmates’ medical conditions - 7,000 offenders is what appears very nonsensical to us.”

  Kernan spoke on KPCC’s “AirTalk.” The state has been reluctant to release $8 billion federal receiver Clark Kelso says the corrections department needs to build adequate medical facilities for inmates.

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  • January 21, 2009 1:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• State shoots down prison medical proposal

  The state corrections department is shooting down a proposal by the man in charge of improving prison health care in California. Federal Receiver Clark Kelso wants to transfer up to 7,000 sick inmates in the Central Valley to facilities with better medical care. Kelso spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  Clark Kelso: “In particular we’ve got four facilities right in the middle of the state where I just can’t hire doctors and keep them on staff. And we need to move the inmates from those facilities to facilities that are closer to urban areas where I am able to keep doctors and nurses on staff.”

  Kelso made the request in a court filing yesterday. A spokesman for the state department of corrections and rehabilitation says the proposal is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

  Kelso’s court filing is the latest salvo in an ongoing battle with the state. Kelso has been fighting to get $8 billion to build new medical facilities. The governor and lawmakers have balked at the plan amid California’s budget problems.

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  • January 21, 2009 1:38 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Funeral held for Christmas Eve shooting victims

  Relatives and friends of the nine family members killed on Christmas Eve in Covina gathered for a private funeral mass and burial today. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez talked with people who attended the services in San Dimas.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Tears and laughter punctuated the services at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church. Relatives remembered members of the Ortega, Ortiz, and Castillo families as tight-knit and fun-loving. Family friend Jose Viramontes said the priest who said the funeral mass tried to comfort survivors overwhelmed with grief.

  Jose Viramontes: The priest addressed the difference between evil and love, and what was good and what was bad, the unexplained of course. In a situation like this, how do you explain a tragedy, how do you explain the actions of another person?

  Guzman-Lopez: A relative, Bruce Pardo, shot his ex-wife, former in-laws, and several other people at the family’s Covina Christmas party and set the home on fire. Shortly after that, he apparently committed suicide.

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  • January 16, 2009 5:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Man arrested in murder of 4-year-old boy

  Los Angeles police have arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with this week’s shooting death of a 4-year-old boy just west of downtown. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Police arrested Howard Astoraga. They say he was in a group of gang members on the street who exchanged words with rivals in a car Tuesday afternoon around 4:30. Police say Astoraga pulled a gun and started firing. One of the bullets hit Roberto Lopez, Jr., who was walking with his sister to a community center two doors from their house.

  Police say more than 50 detectives canvassed the neighborhood near Belmont High School looking for tips and clues. LAPD chief Bill Bratton credited people in the area with helping officers identify Astoraga, who was released from prison last year. Police say he’d served time for auto theft, drug, and weapons convictions.

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  • January 16, 2009 4:56 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Judge says polygamist torturer is sane and can be sentenced

  A Muslim polygamist convicted last year of torturing his wives and more than a dozen children is mentally competent and can be sentenced. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says a Riverside County judge made that ruling today after a lengthy trial delay.

  Steven Cuevas: Last June, a jury convicted Mansa Muhummed of 25 counts of torture and false imprisonment. He was supposed to be sentenced in November. But that was held up until two mental health experts checked out the 55-year-old Muhummed’s psychological and emotional stability. With their reports in hand, the judge declared Muhummed is fit for sentencing. That’ll happen next month.

  During the trial, Muhummed’s wives and children described how he starved and beat them - and often kept them from using the bathroom. The abuse happened at the family’s remote ranch in Aguanga, near the San Diego County border, and continued for years. Muhummed was arrested a decade ago after one of his wives slipped a note to a local postal worker.

  Throughout his trial, Muhummed maintained his innocence – but never denied abuse occurred. He blamed it on one of his wives. Mansa Muhummed faces seven possible life sentences.

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  • January 16, 2009 4:41 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Additional charges added against suspected Esperanza Fire arsonist

  The man accused of starting the Riverside County wildfire that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters now faces a couple of additional charges. Raymond Lee Oyler already faces five counts of first-degree murder - along with more than 40 arson-related charges. KPCC’s Inland Empire reporter Steven Cuevas has more.

  Steven Cuevas: The judge in the Oyler trial allowed prosecutors to add two more arson charges. But he turned down their request to add 21 others, saying the evidence was weak. Prosecutors wanted those 21 charges to strengthen their claim that the former Beaumont mechanic was an accomplished and deadly arsonist by the time he allegedly sparked the Esperanza Fire.

  Defense attorneys say prosecutors overlooked another suspect who was linked to several arson fires in the same area during that time. There’s also no direct evidence that connects Oyler to the fires - although prosecutors say they can connect his DNA to devices used to set the Esperanza fire. They also have a witness who claims Oyler started the deadly fire as a diversion to break his dog out of a shelter.

  Oyler has pleaded not guilty. The Riverside County District Attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty. Opening statements in the trial could begin next week.

