Court Rulings

Accused drunk drivers now have more ammunition for challenging Breathalyzer findings as a result of a unanimous ruling Thursday by the California Supreme Court. The ruling is expected to make drunk-driving cases more complicated and possibly more difficult to prosecute, lawyers said. Courts in two other states, Arizona and Vermont, have reached similar conclusions.

You would never mistake Jesse Lopez Jr. for a revolutionary. Soft-spoken, with a shy smile beneath his gray mustache, the retired school custodian and amateur mariachi singer hardly seems like an instigator. Yet if Latinos come to dominate California politics someday, Lopez will have helped make it happen.

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday handed Univision Communications a major victory in its hard-fought battle with its programming partner from Mexico, underscoring Univision's exclusive rights in the U.S. to the wildly popular Spanish-language soap operas that fuel its huge ratings. Grupo Televisa, Mexico's largest entertainment company, had sought the judge's permission to transmit to U.S.

The conviction of a man serving a life prison sentence for an East Los Angeles gang shooting has been overturned by a federal judge who ruled that the man's attorney failed to present evidence that he was at work more than 30 miles away when the crime occurred, attorneys said Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess ruled last week that Rafael Madrigal Jr., 34, should be retried within 60 days or released from prison, where he is serving a 53-years-to-life sentence for attempted murder.

After a vigorous debate among experts, the state medical board this week dismissed accusations of negligence against a perinatologist at Kaiser Permanente's Fresno Medical Center who was involved in two tragic deliveries. The Medical Board of California had accused Dr. Hamid Safari of mishandling the procedures. One child died in the delivery room in April 2005, and the other died months after her January 2004 birth.

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday tentatively threw out the conviction of a Missouri woman for her role in a cruel Internet hoax on a teenage girl who ended up committing suicide. The decision by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, which will not become final until he files a written ruling, was a blow to prosecutors who had hoped to send the message that cyber-bullying is a crime. Wu had repeatedly delayed sentencing to consider a defense motion to dismiss the entire case. U.S. Atty.

In a victory for independent truckers, a federal judge on Wednesday blocked part of a program to cut diesel emissions by phasing out 17,000 old big rigs at the nation's busiest port complex. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder's preliminary injunction halted some new rules, including one that prohibits drivers at the Port of Los Angeles from being independent contractors. That was a provision sought by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The Supreme Court opinion that drew the most praise last week from a proudly "progressive" constitutional law group was written by perhaps the court's staunchest conservative, Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas would have gone further than the court's liberals in a decision that allowed injured patients to sue drug makers. In a 24-page concurrence, he said the court should have declared that judges have no authority to void state consumer-protection laws based on "agency musings" from Washington.

After 18 years of dueling lawsuits, courtroom clashes and allegations of impropriety, Walt Disney Co. finally can close the storybook on its battle with the family that holds lucrative rights to Winnie the Pooh. On Friday, a federal judge ruled in favor of Disney by granting the company's motion to dismiss a copyright and trademark infringement claim brought by the family of Stephen Slesinger, who was a pioneer in the commercialization of cartoon characters. In 1930, Slesinger acquired the Pooh merchandising rights from British author A.A. Milne, who created the popular children's stories.

For seven years, a bill collector enabled by the powerful Experian credit reporting bureau pursued Maria Pintos over a $3,000 towing bill. "They used to call me at work and threaten to ruin my good credit," Pintos, 71, said of Pacific Creditors agents who hounded her at her San Mateo County mental health department job for months after the May 2002 towing. "It was so embarrassing, because there were patients around who could hear." On Thursday, the 71-year-old Pacifica, Calif.