Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Thursday, May 13, 2021 – 06:00 p.m.
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge put a rapid end to a purported taxpayer lawsuit targeting a $65 million settlement between the county and Colonies Partners, L.P. and Jeffrey Burum on Thursday morning.
Thursday, May 13, 2021 – 09:00 a.m.
The California Supreme Court has set a June 1 oral argument date in a lawsuit challenging the 2018 appointment of San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe.
Rene Ray De La Cruz
Victorville Daily Press
The City of Hesperia has prevailed in a court battle with former District 4 Councilman Jeremiah Brosowske, who sued the municipality after he was ousted by the City Council in September 2019 for alleged non-residency.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
A federal judge slammed defense counsel for San Bernardino County this week in his order compelling the release of years of documents relating to an allegedly bogus criminal prosecution of a developer with whom the county had a land dispute.
By Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: March 29, 2019 at 5:29 pm | Updated: March 30, 2019 at 12:04 am
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge denied a request to halt San Bernardino’s licensing of commercial cannabis businesses alleged to be out of compliance with city law or the general plan.
By Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: March 8, 2019 at 3:12 pm | Updated: March 9, 2019 at 5:30 pm
A San Bernardino Superior Court judge lifted temporary restraining orders imposed last week against seven commercial cannabis businesses recently approved by San Bernardino city leaders.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com and Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: March 7, 2019 at 7:15 pm | Updated: March 8, 2019 at 1:18 am
They found heaps of cash, $200,000 in all, concealed everywhere — in a green metal ammunition box hidden under a step, stuffed inside a paint can, in a shoe box, and in a Dodgers duffel bag crammed into a propane BBQ grill.
By Wes Venteicher
March 04, 2019 10:16 AM,
Updated March 04, 2019 06:47 PM
The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld a pension law that stripped a retirement perk from public employees, issuing a narrow ruling that sidestepped a bigger question about whether employers can reduce pension benefits for current workers.
By Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: March 1, 2019 at 2:57 pm | Updated: March 1, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Another denied applicant has sued San Bernardino over the city’s embattled commercial cannabis licensing process, calling greater attention to alleged illegal acts by those in charge of the whole operation.
By Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: February 27, 2019 at 12:52 pm | UpdatedFebruary 27, 2019 at 6:44 pm
A week after San Bernardino city leaders approved 16 commercial cannabis businesses, a local judge halted the licensing process for seven of them.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com
and Scott Schwebke | sschwebke@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: February 25, 2019 at 7:00 pm | Updated: February 25, 2019 at 7:46 pm
A Pacific Palisades woman who heads a company that was blocked last week from setting up legitimate commercial cannabis operations in San Bernardino sued the city on Monday, Feb. 25 alleging corrupt practices involving a “pay for play” scheme.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: November 2, 2018 at 7:27 pm | Updated: November 4, 2018 at 9:07 am
The battle by former San Bernardino County assessor Bill Postmus to rescind his guilty plea in the Colonies corruption case began Friday with Postmus testifying he was a drug addict when he was coerced into accepting a deal with prosecutors.
By Beau Yarbrough | byarbrough@scng.com | Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Published: September 10, 2018 at 7:01 pm | Updated: September 11, 2018 at 2:39 pm
A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy violated the Fourth Amendment rights of a group of Etiwanda Intermediate students when he arrested them because he thought they were uncooperative in a bullying investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, Sept. 10.
By James Rufus Koren
Aug 13, 2018 | 4:00 PM
California’s high court has ruled that interest rates on consumer loans can be so high that they become “unconscionable” and, therefore, illegal — a decision that could call into question the validity of millions of loans and upend the state’s subprime lending market.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: August 2, 2018 at 3:56 pm | Updated: August 3, 2018 at 7:19 am
High Desert real estate developer and former Colonies corruption case figure John Dino Defazio has filed claims against San Bernardino County and District Attorney Mike Ramos seeking $20 million in damages, alleging malicious prosecution for perjury charges that were dismissed by a judge in January.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: July 30, 2018 at 5:19 pm | Updated: July 31, 2018 at 7:17 am
Vindicated public corruption figure Mark Kirk on Monday sued San Bernardino County and District Attorney Mike Ramos in federal court for $40 million, alleging malicious prosecution in perhaps the biggest and most expensive prosecutorial fiasco in county history.
