Hundreds of Criminals Tricked into Using FBI Messaging App; 44 District Attorneys Challenge Early Release of 76,000 Inmates; El Chapo's Wife Admits Helping Run His Criminal Empire and Other Stories: Monday Morning Memo

Courts & Rulings

CHP not liable for shooting by drunken off-duty officer

Conclusory allegations pinning blame on the California Highway Patrol for a non-fatal shooting by one of its deputies while drunk and off-duty did not suffice, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, affirming a judgment of dismissal which followed the sustaining of demurrers without leave to amend. Justice Kenneth Yegan of Div. Six wrote the opinion, which was not certified for publication.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

DDA's remarks on innocence presumption doesn't require issuance of habeas relief

A judge of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a District Court judge sitting there by designation yesterday backed down from their Sept. 28 opinion declaring that a due process violation occurred when a prosecutor told the jury that the point had been reached where the presumption of innocence no longer existed, requiring habeas corpus relief for a man convicted of first-degree murder.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

U.S. judge overturns California's ban on assault weapons

A federal judge has overturned California's three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, calling it a "failed experiment" that violates people's constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled on Friday that the state's definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court.

AP

Defendant's immigration status, deportations properly admitted to show motive - C.A.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge properly admitted evidence that a man on trial for the attempted murder of a deputy sheriff during a traffic stop was an undocumented alien who had twice been deported because it had a bearing on his motive for the shooting, the Court of Appeal for this district held Friday.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

California lawyer sanctioned for unfounded claims against police

A civil rights attorney must pay $1,000 in sanctions for signing off on a complaint with "baseless" accusations that police and prosecutors conspired to characterize his client as a gang member and charge him with a shooting, a federal court in California ruled. Attorney Douglas Robert Thorn, who represented accused shooter Sonny Martinez and his family in their civil suit, had material available to him that contradicted several key allegations in the complaint, Judge Troy L. Nunley said for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Bloomberg Law

Supreme Court ruling: Allowing tribal police officers to stop, detain non-Natives - what about the Cayuga Nation?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a unanimous decision - enshrining the right for tribal police officers to temporarily detain non-Indigenous travelers who are carrying out crimes while venturing along highways that traverse reservation lands.

FingerLakes1

Supreme Court adopts narrow interpretation of computer fraud and abuse act

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq., does not prohibit improper use of computer information to which an individual has authorized access. Rather, the law prohibits obtaining information from areas of a computer, such as files, folders, or databases, that are outside the limits of the individual's authorized access.

National Law Review

Appeals court dismisses suit by San Quentin employee fired for allowing prisoner to call his mom, dishonesty

A California appeals court upheld the dismissal of a suit filed by a fired San Quentin State Prison staffer, who claimed she was the victim of racism and retaliation for complaints. According to the First Appellate District's 19-page decision, issued earlier this week, there were three reasons why the plaintiff, Jada Brown, was fired: she allowed a prisoner to call his mother in an unauthorized fashion and called her at least once on his behalf, she mishandled inmate medical records, and sustained findings of dishonesty.

Bay Area News Group

U.S. Supreme Court takes up FBI bid to block Muslim civil rights suit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the FBI's bid to block a civil rights lawsuit by three Muslim men from California who accused the agency of illegally conducting surveillance on them following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The justices will take up the FBI's appeal of a lower court's 2019 ruling that let various claims made by the men move forward in the litigation.

Reuters

In Absentia: No Latino judges in these majority-Latino California counties

In Colusa County, where 60% of the population is Latino, both of the Superior Court judges - who handle everything from disorderly conduct to murder trials - are white. Colusa is one of four majority-Latino California counties - along with Kings, Madera, and Merced - with no Latino judges in any superior courtrooms. Latino representation on the bench in three of those counties has not improved much since the state began collecting judicial diversity data 14 years ago.

