DA Gascon Accused of Punishing Staff Who Disagree with Him; CA Prison Inmates Re-Offend Despite Reabilitation; New CA Law May Lead to Thousands of Police Suspensions Every Year; Starbucks Employees Fired for Arrests of Black Men win Big in Court and Other Stories: Monday Morning Memo

Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits

Lady Gaga seeks dismissal of dog $500,000 reward lawsuit, claiming conspiracy fraud

Lady Gaga is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a woman previously arrested and charged in connection with stealing two of her three French bulldogs in 2021. Jennifer McBride returned Lady Gaga's dogs in February 2021, two days after the dogs were stolen, and then expected reward money. Gaga, whose real name is Stefani J. Germanotta, tweeted that she would pay $500,000 for the safe return of her stolen dogs, according to the singer's attorneys' court papers.

KCAL

County can't be forced to deny autopsy reports to media

A court may not order a county to withhold autopsy reports that are sought pursuant to a public records request, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, spurning the assertion by family members of the 11 slain patrons of the 2018 shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks that privacy rights must prevail. The request for the reports was made under the California Public Records Act by The Associated Press and by the companies that publish, respectively, the Los Angeles Times and the Ventura County Star.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Federal court uses legislator's statements to allow lawsuit challenging state statute

In the March 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of Olson v. State of California, 62 F.4th 1206 (9th Cir. 2023), the federal appellate court based its decision squarely on the public statements made by a former legislator who authored the bill at issue in the appeal. The decision is interesting to read not only because of the subject matter of the bill, which was a hotly contested measure in the Legislature, but also because of its use of an uncommon means of considering legislative history.

California Globe

Ninth Circuit hears challenge to recall of offensive license plate

A Hawaii resident claiming the state infringed on his right to free speech after recalling a personalized license plate bearing the letters "FCKBLM" asked the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to consider whether license plates are truly representative of government speech or if it becomes messaging merely associated with a private citizen. The controversial plate made a splash across local social media and left many wondering how the plate was approved in the first place.

Courthouse News Service

California taxpayers to foot $557K bill for part of gun control law no one wanted

Making a political point can have real-world costs, and California's taxpayers will now get to pay more than a half-million dollars so that state Attorney General Rob Bonta could deliver a message to Texas. It's the latest chapter in the confusing saga of Senate Bill 1327, a bill that subjects makers of assault weapons, ghost guns and other banned firearms to lawsuits by private citizens. It contained a provision that said even a successful challenger of the law could be on the hook for California's attorneys fees incurred defending it.

Legal Newsline

San Francisco must face lawsuit over criminal trial delays

The California Superior Court in San Francisco must face a lawsuit that seeks to reduce a backlog of criminal cases that at one point left more than 400 defendants jailed or subject to court oversight after their deadlines for a speedy trial passed. The California Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a judge who had thrown out the case after concluding, based on a precedent that barred a challenge in an individual case, that one superior court doesn't have the power to make another superior court do or refrain from doing anything.

Courthouse News Service

Times backs down in bid to pry records from State Bar

The Los Angeles Times has largely given up its effort to pry more information from the State Bar as to facts surrounding its failure over a period of decades to follow up on a plethora of complaints as to misconduct by one-time celebrity lawyer Thomas V. Girardi, who is now disbarred and facing federal criminal charges.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Prosecutors

L.A. City Councilmember Curren Price charged with embezzlement and perjury

Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price was charged with 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest on Tuesday, becoming the latest in a years-long parade of elected city officials to face public corruption allegations from state or federal prosecutors. Price, a 10-year veteran of the City Council, is accused of having a financial interest in development projects that he voted on, and receiving tens of thousands of dollars in medical benefits from the city for his now wife while he was still married to another woman, according to a statement issued by the L.A. County district attorney's office.