Capitol Alert
The go-to source for news on California policy and politics
By Taryn Luna
tluna@sacbee.com
Published: July 09, 2018 – 05:16 PM
Updated: July 18, 2018 – 01:26 PM
The California Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in favor of opponents of a plan to divide California into three, saying the measure should not appear on the November ballot.
By James Folmer
Editor Highland Community News
July 11, 2018
Harmony Specific Plan
San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez has issued two rulings on the proposed Harmony master-planned community in east Highland.
Monday, July 9, 2018 – 09:00 a.m.
Who’s President Donald Trump going to pick for the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court? Well only he knows thew answer to that question.
By Jennifer Iyer | jiyer@scng.com | Redlands Daily Facts
Published: July 6, 2018 at 6:34 pm | Updated: July 6, 2018 at 6:35 pm
A judge has ruled against Highland’s proposed 3,600-house Harmony development, partially siding with environmental and community groups that opposed the massive project in two related lawsuits.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 – 08:30 a.m.
It seems that well-know Los Angeles Attorney Stephen Larson, a former U.S. District Court Judge, who has made a name for himself in intellectual property and criminal white collar cases, has expanded his legal field of expertise.
By Mark Sherman
The Associated Press |
Published: June 11, 2018 at 10:24 am | Updated: June 11, 2018 at 10:24 am
WASHINGTON — States can target people who haven’t cast ballots in a while in efforts to purge their voting rolls, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that has drawn wide attention amid stark partisan divisions and the approach of the 2018 elections.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com and Richard K. De Atley | rdeatley@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: June 7, 2018 at 5:54 pm | Updated: June 7, 2018 at 7:51 pm
A former county official who escaped conviction in the Colonies corruption case has filed a $25 million federal lawsuit accusing San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos and other prosecutors of malicious prosecution, fabricated evidence and retaliation.
By Deepa Bharath | dbharath@scng.com | Orange County Register
Published: May 15, 2018 at 4:47 pm | UpdatedD: May 15, 2018 at 7:18 pm
RIVERSIDE — A judge in Riverside County granted a motion Tuesday to overturn the state’s End of Life Option Act, which allows terminally ill Californians to end their life, legally, with a lethal drug.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: April 27, 2018 at 12:31 pm | Updated: April 28, 2018 at 12:21 am
Sentencing for former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus was delayed again Friday after his attorney filed a motion to withdraw Postmus’ 2011 guilty plea to corruption charges, claiming Postmus was addicted to drugs, under duress and coerced by investigators.
By Jeff Horseman | jhorseman@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
April 10, 2018 at 7:49 pm
A Riverside County supervisor must tell voters he was appointed, not elected, to his job, a county judge ruled Monday in a decision that figures to tweak the June 5 ballot.
Greg Moran
Tuesday, April 11, 2018 – 3:15 p.m.
The leader of the state judiciary said Tuesday she wants immediate changes to court rules that now shield information about sexual harassment payouts to judges that would make such information public for the first time.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: April 3, 2018 at 2:29 pm | Updated: April 3, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum has filed a $50 million malicious prosecution lawsuit in federal court against San Bernardino County, District Attorney Mike Ramos and former state Attorneys General Kamala Harris and Jerry Brown.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 – 02:45 p.m.
The first of four anticipated federal civil rights lawsuits, a result of the Colonies Criminal case debacle, was filed against San Bernardino County.
