Tag: los angeles

South LA Man Is 13th To Be Exonerated For Murder In LA County Since 2020

It took only a single eyewitness testimony to convince a jury to wrongfully convict Stephen Patterson to a 50-year life sentence for shooting and killing 16-year-old Yair Oliva in 2005. That witness was 200 yards away, inside her home in South Los Angeles and peering through closed blinds.

Other witnesses contradicted that testimony or could not identify Patterson, who was only 19 at the time. Investigators also ignored that the gun used in Oliva’s killing showed up at another crime scene six weeks later.

But on Wednesday, Patterson was declared innocent after spending nearly half his life behind bars. His exoneration marks the 13th under Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s tenure. According to his office, those 13 people collectively add up to nearly 300 years of wrongful incarceration.

Gascón is running for reelection and touting his work on criminal justice reform that his competitors have criticized as being soft on crime.

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LA Innocence Project took wife-killer Scott Peterson’s case because of key evidence including blood spatter that might have exonerated him but was withheld from trial and other suspects ‘who were were overlooked’

The Los Angeles Innocence Project decided to take Scott Peterson’s case with a view to revisiting previously ‘withheld’ evidence that may exonerate him, court records reveal. 

The organization – which is separate from the more acclaimed Innocence Project – was contacted by Peterson’s team in March last year. 

Its attorneys have not publicly discussed the case nor vouched for Peterson’s absolute innocence.

A spokesman today told DailyMail.com: ‘The Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence. 

‘We have no further comment at this time.’ 

Paperwork submitted to the Superior Court of California in San Mateo however highlights why they think he may have a shot at clearing his name. 

Lawyers point to ‘blood spatter’ in the home where Peterson is accused of murdering his pregnant wife Laci, but insist it does not belong to him. 

They also say no other suspects were considered. 

Laci was 27-years-old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve, 2002. 

Peterson led the search for his wife but was arrested months later when her body later washed up in the San Francisco shoreline in 2003.

He has always claimed that she was killed by a panicked burglar after catching them ransacking the couple’s home. 

A jury however convicted him of the killing, deciding he was motivated by an affair he was having at the time with Amber Frey, a 20-year-old massage therapist. 

Peterson was sentenced to death, but the decision was overturned in 2020 by the California Supreme Court, citing potential juror bias that prosecutors failed to account for. 

In December 2022, Peterson’s request for a new trial was rejected. 

Now, the L.A. Innocence Project is spearheading his case.  

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Former L.A. County deputy sentenced to 30 days in jail for fatal 2019 shooting

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy will serve 30 days in jail in connection with a fatal 2019 shooting in which authorities fired more than 30 rounds into the back of a moving car, under the terms of a plea deal reached Friday in a downtown L.A. courtroom.

Andrew Lyons pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority in the killing of 24-year-old Ryan Twyman outside a Willowbrook apartment complex in June 2019. The case marks the first time in roughly two decades that an L.A. County law enforcement officer has been sentenced to jail or prison for an on-duty shooting.

Lyons also was placed on two years’ probation. He must give up his certification as a peace officer in California under the terms of the deal, meaning he can never serve as a law enforcement officer in the state again.

The former deputy initially was charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm against Lyons in 2022, nearly three years after he and another deputy, Christopher Muse, shot and killed Twyman. Muse was not charged in the shooting.

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LAPD Plans To Include Private Cameras In 10K-Strong Surveillance Network

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) intends to develop a new surveillance center that will give police centralized access to live security feeds from cameras in public and private spaces, pending budget approval from Mayor Karen Bass. The department hopes to be able to access 10,000 cameras through the city through the program, which has been dubbed LAPD Live.

Real-time surveillance center to utilize life feeds from home security cameras

The real-time crime command center would give police access to security cameras in and on city buildings, stores, police body cams and the department’s helicopters. It would integrate other software such as the Compstat intelligence tool onto one single screen. Homeowners could also register their own security cameras with the department to share footage from their property and be notified if a crime is committed nearby.

LAPD argues the program will reduce time and money spent on investigating crimes, gathering evidence, and talking to witnesses while “eliminat[ing] the need for officer visits to private residents” which in turn “preserves individual privacy.” It would also help mitigate the effect of a recent decline in sworn officers.

