Los Angeles District Attorney

As part of a broad crackdown on insurance fraud in the construction industry, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office Tuesday charged operators of four area contractors for allegedly misreporting wages or types of workers. "The underreporting or non-reporting of payroll and the misclassification of workers raises insurance costs for all the honest businesspeople out there," said Barry Gale, deputy district attorney in the workers compensation division.

The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission has voted to uphold the district attorney's firing of veteran prosecutor Lawrence M. Longo for his handling of a 1992 assault case involving rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.

The decision overturning Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt's murder conviction should be reversed, Los Angeles prosecutors said Friday, arguing that "nothing points to Pratt's innocence; everything points to his guilt." In a 202-page appeal filed Friday, prosecutors challenged Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey's decision that led to the former Black Panther Party leader's release on bail in July. Dist. Atty.

He found work in the underground economy, used a Florida driver's license and had mail sent to the homes of friends and relatives, officials said, but after four years of evasion, an accused "deadbeat dad" who owes more than $100,000 was arrested here Tuesday by investigators from the Los Angeles district attorney's family support division.

The crush begins early at the Commonwealth Avenue courthouse. But even if a bench or chair is empty, many people just pace, too tense to sit as they wait for their case to be called or their ex to show up. The noise is constant: children screaming, couples arguing. The din breaks only when attorneys yell out names before ducking inside an office, file in arm, a bewildered-looking father or mother in tow.

Almost three years to the day she and her lover murdered his mother and ex-girlfriend at Universal CityWalk, Donna Lee was spared the death penalty Monday when prosecutors announced they will no longer seek her execution. Instead, she will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A jury convicted Lee and Paul Carasi this year of two counts of first degree murder for the Mother's Day 1995 slayings.

Local law enforcement officials announced a new collaboration Friday aimed at curbing incidents of workplace violence, stalking and threats. The effort, which officially begins July 1, will be highlighted by the creation of a Stalking and Threat Assessment Team within the district attorney's office, which will assign two prosecutors to work full time on processing such cases.

The Los Angeles district attorney's office dismissed stalking and other charges against an Encino man earlier this month, but prosecutors have refiled the case, saying there is ample evidence to prove the 23-year-old harassed and threatened a police detective. But Assaf Waknine, who was arrested in April and is now in federal custody awaiting sentencing in another case, maintains that it was he who was victimized, not police.

David Conn's 18th-floor office at the Criminal Courts Building came complete with one of the few perks a prosecutor can afford, a swell view of the busy city below. And if anything testifies to the new place Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has assigned for Conn in the pecking order, it's the view from the courthouse in Norwalk, where Conn is being transferred. There, Conn will be able to take in a pancake house, a movie theater and a parking garage.