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Tag: filing

  • California state Senator accuses Sacramento police of retaliation over “egregious” DUI arrest

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    SACRAMENTO — A Riverside County lawmaker accused of driving drunk after a car crash, but cleared by a blood test, took the first step Monday toward suing the Sacramento Police Department, saying officers had tarnished her reputation.

    After Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) was broadsided by an SUV near the Capitol in May, Sacramento police interviewed the 37-year-old lawmaker for hours at a Kaiser Permanente hospital before citing her on suspicion of driving under the influence. Prosecutors declined to file charges after the toxicology results of a blood test revealed no “measurable amount of alcohol or drugs.”

    In an 11-page filing Monday, Cervantes alleged that officers had retaliated against her over a bill that would sharply curtail how police can store data gathered by automated license plate readers, a proposal opposed by more than a dozen law enforcement agencies.

    The filing also alleges that the police treated Cervantes, who is gay and Latina, differently than the white woman driver who ran a stop sign and broadsided her car.

    “This is not only about what happened to me — it’s about accountability,” Cervantes said in a prepared statement. “No Californian should be falsely arrested, defamed, or retaliated against because of who they are or what they stand for.”

    Cervantes, a first-year state senator, has said since the crash that she did nothing wrong. She represents the 31st Senate District, which covers portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and chairs the Senate elections committee.

    Cervantes’ lawyer, James Quadra, said the Sacramento police had tried to “destroy the reputation of an exemplary member of the state Senate,” and that the department’s “egregious misconduct” includes false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

    A representative for the Sacramento Police Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

    After news broke of the crash, the Sacramento Police Department told reporters that they had “observed objective signs of intoxication” after speaking to Cervantes at the hospital. She said in her filing that the police had asked her to conduct a test gauging her eyes’ reaction to stimulus, a “less accurate and subjective test” than the blood test she requested.

    The toxicology screen had “completely exonerated” Cervantes, the filing said, but the police department had already “released false information to the press claiming that Senator Cervantes had driven while under the influence of drugs.”

    The filing alleges that one police officer turned off his body camera for about five minutes while answering a call on his cell phone. The filing also said that the department failed to produce body camera footage from a sergeant who also came to the hospital.

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    Laura J. Nelson, Nathan Solis

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  • Terabytes of data from phones, computers seized in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex probe

    Terabytes of data from phones, computers seized in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex probe

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    Federal authorities possess “several terabytes of electronic data from Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs” and his empire as part of the sex trafficking and racketeering prosecution of the 54-year-old hip-hop mogul who was arrested last month, officials said.

    The “voluminous” amount of data taken during discovery in the sweeping sex abuse and racketeering case against Combs was revealed in a letter filed by the U.S Atty. for the Southern District of New York and comes as Combs’ lawyers are making a third bid to get him released from a Brooklyn jail on $50 million in bonds.

    The data came from more than 40 electronic devices and five cloud storage services associated with Combs. Prosecutors say they continue to seek even more data as part of the investigation. Combs’ lawyers are pushing back, demanding copies of the seized data.

    In a filing with the court, Combs’ legal team also questioned how information from the grand jury indictment of Combs for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution was leaked.

    “At some point today, Mr. Combs intends to file a motion for a hearing and other remedies related to unauthorized and prejudicial leaks of grand jury information,” his lawyers noted in the filing.

    Combs has been the subject of a sweeping federal probe since at least the beginning of the year and was arrested in New York on Sept. 16.

    Combs is accused of using his entertainment empire since as far back as 2009 to lure female victims and use violence, coercion and drugs to get women to take part in what were known as “freak off” parties — elaborate sex performances that often were recorded and sometimes lasted days. Prosecutors allege the music icon’s business network was ultimately about furthering his criminal conduct. Combs has denied any wrongdoing.