By Jennifer Iyer | jiyer@scng.com | Redlands Daily Facts
March 31, 2018 at 10:00 am
Opponents of the large-scale Harmony housing development are expected to make their case against the project in court this week. A hearing is set for Friday, April 6.
By Richard K. De Atley | rdeatley@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
Published: March 27, 2018 at 4:43 pm | Updated: March 27, 2018 at 5:06 pm
San Bernardino County officials have been mostly subdued after the Colonies bribery case collapsed in acquittals last year — but now a private attorney for the county has attacked Colonies co-managing partner Jeff Burum, saying even a not-guilty verdict for him and his co-defendants “is not a vindication of their conduct.”
By Sean Emery | semery@scng.com and Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | Orange County Register
Published: March 14, 2018 at 6:13 pm | Updated: March 14, 2018 at 7:07 pm
Jurors in a federal civil rights trial have awarded $33.5 million to the family of a man who was shot and killed by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy during a 2015 encounter at the El Rancho Motel in Barstow.
By Franco Ordonez, Anita Chabria And Stephen Magagnini
Published: March 06, 2018 11:28 AM
Updated: March 06, 2018 07:20 PM
The Trump administration on Tuesday sued California over its sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants, setting off a chorus of near-unanimous defiance from California lawmakers.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com and Richard K. De Atley | rdeatley@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: March 1, 2018 at 12:51 pm | Updated: March 1, 2018 at 6:08 pm
Rancho Cucamonga investor group Colonies Partners LP on Thursday, March 1, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos and former state Attorneys General Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris, seeking $80 million in damages following a bungled bribery case the developer claims sullied its reputation.
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Thursday, March 1, 2018 – 06:35 p.m.
The civil lawsuit filed by Colonies Partners L.P. against the County of San Bernardino and various county and State of California officials is now available online.
Monday, February 19, 2018 – 10:30 a.m.
It is with great sadness that we report the passing San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Vic Stull.
By Imran Ghori | ighori@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
Published: February 9, 2018 at 6:41 pm | Updated: February 9, 2018 at 6:43 pm
A Riverside County judge has sided with critics of the planned World Logistics Center in ruling that an environmental study for the project was flawed.
By Richard K. De Atley | rdeatley@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
Published: January 30, 2018 at 1:32 pm | Updated: January 30, 2018 at 5:36 pm
Developer Jeffrey Burum, who was acquitted of all charges in the Colonies corruption case last year, filed on Tuesday a malicious prosecution and civil rights violation claim against San Bernardino County and the State of California, with his attorney saying the failed prosecution turned his client’s life “into a living hell.”
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: January 26, 2018 at 11:14 am | Updated: January 26, 2018 at 4:03 pm
A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Friday dismissed all six felony perjury charges against High Desert developer John Dino DeFazio, a figure in the Colonies corruption case who was accused of lying to the grand jury.
By Patrick McGreevy
Jan. 19, 2018 – 3:32 p.m.
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday to support mandatory union fees for public employees.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: January 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm | Updated: January 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm
Sentencing for former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus was delayed on Friday after Postmus retained a new attorney, who told the judge he may file a motion to withdraw Postmus’s 2011 guilty plea.
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
January 12, 2018 12:25 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown this week predicted that his 2012 pension law will survive union challenges in court and blow a hole in the so-called “California rule” that has restricted changes to public employee retirement plans for half a century.
By Lara Bazelon
January 10, 2018
Davontae Sanford was 14 years old when he confessed to murdering four people in a drug house on Detroit’s East Side. Left alone with detectives in a late-night interrogation, Sanford says he broke down after being told he could go home if he gave them “something.” On the advice of a lawyer whose license was later suspended for misconduct, Sanford pleaded guilty in the middle of his March 2008 trial and received a sentence of 39 to 92 years in prison.
By Richard K. De Atley | rdeatley@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
January 10, 2018 at 4:02 pm
The final defendant in the Beaumont corruption case “expressly and unmistakably” surrendered his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, and a claim that he was denied a chance to see the evidence against him is “clearly contrived,” prosecutors said Wednesday as they asked a judge to deny his motion for dismissal.
