KPCC: Law News

Alleged killer of Riverside cop Bonaminio faces trial in April

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:58:06 -0800

Police caution tape Credit: Picture Perfect Pose/Flickr.com

A career criminal suspected of gunning down a Riverside cop in 2010 will face trial in April. Earl Ellis Green pleaded not guilty to first degree murder, but special circumstance allegations that come with his charge could send Green straight to death row.

Green is charged with killing 27-year-old policeman Ryan Bonaminio after he allegedly fled the scene of a hit-and-run crash in a stolen truck.

The sole eyewitness, a groundskeeper, says he saw Bonaminio chase Green into a park near the 60 Freeway. The witness told investigators that Green struck Bonaminio with a blunt object, then shot him three times with the officer’s .40 caliber pistol.

Fingerprints from the scene matched Green’s, and officers arrested him just two days after the killing.

Investigators later found Bonaminio’s weapon during a search of Green’s home.

The suspect faces special circumstance allegations of killing a police officer and committing murder to avoid arrest, meaning prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

Green’s attorney says his client won’t get a fair trial in Riverside because of intense publicity about the case. To help ensure an unbiased panel, the judge has pledged a thorough questioning process for prospective jurors.

DNA evidence: Alleged murderer Lazarus a 1 in 402 quadrillion match

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:31:51 -0800

Veteran LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, 49, appears at the Criminal Justice Center for her arraignment on murder charges June 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images

According to LAPD criminalist Jennifer Francis, DNA taken from the mouth of Stephanie Lazarus so closely matched saliva from a bite mark on her alleged victim, her ex-boyfriend's wife, that no one else on Earth could have produced the same result.

Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Michael Nunez, Francis said the genetic profile of Lazarus and the bite mark would be expected to be found in one in 402 quadrillion individuals.

Noting that the population of Earth is about 7 billion, Nunez said the statistic would mean on 100 million Earths the profile could not be duplicated.

"On our Earth would you expect to find another individual with the profile of Stephanie Lazarus and Exhibit 30 [the bite)]?" Nunez asked.

"No," said Francis.

As part of the initial investigation into Sherri Rasmussen’s murder 26 years ago, investigators routinely collected DNA samples from a bite mark on the dead woman’s left arm, who was shot to death at her Van Nuys home. Rasmussen had married Lazarus' ex-boyfriend John Ruetten just four months before.

Technology at the time failed to do much with the DNA, and the case was shelved.

However, the once-cold case was warmed up, a detective was assigned to follow Lazarus — now a decorated member of the LAPD's art-theft department. The detective retrieved a straw she’d tossed away outside a Costco store and brought it back for DNA testing. That was when the crime lab found they had a match.

Lazarus' attorney said in opening statements on Monday that the DNA from the bite mark wasn’t stored correctly and can’t be trusted.

California attorney general extracts something extra from the big banks

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:53:36 -0800

California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Obsolete

Forty-nine states signed on to a $25 billion settlement between the Obama administration and the largest mortgage servicers involved in the foreclosure crisis. California was one of the last holdouts because State Attorney General Kamala Harris wanted a better deal. She may have gotten one: Harris calls it “The California Commitment.”

She pulled out of the multi-state settlement negotiations last year because at that point, there was only $4 billion in it for California. According to Harris, the banks, including Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, now have committed $18 billion to the Golden State alone.

"This issue has never been about anything other than allowing homeowners, hardworking people, to stay in their homes," Harris said on Thursday at a news conference in downtown L.A. "And we were very determined to make sure that California — the hardest hit in the country — would receive its fair share."

Californians who owe more than their homes are worth will get $12 billion, so they can write down their mortgage principals or set up a short sale. And, Harris continued, the banks won’t get credit for simply promising relief.

"There’s a simple principle in law – and in particular contract law – which is the deal ain’t done when it’s based on a promise," she said. "It’s based on a promise and acceptance and then performance."

California’s settlement also requires the banks to start the relief in the areas most soaked by underwater mortgages.

"We wanted to make sure that places like Boyle Heights received priority, so we built into this a California commitment that requires the banks, through an incentive and a penalty, to focus on our hardest-hit communities," Harris said.