CalMatters

The State Supreme Court hears the Los Angeles murderer's appeal if it could lead to the cancellation of the death penalty

A lawyer appealing the conviction of a double murderer in Los Angeles said Wednesday in front of the California Supreme Court that the state's death penalty was uneven and unconstitutional, perhaps the way to withdraw hundreds of death sentences. Insisted that it could open. The judge received the death penalty in a 2004 shooting of rival gang member George Brooks (33) in a drug war and Annette Anderson (52) who witnessed the killing in a housing project at Nickerson Gardens.

Pasadena Star News

Court limits definition of "violent felony" in federal gun-possession penalty

A fractured Supreme Court on Thursday narrowed the scope of a key phrase in the Armed Career Criminal Act, ruling that crimes involving recklessness do not count as "violent felonies" for the purpose of triggering a key sentencing enhancement. Justice Elena Kagan announced the judgment of the court and wrote an opinion that was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch.

SCOTUSblog

Los Angeles District Attorney

L.A. County DA George Gascón addresses opposition to his reforms amid recall effort

As he faces a recall effort, newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón joined KTLA Saturday to discuss the criticism he has faced over his criminal justice reforms. Recall supporters, including victims rights advocates and law enforcement officials, claim that Gascón, who ran a progressive campaign to bring sweeping criminal justice reforms to the nation's largest prosecutor's office, has prioritized criminals over victims since taking office.

KTLA

Probation for hit & run murder?

LA DA George Gascon's despicable policies are hurting people of all communities in LA County. From Terry Spann, brother of Journalist Margo Spann who was killed by a hit and run driver in March: "Hi John and Ken, I'm seeking your assistance in getting justice for my sister, Margo Spann, a young journalist and entrepreneur, who was killed by a Hit and Run driver in Los Angeles, CA on March 11, 2021. I've provided a link below of coverage of her death in the media."

KFI AM640

West Covina to District Attorney George Gascon: You're too soft on crime

The West Covina City Council has a message to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon: Change your policies because they are interfering with victims' rights and imperiling the safety of city residents. Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado earlier this week requested the city attorney draft a letter to send to Gascon outlining the city's opposition to the district attorney's policies, which include a refusal to seek the death penalty and offering no-cash bail.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

BREAKING: Torrance City Councilman Chen seeks Resolution of No confidence in George Gascon, council concurs for agenda item

VICTORY! This is great news! Councilman George Chen took the lead last night and called for a Resolution of No Confidence against LA County District Attorney George Gascon to be brought forward for the council to approve. Five of the city council members in total supported an agenda time for a Resolution of No Confidence, too. Only Mayor Pat Furey refused to support the resolution agenda item!

The State of the Union

Former DA Cooley leads Manhattan Beach rally to oust current DA Gascon

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, of Rolling Hills, addressed approximately 100 supporters of the effort to recall current LA County District Attorney George Gascon on Sunday, at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach. Manhattan Beach Mayor Suzanne Hadley and Councilman Richard Montgomery were among the supporters.

EasyReader & Peninsula

CA councilman slams left-wing DA Gascón after 'no confidence' votes: 'We need to take action'

A California city councilman is fighting back against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's progressive policies, expressing that "victims' rights should come before a criminals' rights." Councilman Erik Lutz's district, in Pico Rivera, California, is one of the 17 cities that are part of a growing effort to recall Gascón from his position, issuing a "no confidence" vote against the left-wing district attorney.

Fox News

Veteran video journalist Dave Lopez snags fast face to face interview with embattled DA George Gascón; see it in full here

Award winning veteran video journalist (and Long Beach resident) Dave Lopez managed to snag a face to face fast interview with recall-targeted L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón. Mr. Lopez's Gascon interview is in addition to his weekly videos on...everything. He titles his most recent (June 8): "The numbers, mask rules, and a grouchy old man rant!"

Long Beach Report

Gascón lifts the iron dome from L.A.

The other night I was speaking with my family in Israel. Their house had been damaged in the recent rocket attacks from Hamas that have had 70% of the population of the country running to bomb shelters. Thankfully, they were unharmed and able to safely take refuge with friends. If not for Iron Dome technology, who knows what might have happened. Here in Los Angeles County, the Jewish community likes to think that we are safe from such attacks.