Los Angeles Times

ATM fraud cases surge: Why a Romanian politician is sitting in the Ventura County jail

It's been over two months since anyone in the small coastal city of Eforie, Romania, has seen Virgil Negru. The politician has been missing all spring from the quiet town of fewer than 11,000 along the Black Sea, a popular summertime destination for families escaping the heat of Bucharest, a few hours inland. Rumors began to surface after Negru, a member of the Eforie City Council, stopped showing up to meetings at City Hall.

Los Angeles Times

Woke Los Angeles DA punishing colleagues who criticize him with 'weaponized' panel: sources

Under-fire Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has "weaponized" a special panel to suspend and punish anyone who speaks out against his policies, two prosecutors alleged to The Post. Deputy District Attorney Shea Sanna said he has been falsely accused of racism and given a 10-day suspension after a complaint was recently made against him over his description of a 2021 altercation involving a group of men who viciously beat an individual.

New York Post

2 former Torrance police officers to stand trial in car vandalism case

Two former Torrance police officers were ordered Monday to stand trial on felony charges stemming from a swastika that was found spray-painted inside an impounded vehicle nearly 3 1/2 years ago. Superior Court Judge Craig Richman denied a defense motion to dismiss the case against Christopher Tomsic, 31, and Cody Weldin, 30, who are charged with one felony count each of vandalism with over $400 in damage and conspiracy to commit vandalism.

City News Service

LA County DA's Office won't release suspected motive in attempted baby snatching case

The reason two individuals attempted to violently kidnap a baby in August 2022 remains a mystery, after the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on a suspected motive when asked by the Signal Tribune on June 12. Two women were walking a baby in a stroller along a Long Beach street in August 2022 when Stacie Wilson allegedly approached them, pointed an apparent firearm at them and demanded the baby.

Signal Tribune

Why doesn't San Francisco prosecute open drug use like other cities?

San Francisco has arrested 58 people for public intoxication and drug possession since May 30, part of a crackdown on drugs in the city's troubled Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced last week. That news, which would be unsurprising in many other cities, was noteworthy in San Francisco: Despite its significant addiction problems, the city largely does not prosecute public drug use. Many residents wonder why.

The San Francisco Standard

Antioch PD officer who was fired for using unreasonable force charged with assault

An Antioch police officer who was terminated for using unreasonable force against an individual during a traffic stop has been charged with assault, the Antioch Police Department said Wednesday. Antioch PD Officer Matthew Nutt was fired as a result of an internal investigation stemming from a traffic stop on July 1, 2022. Then-officer Nutt stopped a driver for not displaying a license plate and learned he had an outstanding felony warrant for shooting an inhabited dwelling or occupied vehicle and conspiracy.

KRON

Fresno man arrested in Fullerton after alleged carjacking and high-speed police pursuit charged in federal criminal complaint

A Fresno man has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he carjacked a motorist in Fullerton and threw her out of the car before leading law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit in which he hit a police car, then fled on foot before officers apprehended him, the Justice Department announced today. Deshawn Ricks, 33, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and is charged in a federal criminal complaint with carjacking.

Department of Justice Press Release

Policy/Legal/Political

Getting answers: what's missing from California's inmate recidivism report

The state's prison system is run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), but it turns out that only about half of the state's inmates are actually participating in rehabilitation and other programs in prison. That's according to a report that CDCR recently released following repeated records requests from CBS Sacramento. The report also finds that those who do participate in in-prison rehabilitation are only 1.6% less likely to be convicted of new crimes after release.

CBS Sacramento

FBI claims secret evidence trumps religious discrimination charges in domestic spying case

Before Irvine, Calif. had its own mosque, Muslims would gather at Ali Malik's home for nightly prayers during Ramadan. But after an FBI informant pretended to be a convert and spied on Malik's lay congregation - and more than half a dozen Southern California mosques, as well, in the mid-2000s - trust within the community eroded. Malik's family pulled back. The communal prayers came to an end. "We became closed off and afraid of reaching out," he says.

Time

Hill seeks stay of revenge porn case against ex-husband

An attorney for former Rep. Katie Hill is asking a judge to put a hold on the ex-congresswoman's revenge porn case against Hill's former husband until the onetime politician is done with bankruptcy proceedings. Hill sued her former spouse, Kenneth Heslep, and multiple media groups in Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2020, alleging nude photos of her were published without her permission. Heslep is the only remaining defendant.