Harris went on to say that under the California settlement, if the banks drag their feet, she can drag them into state court.

"It’s so scary to have the hope and to have it crushed again," said Sharne Matson about the settlement.

Matson lives in a six-bedroom house in Acton with her parents, husband and four children. They paid $900,000 for the house. Now it’s worth less than half that much. When a car accident forced her to retire from the Air Force a few years ago, she says she contacted Wells Fargo about modifying the family mortgage. It’s been a confusing runaround ever since.

"I don’t want to have hope because there were so many times for those two years where someone would tell me it was OK, and they were gonna do this and do that. We had several different companies trying to help us."

But none of them did, Matson said. Her parents emptied their life savings just to stay in the home. She’s not sure if the new settlement means she’ll be able to line up a loan modification from her bank.

"I will do what they tell me to do," Matson said. "I just hope that they have their ducks in a row, because they certainly did not before when they were doing – or attempting to do – modifications because they weren’t doing that."

Man arrested for threatening Madonna escapes LA mental hospital

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:16:34 -0800

Madonna accepts award for Best Original Song - Motion Picture " Masterpiece" during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Credit: Handout/Getty Images

A man once convicted of threatening to kill Madonna walked away from his L.A. mental hospital last week, and the LAPD is still searching for him.

Los Angeles police say Robert Dewey Hoskins left a state hospital where he had been committed last year.

"Hoskins is a very psychotic man when not taking his medication and has very violent tendencies," the LAPD said in a news release on Thursday.

Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence for stalking and threatening Madonna, and court records show he was convicted of vandalism in July 2011. The singer testified against him during his 1996 trial.

"He had a really crazy look in his eyes and he was staring at me in a very strange way," said Madonna during the trial, reported the Los Angeles Times in 1996.

She closed her eyes as she described an encounter with Hoskins: "I said something like, 'It looks like the freaks are out today.' I said it in a half-joking manner, but I was actually very disturbed about the look in his eye."

Hoskins also threatened her then-secretary Caresse Henry, saying he could "slice her throat from ear to ear" and kill everybody in the house if she didn't let him see Madonna.

Police say they have searched areas where Hoskins may try to go, including Long Beach.

Riot at San Quentin prison involves 200, injures 4

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:50 -0800

A view of the California State Prison at San Quentin May 15, 2009 in San Quentin, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

At least four inmates at San Quentin State Prison were seriously injured Thursday morning when a riot broke out in the exercise yard, according to prison officials.

Prison spokesman Gabe Walters said between 150 and 200 prisoners were involved in the Thursday morning riot. Dozens were slashed and stabbed by fellow prisoners armed with homemade weapons.

Walters says San Quentin guards used chemicals such as pepper spray, projectiles and real bullets to restore order. None of them were injured.

The four most seriously injured inmates were taken to local hospitals. Walters says it's so far unknown if they were hurt by other inmates or by guards.

San Quentin is a maximum security prison that house's California's death row. The exercise yard where the disturbance broke out serves fairly recent arrivals whose security status still is under review.

Tournament of Roses volunteer arrested for allegedly killing fellow volunteer in 2004

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:50:39 -0800

Members of the Tournament of Roses Honor Band on the field at Pasadena City College. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

A former volunteer director for the Tournament of Roses, Richard Allen Munecke, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly killing a fellow volunteer in 2004.

Munnecke, now 71, was arrested at his Alhambra home on suspicion of murdering Donna Lee Kelly, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Bob Bishop.

Bishop says Kelly's daughter discovered the volunteer's body in the trunk of her car after she was missing for three weeks in 2004. The 59-year-old's cause of death was not immediately available Thursday.

Tournament of Roses Association chief William Flinn confirmed that the two volunteered for the Pasadena organization that helms the annual Rose Parade and Rose Bowl football game.

Bishop says Munnecke was linked to Kelly's death through DNA evidence.

Munnecke is being held on $1 million bail.

Injunction imposed on gang with Crips, Bloods connections

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:17:54 -0800

Police caution tape Credit: Picture Perfect Pose/Flickr.com

A superior court judge granted San Bernardino County authorities a permanent injunction against a gang with deep roots in two of Southern California's most violent street factions.