The Signal

Prosecutors

D.A. George Gascón's promise to review controversial police killings. After 6 months, is he too late for some?

In his bid to unseat Jackie Lacey as head of the nation's largest prosecutor's office last year, George Gascón didn't simply attack her record of declining to prosecute police officers who killed unarmed people - he promised to go a step further and undo what he saw as her mistakes. Gascón identified four shootings that he believed should be reviewed, including the 2015 killing of a homeless man by an LAPD officer whom former police Chief Charlie Beck asked Lacey to file charges against.

Los Angeles Times

LA County sheriff's deputy charged with destroying evidence, assault during 2019 incident

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Tuesday that a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy has been charged with altering evidence where she allegedly assaulted a man during an arrest in Lancaster two years ago. "Tampering or destroying evidence tarnishes law enforcement and creates mistrust among the public," District Attorney Gascón said.

Fox11

Six California men, four of whom self-identify as members of "Three-Percenter" militias, indicted on conspiracy charges related to Jan. 6 Capitol breach

Six California men, four of whom identify as members of Three Percenter militias, were arrested today for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Department of Justice News Release

Garden Grove officer charged with beating two homeless people

A Garden Grove police officer was charged Wednesday with beating and threatening two homeless people in separate incidents while on duty, including "hitting a man in the back of his head and pulling his hair while the man's hands were handcuffed behind him," according to a press release. Kevin Dinh, 38, is scheduled to be arraigned July 21 on four counts of attempted criminal threats, two counts of battery and two counts of assault and battery by an officer, all misdemeanors.

City News Service

Stepmother charged with murder in 16-year-old Pomona boy's killing; father charged with abuse

The stepmother of a 16-year-old Pomona boy has been charged with murder in the teenager's death earlier this week, and the boy's father is facing a charge of felony child abuse, police said Thursday. Jessica Grajeda, 35, is suspected of assaulting the teen just before officers were called to a home in the 600 block of Del Rosa Place about a person needing CPR just after 12 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Pomona Police Department.

KTLA

Two suspects charged in freeway road rage shooting death of 6-year-old Aiden Leos

A man and woman were charged Tuesday in the tragic freeway shooting death of a 6-year-old boy who was on his way to kindergarten when he was struck by gunfire on an Orange County freeway. Marcus Anthony Eriz is charged with murder and discharge of a gun at an inhabited dwelling, with sentencing enhancements for causing death to the victim, 6-year-old Aiden Leos.

NBC4

Man charged with crimes against children; released from state hospital; received $4.5 million

A Porterville man who was released from Coalinga State Prison three years ago and received a $4.5 million settlement for essentially having his due process violated has been charged with crimes against children. Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward announced the filing of criminal charges against Jorge Vasquez, 46, for crimes against multiple children. Vasquez is charged with eight counts of child molestation and one count of failure to register as a sex offender.

The Porterville Recorder

Policy/Legal

The Citizen app's pilot program nods to the future of on-demand policing

Last month, questions swirled as controversial community safety app Citizen expanded into the physical realm, testing out a branded car in Los Angeles in conjunction with a local private security company it contracted with. Citizen - an app that uses GPS to alert users to crimes that have happened nearby - confirmed it had engaged in a "small" trial.

Los Angeles Magazine

Poll: Majority of Americans favor death penalty despite some reservations

A majority of Americans favor the death penalty despite having some reservations about how it is administered, according to a poll from Pew Research Center released Tuesday. The survey found that 60 percent of U.S. adults favor capital punishment for people convicted of murder, including 27 percent who strongly support it. Thirty-nine percent of respondents oppose the death penalty.

The Hill

CDCR grants prisoners more credits, CA district attorneys fight back

Forty-four district attorneys from all over California filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), calling new regulations expanding credits for prisoners unlawful. They say they're worried it would further traumatize victims of crimes. "My biggest concern was that crime victims who thought the person who perpetrated the crime was still going to be in custody and suddenly they'd see them walking down the street," said Joyce Dudley, District Attorney for the County of Santa Barbara.