City News Service

Listening to vulgar music that others can hear at work? You might be harassing your coworkers, a federal judge ruled

If you listen to music with vulgar or offensive lyrics too loud at work, you may be harassing your coworkers and be legally liable for sex discrimination. That's the opinion of M. Margaret McKeown, an appeals court judge in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. McKeown wrote an opinion earlier this week stating that a lawsuit against S&S Activewear, which alleged the warehouse company's management ignored complaints about offensive music, was incorrectly dismissed.

Business Insider

Pretty staggering': Here's how many California cops could be decertified or suspended under new law

California's police standards commission is bracing to decertify or suspend 3,000 to 3,500 police officers each year for serious misconduct under a new state law, according to estimates from the commission. The estimates suggest the police officers engaging in serious misconduct in any given year could represent a significant percentage of the roughly 90,000 officers working in California, although some may already be fired or retired by the time the commission moves to strip them of their certification.

San Francisco Chronicle

LAPD chief backs proposed state bill that would crack down on street racing, takeovers

Street racers beware: New efforts are underway to increase the penalties, including permanent vehicle seizures, against those who engage in takeovers and other illegal activities on the streets. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore is throwing his support behind state legislation that would give local authorities stronger powers to permanently take away cars used in street takeovers. They used to have that ability but a court ruling shut that down in 2008.

ABC7

'Varsity Blues' cases narrow path for honest services fraud

The US Supreme Court continues to reverse public corruption convictions with surprising regularity and often unanimity - based on what it views as unconstitutionally broad application by prosecutors of the federal fraud statutes. The First Circuit's recent decision in the consolidated "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal cases, United States v. Abdelaziz and United States v. Wilson, was in line with that trend. So were two other Supreme Court decisions that same week reversing public corruption convictions in the Second Circuit - Percoco v. United States and Ciminelli v. United States.

Bloomberg Law

Why judges use gag orders in high-profile cases like Idaho student murders

A coalition of media organizations and the family of a murder victim came to an Idaho court on Friday with the same goal in mind: challenging a gag order. Two separate hearings were held Friday in the criminal case against Bryan Kohberger, the criminology graduate student at Washington State University accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home. A not guilty plea has been entered on his behalf, and the trial is set for October.

ABC7

Man charged in fatal stabbing of woman at Hancock Park store can't act as own attorney, judge rules

A judge ruled Thursday that a homeless man charged with fatally stabbing a 24-year-old UCLA grad student inside a Hancock Park furniture store can no longer act as his own attorney after an outburst in court. Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo revoked Shawn Laval Smith's right to represent himself during his upcoming trial following a contentious hearing in which he directed profanities at the judge during his first appearance before her and abruptly rose from his seat in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

City News Service

Famed ex-lawyer Tom Girardi is competent to stand trial, expert says

A government expert has concluded that Tom Girardi, the disgraced former attorney accused of stealing millions of dollars from his clients, is mentally fit to go before a jury despite his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Federal prosecutors revealed the finding of Diana Goldstein in a court filing on Friday, writing that the neuropsychologist "has concluded her examination and opined, among other things, that [Girardi] is competent to stand trial."

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles City/County

LACo attorneys seek deputy's therapy records in retaliation suit

Attorneys for Los Angeles County want a judge to release the therapy records of a deputy who sued the county alleging her career has been derailed because a recruit the plaintiff found to be physically unfit brought about a backlash from former Sheriff Alex Villanueva's wife. In court papers filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the county lawyers maintain that because Deputy Lina Pimentel seeks emotional distress damages, the defense is entitled to view the records of the counselor she saw for stress allegedly related to her work and the issues involving her lawsuit.