Former rivals from the Crips and Bloods formed the Hustla Squad Clicc about six years ago.

San Bernardino County authorities say members united in order to monopolize drug and weapons sales in a four square-mile area of west-central Rialto.

The gang injunction restricts the movement and activity of more than 100 documented gang members, including about two dozen juveniles. Hustla Squad members caught loitering, wearing gang insignia or flashing signs within the defined area of the city are subject to arrest.

"For nearly six years, the people of Rialto and the surrounding communities have had to suffer numerous crimes at the hands of a criminal gang known as the Hustla Squad Clicc," said District Attorney Michael A. Ramos at the time the injunction was filed.

"We look forward to working with the Rialto Police Department in ending this gang’s criminal activity and making it possible for the members of this community to live their lives free of fear and violence."

A Hustla Squad member was convicted last year of gunning down a gang rival at a Rialto strip mall. Later that year, police arrested nearly a hundred gang members and associates.

They also confiscated several weapons and large amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine.

Rialto man shot by police may have been suicidal, trying to get shot

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:39 -0800

A cruiser with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Credit: rocketdogphoto/Flickr

A 22-year-old Rialto man is in stable condition after being shot by police officers in what authorities say may have been an intentional confrontation.

The confrontation was also caught on video by a bystander. The grainy night-time video was then obtained by the Riverside Press-Enterprise and posted online.

A witness told the Press-Enterprise he believed the suspect, Huston Parker, came out of his vehicle when officers arrived and may have been holding a cell phone that police mistook for a weapon.

A Rialto police spokesman says Parker made the original 911 call. He says Parker pointed a replica .38 revolver at officers and may have purposely planned the confrontation.

Parker was said to be carrying a suicide note.

He was shot several times in the upper torso, and was taken to a Colton hospital where he is listed as being in critical but stable condition.

The video, shot from across a two-lane street, shows a few parked cars — including a couple of police cruisers with red lights flashing. Four officers were on the scene, apparently responding to a 911 call of a man shooting at a parked car. Several people can be seen in the shadows, but it’s impossible to tell who might be an officer and who may be the suspect.

What can be made out are comments from bystanders who’ve gathered near the scene — and then the shooting itself.

The camera drops as more than a dozen shots ring out.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is conducting an investigation of the shooting.

Laguna Hills medical assistant arrested after allegedly molesting 3 women in their 50s

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:44:33 -0800

Police caution tape Credit: Picture Perfect Pose/Flickr.com

A medical assistant at Saddleback Hospital in Laguna Hills was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly molesting three patients, all women in their 50s.

Investigators said they suspect there may be more victims.

Narciso Romanes Blando of Orange was arrested at home on suspicion of sexual assault, according to Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

According to Amormino, Blando works at the hospital, located near the Laguna Woods senior citizen community, as a "patient care assistant."

On Monday night, a patient in her 50s complained to hospital officials that Blando touched her groin area as he was rubbing pain-medication cream on her ankles, Amormino said.

A few hours later, about 1 a.m. Tuesday, another patient in her 50s woke up to find Blando stroking her hair and kissing her face.

"She told him to stop and eventually he did comply," Amormino said.

A third patient also alleged that Blando kissed her on the face and stroked her hair, but Amormino did not know when that alleged encounter occurred.

All of the women were under the influence of prescription-strength pain medication at the time of the alleged molestations, Amormino said.

Blando was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail, according to jail records.

Consumer Watchdog sues Senior Health Insurance for allegedly cheating elderly

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:38:25 -0800

Elderly hands Credit: Rosie O'Beirne/Flickr

Consumer Watchdog announced a suit Wednesday against a long-term care insurance company, accusing it of cheating the elderly by making them jump over too many hurdles to get care.

The non-partisan group denounced the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania in a statement, saying it uses tactics such as delays, denials and undue requests for documentation to avoid paying for care.

"These insurance companies prey on the elderly," said Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield. "They take their premiums. They pocket them and then they don’t pay when the time comes."