KSBY

Police oversight boards are proliferating, but do they actually work?

While police oversight boards have been around for decades, a string of high-profile killings in recent years, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, have focused greater scrutiny on the use of force and need to hold officers accountable. The idea behind the civilian oversight of police is to benefit not only those making complaints against officers but the community and even departments themselves.

ABC News

Feds, for-profit prison group ask Ninth Circuit to block California private prison ban

Attorneys for the federal government and private prison operator GEO Group told a Ninth Circuit panel Monday if it upholds California's ban on private prisons and immigration facilities, it may give the green light to federal operations being undermined by state laws. "If we picture various states throughout the country deciding for various public policy reasons that they're going to - maybe not even as extreme as this but - make it difficult or impossible for the federal government to contract to perform its operations, the full extent of that would be extraordinary," Justice Department attorney Mark Stern said.

Courthouse News Service

DOJ ends policy that prohibited federal officers from using body-worn cameras

The Justice Department will require federal agents to wear and activate cameras whenever encountering the public "during pre-planned law enforcement operations," according to a memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. As a part of the Justice Department's continued efforts to build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, Monaco reversed a long-standing department policy against federal agents wearing body cameras.

CNN

After Beverly Hills raid, FBI wants to keep fortune in cash, gold, jewels

When FBI agents asked for permission to rip hundreds of safe deposit boxes from the walls of a Beverly Hills business and haul them away, U.S. Magistrate Steve Kim set some strict limits on the raid. The business, U.S. Private Vaults, had been charged in a sealed indictment with conspiring to sell drugs and launder money. Its customers had not. So the FBI could seize the boxes themselves, Kim decided, but had to return what was inside to the owners.

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles County/City

2021 violent crime in Los Angeles continues to outpace recent years

The numbers of murders and shootings reported in the city of Los Angeles continue to outpace violent crime rates recorded in 2019 and 2020. One hundred forty-one people have been murdered so far in 2021, a 22-percent increase over the same period in 2020. Six hundred people have been struck by gunfire in shootings in 2021, a 59-percent increase over this time last year.

NBC4

LASD houses boardwalk homeless first day on job, Bonin lashes out on Twitter

Twenty-four Los Angeles County Sheriff's (LASD) Deputies rolled up to the Venice Beach Boardwalk on Tuesday. Sixteen deputies and eight mental health workers started their outreach efforts to help house the almost 200 homeless individuals who are currently living on the Boardwalk. According to early reports, at least six people were housed on Tuesday, including Robert, the veteran who has lived near the Rose Avenue parking lot for more than three years. Another veteran, Michael, was also getting help.

Venice Current

L.A. sheriff clashes with 'reformer' D.A. as crime skyrockets

It's like a pilot episode for a new crime drama: Crime is skyrocketing in Los Angeles, where the county sheriff is helping the public arm itself while a far-left prosecutor is letting the bad guys walk. "We have less cops on the street, more crooks, less consequences," Sheriff Alex Villeneuva told L.A. residents in a June 2 video posted to social media. "You know, what could go wrong with that combination, right?"

One News Now

Woman with knife arrested at Venice news conference about public safety

A woman with a knife was arrested Monday during a Venice Beach news conference at which a city council member and mayoral candidate was speaking about Los Angeles' homelessness crisis and public safety. Los Angeles City Councilman and mayoral candidate Joe Buscaino was speaking about the city's homelessness crisis and announcing his plan for creating a safer city during the morning news conference.

NBC4

Public Safety/Crime

"Heavy blow against organized crime" after criminal "kingmakers" tricked into using FBI-run messaging app

Authorities in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and Europe said Tuesday that they've dealt a huge blow to organized crime after hundreds of criminals were tricked into using a messaging app that was being secretly run by the FBI. Police said criminal gangs thought the encrypted app called ANOM was safe from snooping when, in fact, authorities for months had been monitoring millions of messages about drug smuggling, money laundering and even planned killings.

