CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 2, 2013 | By Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown's office late Thursday produced a court-ordered plan to reduce prison crowding that includes the early release of thousands of inmates and the relocation of some prisoners to private lockups or state fire camps, among other measures. FOR THE RECORD: Prison plan: An article in the May 3 LATExtra section said that Gov. Jerry Brown's office produced a plan to reduce prison crowding by releasing thousands of inmates early. In fact, the plan proposes releasing hundreds, not thousands, of inmates.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 27, 2013 | By Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times
San Gabriel Councilman-elect Chin Ho Liao was the second highest vote-getter in the city's March elections, but his first time on the council dais last week was as a witness under cross-examination. The City Council voted not to seat Liao after resident Fred Paine filed a complaint alleging that Liao's true residence is outside of the city's borders. Though Liao has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court to contest the council's vote, the city has also created its own hearing process to determine Liao's residency.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 24, 2013 | By Paige St. John
Even as California makes preparations to appeal federal court rulings on the quality of care and crowding of conditions in state prisons, new orders are in the making. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton on Tuesday dusted off a pending August 2012 order for the state to produce a plan to improve the quality of inmate mental health care, and gave it a new July 1 deadline. The judge's order notes that compliance was interrupted by the state's bid in January to end court oversight of prison mental health care.
SPORTS
April 24, 2013 | By Bill Shaikin
Jamie McCourt has no claim to half the proceeds from the sale of the Dodgers and no grounds to throw out a divorce settlement never intended to provide her with that, an attorney for Frank McCourt argued in court Wednesday. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon heard closing arguments in the matter on Wednesday, then indicated he would not rule before a related procedural hearing on June 5. The Dodgers were sold for $2 billion last year, five months after Jamie McCourt agreed to settle the couple's divorce by relinquishing any claim to the team in exchange for $131 million.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 24, 2013
An Orange County Superior Court judge has prohibited a man accused of gunning down a doctor from transferring his properties to relatives, according to an attorney for the victim's family. Stanwood Elkus, 75, of Lake Elsinore, stands accused of killing Ronald Gilbert, 52, of Huntington Harbour, in the doctor's office in Newport Beach in January. Gilbert's wife of 23 years, Elizabeth Gilbert, and his two sons won a temporary restraining order against Elkus on April 4 after filing a wrongful-death claim and accusing him of defrauding them by attempting to give seven of his eight properties to his sister, according to Edward Susolik, the Gilbert family's attorney.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 23, 2013 | By Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
Dr. Conrad Murray's trial was "fundamentally unfair" because of the publicity surrounding his manslaughter case and the fame of his patient, Michael Jackson, the physician's attorney wrote in papers filed Monday asking an appellate court to throw out his conviction. Murray's attorney contended that prosecutors had failed at trial to prove that the cardiologist was responsible for the pop icon's death. She also contended that the trial judge, Michael Pastor, "displayed a bias" against the doctor.
WORLD
April 21, 2013 | By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times
CAIRO - Egypt's besieged justice minister has submitted his resignation after protests over the weekend by Islamists, who want to purge the courts of judges and lawyers perceived as political enemies of President Mohamed Morsi. Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki, who has wanted to quit his post for months, offered his latest resignation amid anger at the inability of Morsi's government to revive the nation's economy and ease political divisions. Morsi announced Saturday that he would soon reshuffle his Cabinet.
WORLD
April 19, 2013 | By Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times
MEXICO CITY - Contradictory court judgments in the war crimes trial of former Guatemalan dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt this week set off protests in Guatemala City and prompted rebukes from human rights organizations around the world. On Friday, Judge Jazmin Barrios, who is presiding over Rios Montt's genocide trial in Guatemala's capital, called court to order despite another judge's ruling a day earlier granting an appeal by the defense to annul the case based on a technicality.
WORLD
April 19, 2013 | By Daniel Hernandez
MEXICO CITY - Contradictory court judgments in the war crimes trial of former Guatemalan dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt this week set off protests in Guatemala City and prompted rebukes from human rights organizations. On Friday, Judge Jazmin Barrios, who is presiding over Rios Montt's genocide trial in Guatemala's capital, called court to order despite a ruling by another judge a day earlier granting an appeal by the defense to annul the case based on a technicality. The Thursday ruling was “illegal,” Barrios said.
SPORTS
April 19, 2013 | By Bill Shaikin
In October 2011, Jamie McCourt agreed to a divorce settlement in which she would get $131 million and give up any claim to the Dodgers. Six months later, the Dodgers sold for $2 billion. "I was surprised I could have made such a huge mistake," she testified Friday. McCourt returned to Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, for the first day of a hearing in which she has asked Judge Scott Gordon to throw out the divorce settlement. Frank McCourt, her ex-husband and the former Dodgers owner, also was in court, although Jamie McCourt was the only witness to testify Friday morning.