MyNewsLA

LA County sheriff's captain alleges retaliation for reporting wage issue, commander misconduct

A Los Angeles County sheriff's captain is suing the county, alleging he was wrongfully denied a return of his concealed weapons permit that would have allowed him to transfer to a public safety director job with the city of Lancaster that he sought as part of a settlement agreement of an Internal Affairs Bureau probe. Capt. Donald Rubio's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include retaliation and breach of contract. He seeks unspecified damages.

City News Service

Deputy who alleged backlash for resisting arrest quotas drops suit

A veteran sheriff's deputy has dropped his lawsuit against Los Angeles County in which he alleged he experienced retaliation by members of a deputy subgroup at the Compton Sheriff's Station for resisting alleged arrest quotas. Attorneys for Deputy Javier Gabriel Guzman Jr. filed court papers on Tuesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie M. Bowick asking that his lawsuit be dismissed "without prejudice," meaning it can be refiled.

MyNewsLA

Porn actress sues LA County, LASD over arrest

A self-professed porn actress is suing Los Angeles County and the Sheriff's Department, alleging deputies inappropriately touched her after she was arrested at the Abbey Bar & Grill in West Hollywood in 2022. The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Beverly Hills Superior Court lawsuit, which alleges sexual battery, sexual assault, battery by a law enforcement officer and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

City News Service

Friends and family mourn the loss of SCV native, LAPD deputy chief

Friends and family are mourning the loss of Matthew Blake - a Santa Clarita Valley native who quickly shot up the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. Those who knew him well said he was always a leader. Blake died on June 1 at the age of 57. "He was always the captain of whatever we were doing or the leader of whatever we were doing ... He was just a natural leader. Everybody listened to what Matt said," said childhood friend Shanna Valenzuela.

The Signal

Potential way to stop street takeovers (Video)

The city of Los Angeles and county officials are discussing solutions to help stop street takeovers. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News on June 12, 2023.

NBC4

Crime

Nike store stakeout busts 12-person LA crime ring

Los Angeles law enforcement dismantled an organized retail crime ring accused of stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise from a single Nike store. On June 2-3, the L.A. Sheriff's Department (LASD) Major Crimes Bureau Metro Detail Burglary-Robbery Taskforce (BRTF) worked with local police departments to conduct a surveillance operation at the Nike Community Store in East L.A., which has lost $750,000 in just the past year.

Footwear News

Members of California commercial burglary crew arrested after monthslong investigation

Two men from the Antelope Valley were taken into custody Thursday following a monthslong investigation into a string of commercial burglaries in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. The joint operation between the Simi Valley Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff's Office began following several break-ins at businesses in both cities. Each break-in followed a similar pattern, authorities said, happening late at night, with burglars gaining access to the property by smashing rear windows or prying open doors with a crowbar.

KTLA

Marshalls thieves attack security guard with taser ... take off with loaded cart

We've seen thieves in action at stores across the country in some pretty wild clips - but these two are taking it to another level - using a stun gun to get away with a cart full of goods. The wild video, shot Wednesday in the middle of the day at a Marshalls in Studio City shows a pair of women trying to leave with a cart full of stolen merch - you see the building's security guard tried his best to stop them ... and that's when things escalate.

TMZ

'Career criminal' Johnny Llamas kills K-9 before cops gun him down

A career criminal shot and killed a police dog in California before he was gunned down by cops, authorities said. Johnny Ray Llamas, who had three outstanding felony warrants for robbery, sexually assaulting a child, and a parole violation, had been on the lam for weeks and was fleeing police in Riverside County, outside Los Angeles, when the K-9 officer Rudy was shot, according to a report and a video statement from Sheriff Chad Bianco.

New York Post

Armed suspects steal $30K during armored truck robbery in Hyde Park

Authorities are searching for a group of suspects who stole nearly $30,000 during the robbery of an armored truck in Hyde Park on Saturday. According to Los Angeles Police Department, the incident happened at around 11:20 a.m. in a parking lot in the 3300 block of W. Florence Avenue outside of a 7-Eleven convenience store. Investigators say that a white SUV pulled up in front of the Brinks truck, at which point two male suspects - both armed with rifles and wearing all white clothing - exited the vehicle and threatened the guard who had just made a money pickup.