Rosenfield filed suit on behalf of an elderly man from Southern California — a doctor and decorated war hero who ran a hospital. He paid his premiums on time for 16 years without making a claim, Rosenfield says, and then he needed in-home care.

According to Rosenfield, the insurance company put the man off with excuses, paperwork and "conditions and requirements that are violations of state law."

"They basically made it impossible for him to comply with the requirements they were imposing," Rosenfield. added. "Here’s an 87-year-old guy — Korean War Purple Heart vet, former head of the Kaiser hospital in Fontana. Now in a wheelchair, ill. And they are making him jump through hoops."

Senior Health Insurance Company has about 10,000 long-term care policy holders in California.

The company has not yet issued a statement.

Suspected Romanian hacker indicted for intrusion into NASA JPL computers

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:16:20 -0800

Credit: alperer16/Flickr.com

Federal prosecutors are putting the heat on a Romanian hacker nicknamed Iceman. A federal grand jury indicted hacker Robert Buytka, 25, Tuesday on charges of breaking into 25 computers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, used for climate research and weather forecasting.

The breaches allegedly happened December 2010.

Assistant U.S. attorney Erik Silber says the lab had to take the affected Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Program computers offline for more than two months.

"They were taken out of use, essentially to be able to eliminate his access on it, to eliminate malicious code that had been put on the computers and then to restore the data that was there. But they didn’t crash the computers or anything like that, but they had to be taken out of service."

A Romanian court convicted Butyka of the crime last month; he received a three-year prison sentence there. Now he faces 10 years in an American prison if a jury convicts him on these new charges.

Damage from the hacking is estimated at $500,000, including costs of work on the computers and lost research time.

Judge likely to block Gibson testimony from deputy discrimination case

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:00:15 -0800

Mel Gibson Credit: kjd/Flickr.com

Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper will likely block attorneys from calling on actor Mel Gibson to testify in an upcoming case regarding the deputy who arrested the actor for drunken driving in 2006.

Scheper is skeptical that Gibson's testimony would be relevant to Deputy James Mee's claim that he was later discriminated against because of the traffic stop.

In a series of tentative rulings, the judge also said she would prevent attorneys from showing the jury a video of Gibson being booked into jail and a 30-second TV ad he made supporting the Sheriff's Department three years before his arrest.

Mee, who is Jewish, claims he suffered religious discrimination by superiors after arresting Gibson in 2006, and that he was ordered to remove the actor-director's anti-Semitic rants from a report.

He claims he was passed over for promotions and suffered other reprisals because of the case and that he was personally offended by Gibson's remarks.

Gibson's work as a spokesman for the department helps explain "the circumstances that serve as a backdrop to the harassment and hostile work environment that Deputy Mee suffered," his attorneys wrote in a court filing.

Gibson "wasn't just another arrestee. He was the 'public face' of the department," the documents state.

Scheper also says she won't allow Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to testify during the case unless there is some evidence he ordered actions against Mee.

Attorneys for Mee had listed Gibson and Baca as potential witnesses last week, but Scheper said neither man's testimony appeared to be relevant.

Tuba thefts continue South LA surge, hitting city of Bell

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:00:15 -0800

Brass instruments Credit: jesman/Flickr.com

The rash of South L.A. tuba thefts has become an epidemic after $12,000 worth of sousaphones were stolen from Bell High School on Monday.

Bell band director Ligia Chaves-Rasas says thieves cut band room locks before breaking into her office where the tubas are locked up. They only took the brass sousaphones, leaving less expensive fiberglass tubas behind.

“We have the best doors in the district - the ones with the metal plates on the outside and no handles," Chaves-Rasas told the Los Angeles Times. "They still got in."

Some instructors are blaming the thefts on the popularity of banda, a type of Mexican dance music anchored by tubas.

Eight tubas were stolen from Centennial High School in Compton, and schools in South Gate, Fremont, Jordan and Huntington Park have also been targeted.

As in other cases, no arrests have been made.

LA Catholics react to Prop 8 decision; many Catholics strongly supported the proposition

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:19:43 -0800

File: A man waves a rainbow flag as he takes part to the Gay Pride parade on June 7, 20008 in Warsaw. Credit: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images

Many Catholics were strong supporters of Prop 8.