By Richard K. De Atley |
Published: January 9, 2018 at 10:32 am | Updated: January 10, 2018 at 6:12 am
The last defendant in the Beaumont corruption case wants a judge to throw his charges out, saying he was wrongly denied a speedy preliminary hearing and that prosecutors have dragged their feet in producing evidence.
Monday, January 8, 2018 – 12:00 a.m.
A San Diego appellate court has affirm a $6.5 million jury award to the target of murder-for-hire scheme involving two member of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
Rex Gutierrez
Monday, January 1, 05:00 p.m.
The seven-year Colonies “Trial of the Century” is over. San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, with then-Attorney General Jerry Brown at his side, proclaimed that this was the biggest public corruption scandal in the history of the county and the state of California. Surely this was the impetus that would propel Ramos to statewide, and possibly national office!
Credit: Associated Press
By Associated Press
Thursday, December 28, 2017
For decades in California, a sacrosanct rule has governed public employees’ pensions: Benefits promised can never be taken away.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: December 1, 2017 at 1:46 pm | Updated: December 2, 2017 at 1:07 am
Former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, a key figure in corruption scandals involving the Assessor’s Office and a controversial legal settlement between the county and a land developer, was sentenced Friday to six months in jail.
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
November 22, 2017 – 09:48 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers.
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By Mark Gutglueck
Posted on November 4, 2017
The accusers this week became the accused, seven weeks after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the charges against Jim Erwin in the Colonies Partners Lawsuit Settlement Public Corruption Prosecution.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: November 1, 2017 at 5:48 pm | Updated: November 2, 2017 at 10:16 am
Jim Erwin, a former defendant in the ill-fated Colonies corruption case that ended with Erwin’s case being dismissed and three other defendants acquitted, filed a $25 million claim against San Bernardino County and the state on Wednesday.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: October 27, 2017 at 9:25 am |
Updated: October 27, 2017 at 6:57 pm
A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Friday referred the case of former San Bernardino County Assessor and Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus to the Riverside County Probation Department for review and sentencing recommendations.
Opinion
By Neil Derry |
Published: October 23, 2017 at 6:00 pm |
Updated: October 23, 2017 at 7:46 pm
The Colonies “corruption” case is over. Well, at least the eight year criminal case is finally over. There is plenty of time and even more justification for more civil litigation against the State of California and the County of San Bernardino, but that is for another day.
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Sunday, October 01, 2017 – 11:30 p.m.
The headline in Sunday’s edition of The Sun was a long time in coming for former Colonies Criminal Case defendants Paul Biane, Jeff Burum, Jim Erwin and Mark Kirk.
By Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: September 30, 2017 at 11:51 am |
Updated: September 30, 2017 at 9:45 pm
Eight years, six months, and seven days. That’s how long Jim Erwin said he endured allegations by state and local prosecutors of taking part in a bribery scheme that bilked San Bernardino County taxpayers out of $102 million.
By The Editorial Board | opinion@langnews.com |
September 29, 2017 at 11:00 am
Now that the long-running Colonies case has finally ended with all defendants acquitted, county taxpayers wouldn’t be wrong to wonder just what the heck actually happened.
By Ryan Hagen | rhagen@scng.com and Joe Nelson | jnelson@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
Published: September 22, 2017 at 9:19 am |
Updated: September 24, 2017 at 9:30 am
SAN BERNARDINO >> The judge in the San Bernardino County Colonies corruption case on Friday dismissed all charges against the only remaining defendant, Jim Erwin, after prosecutors announced they did not want to retry the case.
Opinion
By Christopher J. Warner |
Published: September 6, 2017 at 4:58 pm | Updated: September 6, 2017 at 5:27 pm
“The largest public corruption case in the state of California” has ended in San Bernardino County. That’s what then-Attorney General Jerry Brown, standing next to District Attorney Michael Ramos, called it way back when they filed it.