CBS/AP

Jared Drake Bell of 'Drake and Josh' charged with crimes against a child

Jared Drake Bell, known for starring in the hit Nickelodeon TV show "Drake and Josh" is facing charges in Ohio for disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and attempted endangering children, according to court documents. Local news affiliate FOX 8 in Cleveland reported that Bell allegedly "engaged in an inappropriate chat with the victim that, at times, was sexual in nature."

Fox11

Driver stopped by police impersonator wasn't fooled by pickup with lights, siren and a child inside

A 45-year-old Riverside County man who outfitted a Ford F-150 pickup with lights and a siren was arrested after impersonating a police officer and making a traffic stop with a child in his vehicle, authorities said. The suspect, a San Jacinto resident, was arrested Wednesday after the red and blue lights, flashing in the pickup's grille and rear window, and a siren failed to fool a driver in French Valley. The driver suspected something was wrong during the traffic stop and left the scene.

NBC4

Consumer

Amazon and EBay would face counterfeit liability under new bill

E-commerce platforms run by Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc. would face increased liability when third-party vendors on their sites sell dangerous counterfeits under a bill discussed by a U.S. House panel Thursday. To be shielded from this liability, the bipartisan legislation would require platforms to take steps such as verifying manufacturer identity and permanently banning repeat counterfeit vendors.

Bloomberg

Amazon sued by pension fund over broad antitrust allegations

A pension fund sued Amazon in Delaware on Thursday, seeking internal files to investigate the tech giant's alleged scheme to monopolize online retail through agreements that raise prices across the internet and tax avoidance measures that give it more breathing room to undercut rivals.

Bloomberg Law

California/National

U.S. recovers millions from pipeline ransom because of hackers' mistake

The United States has recovered much of the ransom payment the Russian hacker group DarkSide extorted from Colonial Pipeline this year, the Justice Department said Monday. The announcement details a rare disruption of the cryptocurrency payment systems favored by hackers that have enabled ransomware efforts around the world. The FBI was able to seize control of DarkSide's proceeds by gaining access to a central account holding about 63.7 bitcoins, worth around $2.3 million, Deputy Director Paul Abbate said.

NBC News

Bill to have prosecutors and courts determine incarceration costs passes assembly

A bill to require prosecutors and judges to determine how much it would cost taxpayers to incarcerate defendants at sentencing was passed by the Assembly on Wednesday. Assembly Bill 1474, authored by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), would require multiple entities in the court to announce what the economic effects of incarceration, or other methods of serving time like house arrest and probation, would be.

California Globe

'In desperate need of these programs': California to close inmate firefighting training center

Already faced with a dwindling federal workforce, California is preparing to shut down one of its main training facilities for inmate firefighters as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to reduce the state's prison population. The California Correctional Center in Lassen County, located near two national forests in the northeastern part of the state, is slated to close in June 2022 and its fire training program relocated nearly five hours south to the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown.

NBC News

Convictions/Sentences/Pleas

Ex-con pleads not guilty in shootout with off-duty LAPD officer

An ex-con pleaded not guilty Monday to charges stemming from a gun battle with an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer in Sherman Oaks in April that left both men injured. Christopher Camarena, 24, is charged with one count each of attempted murder, second-degree robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with allegations that he personally used a handgun and personally inflicted great bodily injury to the officer, identified as Michael Beyda in the criminal complaint.

CBS LA

Mental health diversion granted for man charged with stabbing deputy

A Kern County judge on Friday ruled a man accused of stabbing a deputy can enter a mental health diversion program where the charges against him will be dismissed if he follows a treatment plan and stays out of trouble. Judge Michael G. Bush granted Reginald Anderson entry into the two-year program over the objection of prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney Joseph Kinzel said Anderson will face no criminal consequences for his "unprovoked assault on a sheriff's deputy" if he successfully completes the program.