The Knights of Columbus, for example, contributed more than a million dollars to help get the measure passed.

There was no mention of Prop 8 at the noon mass downtown at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Many parishioners were wary of mixing worship with politics.

Lead usher Ruben Garcia voted for Prop 8, but says he’s conflicted about the ruling.

"As a parishioner and a Catholic and a married man, I do believe in the sanctity of marriage," Garcia said, "and I do believe that it should be between a man and a woman, but I’m torn because I also believe in the separation of church and state."

The Knights of Columbus did not return multiple phone calls for comment.

The L.A. Archdiocese pointed to a statement on the website of the California Catholic Conference.

Bishop Wilkerson, the conference president, expressed disappointment over the ruling, but added that he’s praying the courts will eventually uphold the will of the voters.

Prop 8 ruled unconstitutional: What do you think?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:47:07 -0800

Same sex marriage supporters march to city hall in San Francisco. Credit: Julie Small/KPCC

2 centers related to 1-800-GET-THIN to halt Lap-Band surgeries

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:16:26 -0800

A Google Maps screenshot of a Lap-Band billboard on W 11th Street, Los Angeles, Calif. The billboards are under fire after the FDA criticized their misleading displays. Credit: Corey Bridwell/KPCC

Two surgery centers of the eight associated with the 1-800-GET-THIN marketing campaign are halting scheduling of new Lap-Band procedures, the company announced Tuesday.

A statement was released by the surgery centers saying: "Recent allegations question the safety of the Lap-Band procedures at two centers. While we strongly believe these allegations paint a false picture of the care provided overall and discount our capabilities and success rate, we have stopped scheduling new Lap-Band surgeries at those centers."

The statement also said the allegations are "unfounded and without merit," but that new surgeries have been halted "pending a top-to-bottom review."

The statement did not say who would conduct the investigation.

The patients had been treated at clinics in Beverly Hills and West Hills, according to autopsy reports and lawsuits.

Last week, the company that manufactures the adjustable gastric bands used in surgeries at those clinics announced it would no longer supply them with the devices. The only other company that manufactures adjustable gastric bands approved in the U.S. for weight loss surgery says it has not, and will not, sell its device to the eight surgery centers.

The company says the decision by the manufacturers does not affect its ability to continue the procedures.

Five Southern Californian patients have died since 2009 after undergoing lap band surgeries at clinics related to 1-800-GET-THIN, according to investigations by the Los Angeles Times.

The California Department of Insurance is investigating the surgery centers for possible fraud. That inquiry follows a recent federal reprimand by the FDA against the surgery centers and their marketing campaign for failure to adequately warn consumers about serious risks associated with the weight-loss surgery. They've also received criticism from members of Congress.

Read the full Prop. 8 ruling from the 9th Circuit Court (documents)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:20:50 -0800

#Prop8 ruling by the 9th Circuit Court

Some notable parts of the decision:

* It stripped same-sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the State, or any other authorized part, an important right — the right to obtain and use the designation of 'marriage' to describe their relationships. Nothing more, nothing less.

* Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for 'laws of this sort.'

* We need not and do not answer the broader question in this case, however, because California had already extended to committed same-sex couples both the incidents of mariage and the official designation of 'marriage,' and Proposition *'s only effect was to take away that important and legally significant designation, while leaving in place all of its incidents. This unique and strictly limited effect of Proposition 8 allows us to address the amendment's constitutionality on narrow grounds.

* ...In a suit for an injunction against enforcement of an allegedly unconstitutional state law, it makes no practical difference whether the formal party before the court is the state itself or a state officer in his official capacity.

* All that matters, for federal standing purposes, is that the People have an interest in the validity of Proposition 8 and that, under California law, Proponents are authorized to represent the People's interest. That is the case here.

* In adopting the amendment, the People simply took the designation of 'marriage' away from lifelong same-sex partnerships, and with it the State's authorization of that official status and the societal approval that comes with it.

* That designation is important because 'marriage' is the name that society gives to the relationship that matters most between two adults. A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but to the couple desiring to enter into a committed lifelong relationship, a marriage by the name of 'registered domestic partnership' does not.