    Prosecutors informed U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian that during search warrants, Homeland Security Investigations seized “several terabytes of electronic material” from cellphones, laptops, tablets, hard drives, and cloud service accounts as well as business records and physical evidence as part of its investigation into the alleged decades-long sex trafficking and forced sexual acts in the sex parties.

    Federal prosecutors say they are still “copying over forty devices and the other five iCloud reports belonging to the defendant, which is expected to take several days due to the volume of the materials.”

    Prosecutors told the court that their forensic team is working “expediently as possible since their seizure,” and expects to turn over the data in discovery to Combs’ attorneys “on a rolling basis by the end of the year.”

    Combs lawyers, however, say they intend “to ask the Court to require the government to immediately produce certain categories of information – namely, copies of Mr. Combs’ electronic devices that were seized over six months ago.”

    “The government also seized additional devices belonging to Mr. Combs at the time of his arrest about three weeks ago,” Combs’ lawyers said in the filing. “We also understand that the government is only now beginning to review and copy these electronic devices, including those that were seized in March 2024.”

    Combs’ lawyers reiterated Wednesday said they want a trial as soon as possible. “Mr. Combs continues to assert his right to a speedy trial and intends to request a trial date in April or May 2025,” they told the judge.

    The investigation involves more than 50 witnesses and 300 warrants all of which unfolded since last fall, when Combs’ former girlfriend, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a lawsuit against him alleging sex abuse and sex trafficking. Combs settled the suit with significant payout within 24 hours, according to his lawyers.

    Combs’ legal troubles had been building for months. In civil lawsuits, multiple women have accused Combs of rape, assault and other abuses, dating back three decades.

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    Richard Winton

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  • Faculty accuse UC campuses of labor violations over pro-Palestine protest crackdowns

    Faculty accuse UC campuses of labor violations over pro-Palestine protest crackdowns

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    Faculty across the state have accused the University of California system of carrying out a sweeping campaign to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and protests in violation of state labor law.

    The Council of University of California Faculty Associations said UC administrators have threatened faculty for teaching about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and launched disciplinary proceedings against faculty for supporting on-campus student encampments as well as backing a strike by student academic workers this spring.

    The faculty group made the allegations in a 581-page complaint filed Thursday with California’s Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor-management interaction for public employees in the state. The unfair labor practice charge was co-signed by faculty associations at seven UC campuses, including Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco.

    Faculty members gathered at UCLA midday Thursday to announce the charge. At the news conference, Constance Penley, president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, described the university’s actions as a “relentless campaign to chill faculty’s exercise of their academic freedom and to deter them from teaching about the war in a way that does not align with the university’s position.”

    Faculty have also been investigated for pro-Palestine social media posts, arrested for exercising their free speech rights and were surveilled and intimidated by university representatives, the filing alleged.

    The push from faculty highlights how, months after police cleared pro-Palestinian encampments at universities, the fallout has continued on various campuses, with university officials implementing new protest rules and students grappling with ongoing suspensions and holds on their records.

    The faculty claims build on an earlier charge filed by the UCLA Faculty Assn. in the aftermath of attacks and mass arrests faced by students and faculty participating in an on-campus encampment in April and May. And they parallel similar allegations made by unions representing UC employees, including United Auto Workers Local 481, which represents student academic workers and the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents 6,500 librarians and teaching faculty across the university system.

    The various charges, filed earlier this year with the state labor board allege essentially that the university had failed to maintain safe working conditions, disregarded the free speech rights of its employees, and unlawfully made changes to working conditions in response to campus protests.

    The university defends its course of action. In response to a request for comment, UC spokesperson Heather Hansen pointed to a university statement previously filed with the state labor board in response to the UCLA Faculty Assn.’s charge.

    The university stated that while it “supports free speech and lawful protests,” it must also “ensure that all of its community members can safely continue to study, work, and exercise their rights, which is why it has in place policies that regulate the time, place, and manner for protest activities on its campuses.”

    “The University has allowed — and continues to allow — lawful protesting activities surrounding the conflict in the Middle East. But when protests violate University policy or threaten the safety and security of others, the University has taken lawful action to end impermissible and unlawful behavior,” the university said.

