California Briefing

SACRAMENTO Woman nominated for federal judgeship President Obama on Wednesday nominated a magistrate judge to serve on the U.S. Eastern District Court, the busiest of federal courtrooms, where a flood of lawsuits and petitions from the state's prison network swells the annual caseload to more than 1,100 per judge. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate to fill the vacant sixth judgeship on the Sacramento-based court, Kimberly Mueller would become the first woman to serve on the Eastern District bench, which handles cases from the broad interior stretch of the state from the Oregon border to south of Bakersfield.

SACRAMENTO Woman nominated for federal judgeship President Obama on Wednesday nominated a magistrate judge to serve on the U.S. Eastern District Court, the busiest of federal courtrooms, where a flood of lawsuits and petitions from the state's prison network swells the annual caseload to more than 1,100 per judge. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate to fill the vacant sixth judgeship on the Sacramento-based court, Kimberly Mueller would become the first woman to serve on the Eastern District bench, which handles cases from the broad interior stretch of the state from the Oregon border to south of Bakersfield.

Voters in northern Orange County will go to the polls today in a special election to replace former Republican Assemblyman Mike Duvall, who resigned in September in the wake of a sex scandal. Three Republicans, a Democrat and a Green Party candidate are on the open-primary ballot in this GOP stronghold. If no one wins a majority, there will be a Jan. 12 runoff among the top vote-getters in each party. Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Additional information is available at ocvote.

A homeless Venice man was convicted Monday in the killing of a Los Angeles International Airport police officer in 2005. A jury convicted William Sadowski of four counts of homicide and carjacking. A sanity phase in the trial began Monday afternoon. Sadowski, 51, allegedly commandeered Officer Thomas Scott's patrol car on Lincoln Boulevard, dragging him along as they struggled for control of the steering wheel. The car hit a fire hydrant, killing Scott. Authorities at the time believed Sadowski may have been plotting to carjack a vehicle, drive it onto the airfield and possibly into an airplane.

A doctor was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison Monday for selling prescriptions for powerful painkillers. Vu Le, 46, received up to $150 from people he did not examine and who had no demonstrated medical need for the drugs, according to federal prosecutors. Most of the prescriptions were for oxycodone, a potent and addictive painkiller sometimes referred to as synthetic heroin. Le pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts in June. -- Scott Glover

Despite having part of the case against him overturned by an appeals court, a Caltech graduate student convicted five years ago of conspiracy and arson for vandalizing 125 SUVs will serve his original sentence of more than eight years in federal prison, a judge has ruled. Attorneys for defendant William Cottrell had hoped to persuade District Court Judge Gary Klausner to resentence Cottrell to time served. The request followed a September decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which tossed out the arson conviction because Cottrell was not allowed to present evidence at trial that he suffered from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that impairs a person's ability to interact normally with others and inhibits understanding of facial gestures and other nonverbal signals.

The Inland Empire and much of San Diego County were expected to be under a red-flag warning this morning through Monday night, signaling critical fire conditions, the National Weather Service said. High pressure over the western U.S. was expected to fuel northeast winds. Meteorologists forecast gusts of more than 35 mph in the Cajon Pass and Santa Ana Mountains. The air was expected to be particularly dry Monday, with humidity dipping below 10%. Fire weather watches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were canceled.

A 6-year-old girl and her 43-year-old mother were found dead Saturday inside their Perris home, and authorities suspected that the woman's husband killed them. "We believe he is heading to Vegas," Riverside Sheriff's Deputy Craig Roberts said. Michael Barber, 52, was believed to be driving a tan or gold 2004 Nissan Maxima with license plate 5GMV103 or a dark gray 2008 Nissan Maxima with license plate 6BRV641. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (760)

A single-engine plane crashed Saturday afternoon in San Gabriel, killing the pilot. The plane took off from Brackett Field in La Verne and was headed to Van Nuys when it crashed in the 5100 block of Walnut Grove Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Richard Pena said. "It looked like the pilot might have survived if there hadn't been a fire," Pena said. There were no other injuries. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash.

A multiagency law enforcement task force arrested a big-rig operator for driving with a counterfeit license and cited 200 other commercial truckers Thursday at the Port of Los Angeles for infractions ranging from improper permits to hauling overweight loads, officials said. "It was a very productive effort," Los Angeles Police Department Capt. William P. Hayes said of the routine monthly port inspection conducted by a dozen agencies, including the Los Angeles Port Police, Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Transportation and Fullerton Police Department.