* As Proponents have admitted, "the word 'marriage' has a unique meaning," and "there is a significant symbolic disparity between a domestic partnership and marriage." It is the designation of 'marriage itself that expresses validation, by the state and the community, and that serves as a symbol, like a wedding ceremony or a wedding ring, of something profoundly important.

* We do not celebrate when two people merge their bank accounts; we celebrate when a couple marries. The designation of 'marriage is the status we recognize.

* Before Proposition 8, California guaranteed gays and lesbians both the incidents and the status and dignity of marriage. Proposition 8 left the incidents but took away the status and the dignity.

* Proposition 8 in no way alters the state laws the govern childrearing and procreation. It makes no change with respect to the laws regarding family structure. As before Proposition 8, those laws apply in the same way to same-sex couples in domestic partnerships and to married couples. Only the designation of 'marriage' is withdrawn and only from one group of individuals.

* It in implausible to think that denying two men or two women the right to call themselves married could somehow bolster the stability of families headed by one man and one woman.

* By withdrawing the availability of the recognized designation of 'marriage,' Proposition 8 enacts nothing more or less than a judgment about the worth and dignity of gays and lesbians as a class.

* Proposition 8 therefore violates the Equal Protection Clause.

* His [Chief Judge Walker] resolution of the issue on the basis of the facts was not illogical, implausible, or without support in inferences that may be drawn from facts in the record. Thus, we affirm, Chief Judge Ware's decision not to grant the motion to vacate.

From the dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

* Our personal views regarding the political and sociological debate on marriage equality are irrelevant to our task. Instead, we are only asked to consider the constitutional validity of Proposition 8 under the federal Constitution.

* Put otherwise, Proposition 8 does not burden gays and lesbians to the same extent Amendment 2 burdened gays and lesbians in Colorado.

* Given the presumption of validity accorded Proposition 8 for rational basis review, I am not convinced that Proposition 8 lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state interests.

LAUSD's Deasy: 'I can't have any more surprises at Miramonte'

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

Parents of students at Miramonte Elementary School escort they children out of school on February 6, 2012. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

“I can’t have any more surprises at Miramonte even though the police will do what they have to do and if there are no more - thank God," Deasy told reporters after the meeting he led at South Region High School for Miramonte Elementary parents, shortly after LAUSD announced it would be replacing the entire staff at the school.

Two teachers are accused of committing lewd acts against children. The school’s 1,500 or so students are out of class until the new staff is in place on Thursday.

“And during that period of time, what we are doing is that we are relocating the entire staff at Miramonte to another location. And we’re talking in this case the entirety of the staff,” Deasy said.

Deasy emphasized the action doesn’t mean staffers did anything wrong and that district leaders and counselors will help them through the challenging time while sheriff's deputies continue to investigate.

Before Deasy met with parents, many of them marched from Miramonte along South Central Avenue to the meeting at the high school.

When district officials refused to allow reporters inside, protesters chanted in anger "we want press."

Solomon Brunson of L.A. accused district leaders of shutting media out to hide information. He has three grandchildren who attend Miramonte.

“If they don’t allow the media, ain’t no sense in going in the door," Brunson said. "What’s the sense of doing it? They’ve been covering it up every step of the way.”

Deasy responded to the issue when he later spoke to reporters.

“I truly believe that parents deserved this one first and it is not a disrespect to the media... It was [out of] respect for [parents] who expressed a great deal of stress,” said Deasy.

L.A. Unified will continue to pay relocated staffers. District leaders could return them to work in the near future.

Deasy said parents will have a choice to keep their kids at Miramonte or to send them to another local school. Some people left the meeting saying they were still frustrated.

Last week, Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Mark Berndt, 61, and Martin Springer, 49. They believe the teachers committed lewd acts against students.

Prop 8 same-sex marriage ruling: How will the federal court decide?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:53:32 -0800

A gay pride and an American flag hang from a shoulder bag during a demonstration outside of the Phillip Burton Federal Building on June 13, 2011 in San Francisco. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Voters passed Prop 8 — California’s ban on same-sex marriages — more than three years ago and it’s been in court ever since. Eighteen months ago, federal judge Vaughn Walker struck down Prop 8, deeming it unconstitutional. Prop 8 supporters immediately filed an appeal and after various twists and turns, the decision on that appeal will be announced at 10 a.m.