The LAPD previously tried to do something similar with Neighbors, an app that shares Ring camera footage and alerts with public safety officials. Those who agreed to Neighbors’ terms of service shared their information with police that would normally require a warrant, even when a crime hasn’t occurred. Some may have unknowingly shared their data with police.

Ring also made the LAPD a brand ambassador through a program, giving out free cameras in exchange for sign-ups. The program ended in 2019, and shortly after the Electronic Frontier Foundation reported that the LAPD had sent requests to Ring users to obtain footage of Black Lives Matter protests.

Around the same time frame, at least 50 other local police throughout the U.S. also partnered with Ring, subsidizing doorbell purchases that would in turn expand surveillance capabilities for police while allowing them to circumvent traditional approval processes. Ring also filed a patent to add facial recognition to the devices but never announced plans to add the feature after public criticism.

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UFO or balloon? Unidentified object spotted over Air Force One may have simple explanation

A pair of amateur plane trackers captured strange footage earlier this month of an unidentified airborne craft that appeared to hover above Air Force One as President Joe Biden visited Los Angeles.

Unsurprisingly, speculation that it was extraterrestrial in origin began almost immediately.

“A few viewers are saying we saw a UFO,” Peter Solorzano, who runs the YouTube channel L.A. Flights with his brother Joshua Solorzano, said with a laugh during the Dec. 10 livestream.

The plane spotters had set up that day to film footage at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as two F-35 fighter jets patrolled the skies for the Commander-in-Chief. While they were elated to film the jets being refueled mid-air by a KC-10 tanker aircraft, they didn’t expect to capture anything as unusual as the white sphere that came into view.

What’s more, the brothers didn’t just capture footage of it once, but three times.

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LA man accused of murdering three homeless men AND fourth man during horrific ‘follow-home’ robbery in crime-ridden city

Los Angeles police have nabbed a man accused of killing three homeless men – and a fourth victim gunned down in his garage during a ‘follow-home’ robbery. 

On Saturday afternoon, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore announced that the man arrested for the murders is 33-year-old Jerrid Joseph Powell.

He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Nicholas Simbolon – a father of two – which took place last Tuesday night in San Dimas.

Moore said the department suspects Powell was responsible for four murders in four days.

The suspect, who is a Los Angeles resident, is alleged to have shot three homeless men across the city from November 26 to November 29.

His vehicle was identified by the police in Beverly Hills last Wednesday. Upon conducting a traffic stop, authorities recovered the gun used in the murders – he was subsequently arrested.

On Saturday, Moore said: ‘Over the course of the investigation of our murders, we were able to identify the vehicle we believe is connected to our three homicides as being the same vehicle that Mr. Powell used in the murder of Mr. Simbolon.’

‘[We learned] that it was being held in custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as evidence of their murder.

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna discussed the use of the controversial license plate reader system law enforcement officers sometimes use to identify suspicious vehicles.

‘We know there’s controversy out there about the usage of this system, but let me tell our community something. If we did not enter that plate into the system, this individual that we believe is responsible for at least four murders may have [still] been out there and reoffended,’ he said.

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LA cops are hunting a SERIAL KILLER after three homeless people were shot dead by ‘hooded male suspect’ – as police warn locals to avoid sleeping outside alone at night

LAPD has warned that a potential serial killer could be on the loose after three homeless people were murdered in the past week. 

Police are asking the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect responsible for three murders that occurred on November 26, 27, and 29 around downtown and in South Los Angeles, California. 

The LAPD said the investigation is at the early stage, but noted similarities in those three killings. 

‘A single individual approached each one and shot and killed each one as they slept,’ LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. 

‘The suspect, hooded, targets lone, unsheltered individuals sleeping on the streets, shooting them before fleeing in a vehicle without any observed altercation’, LAPD reported during a Friday afternoon press conference. 

‘To the person responsible: We will find you, we will catch you and you will be held accountable,’ Mayor Karen Bass said. 

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Los Angeles social justice group founder shot, killed by homeless woman who broke into his home

A homeless woman allegedly broke into the Los Angeles home of a 33-year-old social worker on Monday and shot him to death. The suspect, Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, was arrested on the scene. Michael Latt was taken to a hospital and later died of his injuries. Michl had reportedly been living in her car, and it’s unclear if Michl and Latt were acquainted. 