KGET

Document leak puts ex-treasury official away 6 months

A federal judge handed a six-month prison sentence Thursday to a former Treasury official who painted herself as a whistleblower for leaking government records about targets of Robert Mueller's Russia probe. "I understand she viewed herself as a whistleblower," U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods said at the hearing this afternoon in Manhattan. "But I'm not focused on that because blowing the whistle through proper channels is important. But we are not here because Dr. Edwards blew the whistle about areas of concern through the proper channels."

Courthouse News Service

California woman who set fire to dog gets 7 years in prison

A Northern California woman who set her sister's dog on fire after the animals fought has been sentenced to seven years in prison, prosecutors said Friday. Petra Gabriel pleaded guilty in April to multiple charges including felony animal cruelty, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. Investigators said Gabriel's dog got in a fight with her sister's dog, Doody.

AP

El Chapo's wife pleads guilty to federal criminal charges, admits helping run his criminal empire

The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in the U.S. and admitted that she helped her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire. Emma Coronel Aispuro, wearing a green jail uniform, appeared in federal court in Washington and pleaded guilty to three federal offenses as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

AP

Corrections & Parole

California restaurateur who killed wife, allegedly cooked her body denied parole

Despite insisting to state parole commissioners that he was "so sorry for what I've done," a former Lomita chef convicted of killing his wife and cooking her body to eliminate the evidence lost his bid Tuesday, June 8, for an early release from prison. David Viens, 58, was denied parole during a nearly six-hour hearing where he provided a detailed account of how he killed 39-year-old Dawn Viens during a jealous rage in 2009. But he also backpedaled on his 2011 confession that he boiled her corpse for four days in a 55-gallon drum, a story he called "outlandish."

Southern California News Group

Man convicted of 1980 El Cerrito murder gets chance at parole at Newsom's request

The state Supreme Court authorized Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday to grant clemency, and parole eligibility, to a man who has been serving a life-without-parole sentence for murdering an El Cerrito restaurant worker during a 1980 robbery. George L. Hughes was convicted in 1982 of kidnapping and fatally shooting Mary Washington, assistant manager of Church's Chicken restaurant, in November 1980.

San Francisco Chronicle

Articles of Interest

Should convicted felons serve on juries?

Should convicted felons be allowed to serve on juries, sitting in judgment on their fellow citizens? On June 2, Premal Dharia, inaugural director of Harvard Law School's Institute to End Mass Incarceration, moderated a discussion of this question, at an event co-sponsored by the Radcliffe Institute between two invited speakers: Brendon D. Woods, the chief public defender in California's Alameda County, and James M. Binnall, an associate professor of law, criminology, and criminal justice at California State University, Long Beach.

Harvard Magazine

Jails emptied in the pandemic. Should they stay that way?

It wasn't long after Matthew Reed shoplifted a $63 set of sheets from a Target in upstate New York that the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Instead of serving a jail sentence, he stayed at home, his case deferred more than a year, as courts closed and jails nationwide dramatically reduced their populations to stop the spread of COVID-19. But the numbers have begun creeping up again as courts are back in session and the world begins returning to a modified version of normal.

The Marshall Project & AP

The secret IRS files: Trove of never-before-seen records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax

ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth - sometimes, even nothing. In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world's richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.

ProPublica

Inside Tom Girardi's alleged affair & mistress

It looks like Erika Girardi may not have been the only woman in Tom Girardi's life. In December 2020, the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star came out with a bombshell allegation: that her husband of 21 years had been cheating on her with a woman named Tricia A. Bigelow. Girardi posted the series of alleged text messages to her Instagram page at the time, which have since been deleted.

Heavy

Pensions

Facing legal action, Chico cancels public workshops on pension obligation bonds

The city of Chico's planned series of meetings to discuss pension obligation bonds with the public beginning Tuesday is canceled, pending new litigation. The city received notice June 1 from Sacramento nonprofit lobbying and policy organization Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, directing the city not to file a court action requesting validation for issuing future pension obligation bonds.

Oroville Mercury-Register