Legal experts on both sides expect the federal appeals court to uphold the lower court judge’s ruling.

“I don’t think anybody that was in attendance at the oral argument thinks anything but that the Ninth Circuit panel that heard the case is going to say that Prop 8 is unconstitutional," says John Eastman, the former dean of the Chapman University School of Law. Eastman heads the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which filed an amicus brief in support of Prop 8. He says what’s important to look for is the scope of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.

“The question is whether they do it on the very broad, exceedingly broad, grounds that Judge Walker ruled that gender is no longer relevant to marriage, that procreation was never a part of marriage, some preposterously wrong and broad statements — or whether they find a much more narrow way to invalidate Proposition 8,” he said.

A narrow ruling might say that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional in California due to the state’s unique history of same-sex marriage. The California Supreme Court upheld the legal right of same-sex couples to marry under the state constitution. Thousands of couples wed, but voters then took away that right with Prop 8.

Eastman thinks a narrow ruling that applies only to California has a better chance of surviving an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is where the Prop 8 case is expected to end up.

In arguing for Prop 8, supporters said the state had a vested interest in limiting procreative sex to marriages to ensure stable families that were capable of supporting children.

UC Davis law professor Courtney Joslin says the Ninth Circuit could look at that argument and decide to rule, “that the right to marry that has been identified as a fundamental right under the due process clause includes the right to marry someone of the same sex, and that proponents here have not offered a compelling state interest to justify the infringement of that fundamental right.”

Joslin, who used to litigate for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says the Ninth Circuit could go a step further and say that state statutes that limit marriage to a man and a woman discriminate on the basis of sex.

A ruling like that might serve as a precedent for legal challenges to Prop 8-style laws in other states within the Ninth Circuit.

But that still will not be the end of the story. The fight will almost certainly end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, and its ruling will serve as the ruling for all.

Live streaming of press conferences from a group that opposes Prop 8 will be available here at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. We will post the decision in PDF format shortly after it is posted on the Ninth Circuit court's website.

What goes into the decision to fire an LAUSD teacher before they're convicted?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:00:05 -0800

Parents of students at Miramonte Elementary School escort they children out of school on February 6, 2012. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

News of a fourth L.A. Unified employee accused of inappropriate behavior with students came to light Monday. The school district is moving to fire at least two of the employees before they’ve been convicted of a crime — an unusual way for the district to handle such cases.

California law that governs schools mandates paid leave if a teacher is under investigation for sex offenses. School districts place a teacher on unpaid leave after he or she has been charged with a crime. A court conviction for a sex offense leads to the teacher’s termination.

The employment process is designed to follow the criminal process, says schools lawyer Chris Hine.

"Like all of us believe, innocent until proven guilty," Hine said. "An arrest doesn’t mean a person's guilty of what they’ve been arrested for."

L.A. Unified’s reeling from incidents of employees accused of inappropriate behavior with students; several came to light or faced greater scrutiny in the last few weeks. L.A. Unified officials are moving to put the employment termination process ahead of the criminal process.

A KTLA reporter asked Superintendent John Deasy about a police investigation into a high school music teacher’s alleged inappropriate behavior with students. Deasy said that he's authorized that teacher's immediate firing.

Deasy can’t make the decision by himself. The school board has to sign off. Then the district convenes an independent, three-person commission, says schools lawyer Mark Bresee.

"It’s called the Commission on Professional Competence," Bresee said. "It is an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings in the local area of the school district, and then two educators who are appointed, one by the employee, one by the school district."

One reason a school district’s move to fire an employee follows the criminal process is that it can’t use police arrest information and pre-conviction investigation details to terminate the employee.

"Ultimately, the district has to have evidence to prove the underlying conduct that the teacher might be arrested for or charged for in order to establish a basis for termination prior to a conviction," Bresee said.

School board president Monica Garcia said the board and the superintendent are working on a plan to encourage more vigilance about improper behavior toward students among all employees of the L.A. Unified School District.