    The filing details instances of the university allegedly investigating and disciplining faculty.

    Soon after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the start of Israel’s bombing siege of Gaza, the university began sending emails to faculty threatening that they could be investigated and disciplined for teaching content outside the scope of their courses. In November, UC San Diego investigated two lecturers for teaching about the history of the Palestinian territories, the filing said. A UC Irvine faculty member was sent a “letter of warning” by the administration for holding a vote on whether to conduct class at the on-campus encampment, with optional attendance.

    In another example cited, a medical school lecturer at UC San Francisco who delivered a talk in April about trauma-informed care at a health equity conference was barred from participating in future educational activities after she devoted some six minutes of a 50-minute course to discussing the topic as it related to Palestinians’ health challenges. A campus administrator informed the lecturer they had received complaints that her talk was “biased and antisemitic,” and took down an online video of the talk. The ban was eventually lifted, but the video remains offline.

    The complaint says the university’s “harsh crackdown against professors for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints stands in stark contrast to its treatment of vocal pro-Israeli faculty.”

    The university refused to initiate a formal disciplinary investigation into a pro-Israel faculty member at UC Irvine accused of harassing and physically intimidating an undergraduate student, although video footage was provided of the faculty member “cornering, physically intimidating, and interrogating a visibly scared student,” the filing said.

    After an unfair labor practice charge is filed, the Public Employee Relations Board will review and evaluate the case, and decide whether to dismiss the charge or proceed with having parties negotiate a settlement. If no settlement is reached, the case would be scheduled for a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.

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    Suhauna Hussain

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  • Keke Palmer Files Restraining Order, Lists Extensive Incidents of Domestic Violence Against Her Ex Darius Jackson

    Keke Palmer Files Restraining Order, Lists Extensive Incidents of Domestic Violence Against Her Ex Darius Jackson

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    On Thursday, Keke Palmer filed a temporary restraining order against her former partner Darius Jackson and requested sole custody of their 8-month-old son, Leodis.

    The filing, viewed by People, is rife with accusations against Jackson. Palmer alleges that on Sunday, “Darius trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent, threatened me, then physically attacked me—lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch, and stealing my phone when I told him I was going to call the police.” (Jackson could not immediately be reached for comment.)

    The incident began when Jackson, a former college football player and current fitness instructor, came over to take their child to a football game, but discovered the baby was with Palmer’s sister visiting family. They argued, and Jackson allegedly “knocked me backwards over the couch, stole my phone out of my hands, and then ran out of the house.”

    This, the filing states, was captured on Palmer’s home security system and will be played in court during a hearing.

    When Palmer went outside to get the phone Jackson “nearly hit me with his car.”

    The Los Angeles County judge granted a temporary restraining order, which says that Jackson must stay 100 yards away from both the actress and their son. She was also granted temporary sole custody, according to People.

    Palmer lists several incidents over the course of the last two years, some of which she says her home security system captured. In the filing, the actor alleges there were “many instances of physical violence, including striking and grabbing me around the neck, descriptions of Darius destroying my personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses, throwing my belongings into the street, throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, hitting me in front of our son, spewing profanities about me to our son, threatening to kill himself with a gun if I left him, harassment, and other physical and emotional abuse.”

    “The abuse during our relationship was not just physical, but emotional and manipulative,” the filing continues. “Darius would ‘love bomb’ me and make me feel like I was the most important woman in the world, only to get extremely distant and cold over a perceived insult to him. If we were at a party or event, and I spoke with one person too long or looked at someone a ‘certain way,’ he would storm off in a rage—telling me I was ‘slut’ and a ‘whore,’ accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him. Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”

    In one incident from April 2022, Jackson allegedly accused Palmer of flirting with a woman while they were out to dinner in Santa Barbara. The former couple left to return to their hotel early.

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    Kenzie Bryant

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