Trials

An Orange County law school hopes to ease the stress on the financially burdened California court system by offering its newly christened practice courtroom on campus as a venue for official legal proceedings. Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa will offer to host public court proceedings, including trials and arbitration hearing. Such an arrangement would benefit students, allowing them to observe the proceedings in the school's fully functioning 4,400-square-foot courtroom, officials said.

When he began investigating Michael Jackson's death in 2009, Los Angeles Police Det. Orlando Martinez at first concluded that the cause was accidental or natural. But when the detective discovered the deep financial straits of Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, he shifted his thinking and pondered whether he had discovered a motive for the pop star's death - “financial gain.”   Martinez was the second witness called Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that Jackson's mother and three children filed against Anschutz Entertainment Group, accusing the entertainment giant of negligently hiring and supervising Murray.

Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in the trial of a teenage girl charged with murdering her mother and stepfather in a dispute over her relationship with her boyfriend, also accused of carrying out the slayings. Cynthia Alvarez, then 15, and her boyfriend, Giovanni Gallardo, then 16, allegedly attacked Alvarez's mother when the 58-year-old arrived at the family's Compton home after work one day in October 2011, according to the L.A. County district attorney's office.

As Michael Jackson's highly anticipated comeback shows approached, promoter AEG was so desperate to become No. 1 in the concert industry that its executives ruthlessly pushed the pop star to perform, caring little about his health, an attorney said Monday. In his opening statement, Brian Panish, who represents Jackson's mother and his three children, told the jury that Anschutz Entertainment Group was willing to do whatever it took to catch up to its competitor, Live Nation. "AEG had a problem, and they wanted to fix it," he said.

The attorney for Michael Jackson's family told the jury Monday that AEG missed warning after warning about the singer's physical and mental condition and the doctor hired to treat him. During his opening argument, attorney Brian Panish told the jury about a series of emails between AEG executives and people involved in the planned “This Is It” comeback tour discussing Jackson's mental and physical condition and Dr. Conrad Murray, who was treating...

NEW YORK--When a championship boxer like Muhammad Ali felt disrespected by another fighter, he might have been expected to do what most boxers would: knock his opponent's lights out. But the icon took a different route when faced with a rival he thought looked down on his religion: He  prolonged the fight, aiming to up the level of spectacle and pain. He also made sure his opponent knew his reasons for doing so. "What's my name? What's my name?" Ali's lips could be seen forming as he slowly demolished an opponent who insisted on calling him Cassius Clay.

Silvia Gusmami and Laura Messina jetted in from Italy just for a chance to watch the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case, joining other fans at a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Monday who jockeyed for two lottery seats being made available to the public for the opening day of the trial. The two women said they spent last week watching attorneys pick jurors in the case, which is expected to last as long as four months. The case, in which Jackson's mother and children have accused entertainment giant AEG of hiring and controlling the doctor who gave the pop singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, is expected to dive into the sensational elements of the entertainer's life.

Michael Jackson's mother and three children have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group, accusing them of threatening to end Jackson's career if he failed to deliver on a series of comeback concerts in London and hiring the doctor who was later convicted of giving the singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol. Join us at 9 a.m. Tuesday when we discuss the AEG-Michael Jackson trial with Times reporter Jeff Gottlieb. The wrongful-death suit against AEG was filed by the singer's mother, Katherine -- who was in the courtroom during opening statements Monday along with Michael Jackson's siblings Rebbie and Randy -- and his three children.

He was a smooth-talking swindler who operated Orange County's most notorious and lucrative strip club, the Mustang Topless Theater. Born James Stockwell, he rebranded himself Jimmy Casino and lived the extravagant lifestyle of a character from an Elmore Leonard novel. Expensive cowboy couture. Luxury cars. Enemies who wanted him dead. After years of staying a step ahead of the law and the people whom he owed money, Casino, 48, was ambushed at his Buena Park condo Jan. 2, 1987.

Michael Jackson's death nearly four years ago has been the subject of intense curiosity, endless media speculation and even a dramatic courtroom drama in which the King of Pop's doctor was found guilty of causing his death. But all that may end up being a warm-up act for the legal showdown set to begin Monday . In a wrongful death lawsuit, the singer's mother and three children accuse concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group of threatening to end Jackson's career if he failed to deliver on a series of comeback concerts in London and hiring the doctor who was later convicted of giving the singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.