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  • January 16, 2009 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Funeral held for nine victims of Christmas Eve shootings

  Hundreds of people crowded into a Catholic church in San Dimas today to pay their last respects to nine members of the same family killed on Christmas Eve in Covina. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was there.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Pastor Charles Ramirez of Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia attended the San Dimas funeral mass because a few of the surviving family members belong to his parish.

  Pastor Charles Ramirez: The one moment in that mass that was very touching was when the eight-year-old little girl got up and read the prayer of the faithful and mentioned the names of those who had died. I mean, that was unbelievable; it was touching that this little girl who’d been met at the door by this man dressed like Santa Claus, and she was shot in the face. That she’s alive here today and able to participate in this celebration of life for her grandparents and her family members.

  Guzman-Lopez: Burial for the nine members of the Ortega, Ortiz, and Castillo families is at a Covina cemetery, a few miles from the house where a relative masquerading as Santa Claus killed them on Christmas Eve. Shortly after that attack, he apparently committed suicide.

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  • January 16, 2009 1:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Funeral held for nine victims of Christmas Eve shootings

  A funeral mass was held this morning for the nine people a relative killed at a house party on Christmas Eve. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez brought us this report from the church in San Dimas.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church is filled to capacity with the victims’ relatives and friends. An overflow crowd of more than a hundred people is listening to the funeral mass under a tent outside the church.

  Irma Chavez and her stepfather Rudy Valdivia said they knew the family for four decades.

  Irma Chavez: We were always together, parties and everything, horseracing, Santa Anita. That was a big part of our lives, the track and gambling; it is a big part of the Ortegas and our lives. Rudy Valdivia: We’re going to miss them.

  Guzman-Lopez: The nine victims are to be laid to rest today at Forest Lawn cemetery in Covina.

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  • January 16, 2009 12:46 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Mayors from Orange County, Baja, California meet to discuss regional issues

  Mayors from Orange County and Baja, California met yesterday in Anaheim to touch base on issues that affect both sides of the border. KPCC’s Susan Valot says tourism and the economy are the major issues.

  Susan Valot: The idea behind the meeting is to work together to solve regional problems. For Mexico, it’s an image problem. Stories of increased drug-related violence have scared away tourists.

  Enrique Perez of the Rancho Santiago Community College District put the cross-border meeting together. He says tourism in Mexico plays a role in Orange County’s economy.

  Enrique Perez: When there’s a perception in Baja that you cannot travel there, that you can’t do business there, obviously the economy of Baja goes down. Well, here in Anaheim, we get a lot of tourism from Baja. We get a lot of shoppers at Main Place and at South Coast Plaza. When their economy goes down because we’re not traveling there, they’re not coming up.

  Valot: The mayors of four Baja cities, including Tijuana and Rosarito, say they’ve improved security in their cities. They’ve bumped up police pay so cops might be less inclined to take payoffs from criminals. And the mayors plan to bring their police for training at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department training facility.

  Mayors from both sides of the border hope to meet annually, just like the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

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  • January 16, 2009 12:32 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Police arrest man charged with shooting and killing four-year-old boy

  Los Angeles police have announced the arrest of Howard Astorga this morning. He’s accused of killing a 4-year-old boy.

  Roberto Lopez was shot and killed on Tuesday as he was walking to a community center in his neighborhood just south of Angelino Heights.

  L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes spoke at the news conference.

  Councilman Ed Reyes: “The first night of the vigil that I approached the family, the father was still in such grief that he was wailing, yelling for his son. Screaming for his life. And asking, the mom was asking, ‘Just get the person who did this. Don’t let my son die in vain.’”

  Police say Astorga’s a recently-paroled gang member who has served prison time for firearms, narcotics, and other offenses. Police believe the shooter was aiming at someone in a nearby car, not at the four-year-old.

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  • January 16, 2009 12:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Jury acquits ex-OC sheriff Carona of all but 1 count

  By GILLIAN FLACCUS
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A jury in Southern California has convicted former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona of one witness tampering count but acquitted him in the rest of a corruption case that accused him of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.

  Carona, 53, was found not guilty Friday of one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud and a second witness-tampering count.

  The three-term lawman once dubbed “America’s Sheriff” was indicted in October 2007 and left the nation’s fifth-largest sheriff’s department three months later.

  The government alleged that Carona accepted bribes that totaled more than $430,000 from a multimillionaire businessman.

  (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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  • January 16, 2009 12:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Immigration authorities charge alleged captors after rescuing abused men in Lancaster drop house

  Federal immigration authorities have charged two men with smuggling in connection with an alleged drop house in Lancaster. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says agents rescued two Central Americans from the house earlier this week.

  Cheryl Devall: Late last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fielded a tip that something strange was going on at a house on Martha Court in Lancaster. Agents heard that smugglers were detaining and abusing a man in the hope they’d collect $5,000 for bringing him to the United States.

  On Tuesday night, the agents freed a Salvadoran and an Ecuadoran from the house, after hearing cries for help from inside. The story the men told was pretty harsh. One of the hostages said the smugglers assaulted him with stun guns and deprived him of food for almost two weeks. He added that other people held at the house shared food with him.