Latt was a social justice advocate and founder of the group Lead with Love. The marketing consulting group had a mission to elevate black and minority entertainers in Hollywood. Latt was associated with rapper Common, along with Ilhan Omar, Stacey Adams and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

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A Los Angeles Jail Let a Woman Die of Withdrawal, Then a Coroner Allowed Her Body To Decompose

Amanda Bews was arrested last September after shoplifting from a Los Angeles-area liquor store. Within two days, she would be found unresponsive in a jail cell, dead from apparent alcohol and drug withdrawal. 

According to a lawsuit filed this month, that wasn’t the only way jail employees mishandled Bews’ case. Not only did jail employees fail to treat Bews, despite numerous medical records stating she would need withdrawal medications, but once she had died, the jail mishandled her remains, leading to major decomposition that Bews’ mother said made her daughter look “mummified” 

After her arrest on September 7, Bews was first taken to a local hospital before booking, due to her admission of extremely heavy alcohol use and recent heroin use. According to the lawsuit, Bews told staff about her substance history and her drinking “just prior” to her arrest. Her arrest records state that she was a “prolonged heavy drinking.”

When medical staff released her, they gave law enforcement medical documents that “would have included Amanda’s history of alcohol dependence and heavy recent use,” according to the lawsuit.

“In her ED Summary Report, the ‘disposition’ is listed as ‘TO ACUTE CARE FACILITY,’ indicating that Amanda should have received acute care (meaning consistent monitoring and inpatient treatment) at the jail she would be booked into,” the complaint reads.

However, Bews didn’t get this necessary treatment. Instead, she was placed into a shared cell during the afternoon of September 8th. Just after midnight on the 9th, the complaint says that staff cleared Bews “for detox and required no medications,” and they “stopped treating Amanda for detoxification and withdrawal.”

At 4:30 a.m., Bews was found unresponsive. Staff gave her a dose of Narcan, but she was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. According to an autopsy, the levels of drugs and alcohol in Bews’ system were indicative of withdrawal and there was vomit in her airways.

“On information and belief, deputies also did not check on Amanda during this time, as her condition would have obviously deteriorated. Or, if deputies had, they failed to summon medical care during this time despite her deterioration.”

After Bews’ death, the lawsuit states that both the county medical examiner and Chapel of the Light, a private funeral home hired by the county, mishandled Bews’ remains, leading to considerable decomposition of her body.

The coroners “failed to use the standard of care a reasonably careful person working at a medical examiner’s office would use to handle human remains prior to transfer to their loved ones’ family members. A reasonably careful employee of a medical examiner’s office would at minimum properly refrigerate the remains,” according to the complaint.

“Upon completion of the autopsy and transfer of the remains to Chapel of the Light, Amanda’s remains had deteriorated significantly,” the suit reads. “The County transferred custody of the remains to Chapel of the Light, but Chapel of the Light allowed Amanda’s remains to further deteriorate.”

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Proposed L.A. Ordinance Would Require Airbnb Hosts To Get Police Permission To Operate

Los Angeles Airbnb hosts would need permission from the police to do business under an ordinance being considered by the Los Angeles City Council.

A “responsible hotel” ordinance that earned the unanimous support of the council Tuesday would require hotel and short-term rental operators to obtain a police permit each year to do business. Getting that permit, in turn, would require a criminal background check, the payment of fees totaling hundreds of dollars, and possibly submitting fingerprints to the police.

The new regulations come as part of a “compromise” between hotel owners and the hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11, which has been engaged in strikes against individual hotels over this past year.

One of the union’s demands had been that hotel owners support an initiative the union placed on the Los Angeles city ballot in March 2024 that, if passed, would require hotels to give vacant rooms to the homeless.

In exchange for the passage of Tuesday’s ordinance, the union has agreed to pull that initiative from the ballot.

The bulk of the Responsible Hotel Ordinance layers additional regulations on new hotel developments.

It requires that city planning officials, before issuing permits for new hotels, study how the new hotel’s employees will impact housing, public transit, and child care services.

Per the ordinance, city planning officials will also have to produce findings on whether the new hotel is hiring from the surrounding neighborhood as a means of reducing additional traffic, whether it’s agreed to support nearby small businesses, whether it encourages its employees to ride transit or bike to work, and whether the hotel will negatively impact affordable and rent-controlled housing.

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