OPINION
February 12, 2012
Judge Michael Nash, who presides over the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, has long argued that public access to the court's proceedings would improve its accountability and the accountability of those who appear before it. Last week, he set out to prove it. Nash, along with this page, had supported state legislation that would change the presumption that dependency court hearings, in which the fate of children in foster care is decided, should...
BUSINESS
February 2, 2012 | By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times
The owner of a Honda Civic hybrid won an unusual Small Claims Court lawsuit Wednesday against the auto giant that some legal experts believe could change strategies for both Small Claims Court and class-action litigation. A Los Angeles County court commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. negligently misled Civic owner Heather Peters when it claimed the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon. Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan, who mailed his 26-page decision to Peters and Honda, awarded her $9,867.19 in damages.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 10, 2011 | By Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
In 2005, Deborah Kincaid called her estranged husband for an uncomfortable conversation. With the police listening in, she accused Jeffrey Kincaid of sexually abusing her daughter, Shannon, who was 11 when the couple married. When she asked why he had abused the girl, he said he didn't remember the abuse but continued on an enigmatic aside. "I don't know. I don't remember," he said. "You may be right. I'm beginning to believe that you're right. I — I can't make sense of it. " This week, an appellate court ruled that Kincaid could sue her ex-husband in civil court for allegedly causing her daughter's eventual death by suicide, based on recorded conversations between the couple and between Jeffrey Kincaid and his stepdaughter.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 22, 2011 | By Gretchen Meier, Los Angeles Times
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered the city of Burbank to release data on bonuses paid to individual employees, saying the taxpayers' right to know exceeded any workplace privacy concerns. Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones ruled Friday in a lawsuit filed by the Burbank Leader after city officials refused to make individual bonuses public. Jones cited legal precedent, telling the parties that previous court rulings "basically said, 'Man up, public employees.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 26, 2011 | By Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times
Michael Jackson's personal physician declared himself "innocent" in the singer's death Tuesday during a Los Angeles County Superior Court appearance in which he also demanded that his trial begin quickly. Asked how he pleaded to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the sole count to be decided at the trial now set for March 28, Dr. Conrad Murray paused and then said, "Your honor, I am an innocent man ? " "What's your plea?" Judge Michael Pastor interrupted. "Therefore, I plead not guilty," Murray said.
OPINION
August 7, 2010 | Tim Rutten
There are judicial decisions you can ponder, others over which you argue, and some that just leave you shaking your head in slack-jawed wonder. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hilleri G. Merritt's imposition of a prior restraint order on The Times falls squarely into the latter category. With the judge's permission, one of the paper's photographers shot pictures of a defendant charged with killing four people. Merritt then changed her mind and ordered the paper not to publish the images, despite the fact that the accused man's photo already has appeared on television and been posted on the Internet.