Private Officer Breaking News

Worried about your catalytic converter getting stolen? Los Angeles police have new technology to combat that

Responding to a surge of catalytic converter thefts, the Los Angeles Police Department has unveiled new technology that will make it harder for thieves to steal the valuable emission control device. The Los Angeles police have already held events for people to have their cars' vehicle identification numbers etched by hand onto their catalytic converters to make it easier to track the car parts if they get stolen.

Los Angeles Times

California/National

Ex-Starbucks manager awarded $25.6 million in suit over firing after 2018 arrests of 2 Black men

Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018. Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips' firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.

AP

Former LAPD officer arrested for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender in Kootenai County

A former Los Angeles Police Department officer convicted of sex crimes in California was arrested at his Hayden home Saturday for failing to register as a sex offender numerous times, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office. Ryan Eric Galliher was convicted for "multiple incidents" of lewd acts in 2014, including "repeated" indecent exposure in Huntington Beach, California, the sheriff's office said in a news release. He was off-duty but still working as an LAPD officer at the time.

The Spokesman-Review

When school shootings happen, these Bay Area students aim to know whether to hide - or run - for their lives

Rebecca Wang was just 7 years old the first time it happened. She remembers vividly her teacher's panicked face, and her urgent voice telling Rebecca and her classmates to keep quiet, hide behind their desks and stay calm. They were barricaded in a Los Gatos classroom for four hours until police found the man who'd run across their campus with a gun. Wang didn't understand what was going on, but when they finally walked outside, her entire family was waiting - and they looked terrified.

Bay Area News Group

Pro-BLM ice cream chain sues Seattle over 'extensive property damage' from BLM autonomous zone 'CHOP': Report

A Seattle-based ice cream company, Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream, is suing for "extensive property damage" that it suffered from a BLM zone "CHOP" in 2020, according to a lawsuit shared by reporter Sam Campbell. In the summer of 2020, rioters created an anti-police zone that was initially called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) but was later renamed the Capitol Hill Occupied protest (CHOP). As a result, KUOW reported, protestors took over a "10-block area surrounding a Molly Moon's location."

Fox News

California's COVID unemployment reckoning goes national

A former federal technology official enlisted by Gov. Gavin Newsom to triage California's pandemic unemployment response details in a new book how technical and political failures combined to block payments to workers while enabling fraud. Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code For America and former U.S. deputy chief technology officer, writes that the turmoil at California's Employment Development Department is a prime example of failures that have also plagued other major civic tech efforts, such as the post-Obamacare implosion of healthcare.gov or archaic IT systems at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

CalMatters

Activision 'frat boy' case spawns a state v. federal tug-of-war

The California agency charged with protecting workers rights will face off its federal counterpart Tuesday in a clash over which regulator has primacy to rein in an allegedly anti-female "frat boy" culture at the videogames maker Activision Blizzard Inc. California's Civil Rights Department contends the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's $18 million consent decree with Activision is being used to thwart the CRD's rights to pursue remedies for state violations on Californians' behalf, undermining incentives for claimants to cooperate in legal proceedings.

Bloomberg Law

'Big Evil' was 'programmed to kill' in L.A. Now he's eligible for parole after plea deal

A notorious Los Angeles killer from the 1990s known as "Big Evil" is eligible for parole after serving more than 25 years on charges that once landed him on death row. Cleamon "Big Evil" Johnson, 55, pleaded no contest and was convicted Thursday of a sole count of murder in a case stemming from five murders in the early 1990s, when he was the leader of a small but disproportionately violent subset of the Bloods - the 89 Family Swans - in South Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Times

I was a California cop, words can't describe the horrors I saw

I was a cop in Oceanside, California for over a decade. It's a town of around 170,000 people in north San Diego county and I've lived here for my entire life. We have 12 documented violent street gangs, and two of our police officers were murdered in separate incidents, by gang members, in 2003 and 2006. In 2000, California voters approved The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, which mandated that courts offer a drug treatment program to people arrested for felony drug possession of drugs including meth, heroin and cocaine.