  Agents have placed the rescued men in protective custody, and they’re continuing to investigate the incident. The alleged captors, from Mexico and Guatemala, could face up to 10 years in federal prison if a jury convicts them on charges they illegally harbored foreign nationals.

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  • January 15, 2009 6:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• San Bernardino County assessor arrested for drug possession

  Authorities arrested San Bernardino county assessor Bill Postmus this morning on drug charges. Postmus has been at the center of an ongoing fraud and corruption investigation. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has more on the arrest.

  Steven Cuevas: Investigators discovered the drugs during a search of the Postmus home in Rancho Cucamonga. The 37-year-old assessor was arrested and booked on drug possession charges. Susan Mickey is with the San Bernardino County district attorney.

  Susan Mickey: I cannot tell you what they were looking for, but I can tell you that during the service of the search warrant illegal drug paraphernalia was found.
  Cuevas: And actual drugs, methamphetamine?
  Mickey: Correct.

  Cuevas: Investigators seized a computer hard drive and other items from the assessor’s office in San Bernardino. They also served search warrants at locations in two counties.

  Mickey: There were six locations: Highland, San Bernardino, Apple Valley, Victorville, Rancho Cucamonga, and Rancho Santa Margarita.

  Cuevas: Bill Postmus has been under investigation since a grand jury last year said he misused his office for political activity. Last week, Postmus acknowledged a prior battle with drugs - but said he was clean and sober. Postmus is scheduled for arraignment next week.

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  • January 15, 2009 3:32 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• USC professor praises Attorney General-designate Holder

  Before she joined the law faculty at USC, Heidi Rummel worked in the U.S. Justice Department with Attorney General-designate Eric Holder. Rummel told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that she trusts Holder’s integrity.

  Heidi Rummel: “The thing he said to us when he swore us all in was, ‘No matter what, do the right thing, and if you’re put into a position where you can’t do the right thing, come see me, you know, as the head of the whole office.’

  “And he meant it, and I saw him do that in certain cases. And I think that’s more of the kind of person he is, and I think that’s a very important quality, and something we need, in someone who’s going to change the direction, hopefully, of the Justice Department.”

  Rummel heads USC Law School’s Post-Conviction Justice Project. Eric Holder - a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration – faced the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing today.

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  • January 15, 2009 3:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Congresswoman Harman would welcome Guantanamo closing

  President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to sign an executive order that would close the U.S.-run detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Southland Congresswoman Jane Harman told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that she’d welcome the gesture.

  Jane Harman: “Clearly, what we want is again, for our values to play out in the way that we detain people and interrogate people. I have never been persuaded – and guess what, my authority on this is Senator John McCain in the United States Senate – that torture works. Torture elicits whatever the person can say to avoid being tortured any more.”

  The Bush administration today reiterated its position that it does not torture. The judge who supervises the military detainee trials at Guantanamo asserted to the Washington Post that torture has occurred there.

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  • January 14, 2009 3:39 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Congresswoman says Obama should close Guantanamo soon

  One of the most pressing foreign policy matters facing the incoming president is how soon to act on his campaign promise to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

  Congresswoman Jane Harman – chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence - says that should happen very early in the Obama administration.

  Jane Harman: “It is not too hard to close Guantanamo. I would argue that it is essential if we are going to stop the erosion of our moral authority and standing abroad and, and stop giving a huge recruiting tool to al-Qaida.”

  Harman, whose district includes Venice, El Segundo, and Wilmington, spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Earlier this week, President George Bush told reporters that he does not believe the United States’ moral standing among nations suffered during his eight years in office.

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  • January 14, 2009 2:10 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Sex Offender board chair argues for changes to Jessica's Law

  A state panel reports a spike in the number of homeless sex offenders since voters approved Jessica’s law two years ago. A provision in the law says that sex offenders can’t live within 2,000 feet of places where children gather, such as schools or parks.

  A report by the Sex Offender Management Board is urging changes to those restrictions. The board’s chairwoman, Suzanne Brown McBride, spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  Suzanne Brown McBride: “Part of what the management board is interested in trying to do and our recommendation to the legislature is to not just figure out where you don’t want offenders to live – that’s pretty easy to do and we can come up with a big list - but it should be specific to the kind of offense.”

  The report says there’s no evidence the tough restrictions have increased public safety, and argues that the rules could push offenders back into criminal behavior if they end up homeless.

  State Senator George Runner of Lancaster – an author of Jessica’s Law – says he doesn’t think the corrections department is doing all it can to find housing for the offenders.

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  • January 14, 2009 1:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Jessica's Law increases number of homeless sex offenders

  A state panel is urging changes to Jessica’s Law - the voter-approved law that restricts where paroled sex offenders can live in California. A report by the Sex Offender Management Board says those restrictions have greatly increased the number of homeless sex offenders.

  Republican state senator George Runner of Lancaster was an author of Jessica’s Law. He says the corrections department isn’t trying hard enough to find housing for those o