Newsweek

Convictions/Sentences/Pleas/Appeals

Think twice before buying pills south of the border - over half are laced with drugs like fentanyl and meth, investigation warns

A Los Angeles Times investigation found that pharmacies across Mexico sell counterfeit and tainted pills. Reporters purchased and tested 55 pills from 29 pharmacies in eight Mexican cities, from Tijuana to Tulum. Of those, 28 pills - just over 50% - were counterfeit. The fake pills mimic sought-after medications like Adderall, Percocet, and oxycodone, and many were sold in sealed blister packaging or bottles. But testing revealed them to contain methamphetamine, fentanyl, MDMA, and other substances.

Insider

Mastermind of massive fraud scheme to stay put in prison

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed an order denying a compassionate release to Charles Head who was sentenced in 2014 to 35 years in prison based on having masterminded a massive mortgage fraud scheme that preyed on desperate homeowners who were facing foreclosures. District Court Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the Eastern District of California rejected Head's motion on June 6, 2022.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

California man pleads guilty after threats to Planned Parenthood

A California man on Monday pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges after authorities accused him of making bomb and death threats to reproductive heath and family planning groups throughout Southern California. The threats escalated last year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the national right to have an abortion, according to a news release Monday from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Courthouse News Service

Consumer

Customs officials seize dozens of fake luxury watches at LAX that would have sold for up to $1.3M

Customs officials seized dozens fake luxury watches that are estimated to have sold for $1.29 million if posed as real on the open market. Officers say they seized a total of 41 watches in a five-week period from April to May. The watches arrived in individual packages in air cargo from China and were headed to multiple cities across the United States. In an attempt to evade detection from Customs officials, the packages were labeled with false monikers such as "bracelet" and "decoration."

ABC7

Articles of Interest

Stopping crime with litigation

How is a car like a woman? Well, not at all, really. But a couple of recent lawsuits on opposite coasts have created an odd similarity: victim-blaming. The City of New York in New York and a bunch of State Farm Insurance companies in Los Angeles have both filed federal lawsuits against Hyundai Motor America and Kia America for making it too easy to steal their cars. They're just too darn tempting for their own good.

Courthouse News Service

Why the Supreme Court declined an opportunity to diminish the Voting Rights Act

On Thursday, in a stunning 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's redistricting process had illegally diluted the power of Black voters. The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who has generally been hostile to voting-rights concerns; in 2013, he wrote the majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, which threw out Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act. In this week's opinion, Roberts preserved Section 2 of the V.R.A.

The New Yorker

Defamation suit based on statements by ex-sitcom actress may proceed

A 1990s sitcom star who has publicly accused the man who handled her career over a period of 22 years of having had a Svengali influence over her, brainwashing her, causing her to sue her parents and shun her friends, cannot invoke the protection of the anti-SLAPP statute in a defamation action against her because her relationship with the defendant is not a matter in which there is public interest, the Court of Appeal has determined.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Snapchat, Google and Apple defeat claims they help sexual predators find victims

Federal law protecting online platforms from liability over what users post has blocked young girls' claims that apps like Snapchat are dangerous because they help sexual predators locate victims. San Diego federal judge Larry Burns on June 5 dismissed lawsuits against Snap, Apple and Google brought by a trio of girls known only by their initials. Plaintiff L.W. says from age 12 to 16, she was groomed and abused by a man on Snapchat after they met on Instagram.

Legal Newsline

Pensions

California pension fund looks to boost VC investments despite startup market turmoil

California's giant public pension fund is looking to increase its venture capital exposure in the coming months, despite a swoon in the startup market and lackluster performance of late by the fund's VC portfolio. The California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, manages nearly $457 billion in assets as of April 2023. Anton Orlich, the pension fund's managing investment director for private equity, is signaling CalPERS is eager to step into the domestic funding vacuum and become a bigger limited partner following a brutal year in the tech private markets.

CNBC

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