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Here’s the coverage by KCBS-TV Los Angeles of the “not guilty” verdicts in the Colonies Corruption Trial.
By Tony Saavedra, Orange County Register
Posted: 07/29/17 – 12:52 PM PDT |
The gavels had fallen, the cases appeared closed:
Andy Serbe, Staff Writer
Daily Journal
andy_serbe@dailyjournal.com
July 18, 2017
The defense called no witnesses as it rested its case Monday in a seven-month San Bernardino County corruption trial, opting to read to the jury a few stipulated facts from earlier testimony and close before lunch.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 07/17/17 – 12:02 PM PDT |
Defense attorneys in the San Bernardino County Colonies bribery case rested Monday after about one hour of presentation, setting the stage for final arguments in mid-August.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 07/15/17 – 4:29 PM PDT |
Called “the biggest public corruption case in San Bernardino County history” when it was filed in 2010, the marathon Colonies case nears an end after seven months of trial, with defense attorneys saying bribery wasn’t proven while prosecutors say nothing can erase years of dirty dealing.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 07/06/17 – 4:07 PM PDT |
The judge in San Bernardino County’s Colonies corruption case on Thursday dismissed a felony charge of forgery against former assistant assessor Jim Erwin, one of four defendants fighting to have their charges tossed on grounds of insufficient evidence.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 07/05/17 – 7:46 PM PDT |
A bribery charge in the San Bernardino County Colonies public corruption case was dismissed Wednesday against Mark Kirk, the one-time chief of staff for former county Supervisor Gary Ovitt in 2006 when supervisors approved a $102 million settlement favorable to the land developer.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 06/29/17 – 12:13 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> After nearly seven months of sometimes confounding testimony, the prosecution rested this week in San Bernardino County’s Colonies bribery case.
By Beau Yarbrough, The Sun
Posted: 06/09/17 – 5:48 PM PDT |
RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> Five years after he was indicted on 34 charges related to the failure of the largest chain of charter schools in California and facing up to 20 years in prison, former Hesperia mayor Tad Honeycutt went back into the education business.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 06/08/17 – 5:05 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A prosecutor in the San Bernardino County Colonies bribery case on Thursday attempted to recoup the credibility of key witness Adam Aleman after days of defense attorney battering of the former assistant assessor’s accounts of alleged corruption a decade ago.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 06/07/17 – 3:08 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The dismissal of an alternate juror in the Colonies bribery trial on Wednesday did not hinder testimony, in which defense attorneys continued drilling key witness Adam Aleman on his honesty and credibility.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 06/01/17 – 3:45 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Defense attorneys in the Colonies bribery trial on Thursday attacked the credibility and character of key witness and former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, claiming he was shaping his statements to conform to the prosecution narrative of the case and “making things up as he went along.”
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/31/17 – 9:10 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A defense attorney on Wednesday continued challenging the credibility of former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman on claims he heard and saw details that pointed to bribery in settling a $102 million lawsuit between the county and developer Colonies Partners in 2006.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/30/17 – 7:17 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A defense attorney in the Colonies corruption trial on Tuesday grilled former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman on his repeated lies to district attorney investigators and a civil grand jury investigating allegations of malfeasance at the Assessor’s Office in 2008.
By John Howard
Posted 05.26.2017
California’s courts impose hundreds of millions of dollars of “excessive and disproportionate” fines each year for common infractions, then use much of the money to support their own operations. A blue-ribbon panel examining the system said the fines should be collected by the executive branch — not the courts themselves — to avoid conflicts.
Maya Lau
May 24, 2017 – 12:45 p.m.
Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies say they were framed for lying about a drug bust and that prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence that would have spared them a trial, lost wages and public humiliation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
By Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/22/17 – 5:41 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman told jurors Monday in the Colonies bribery trial that, like his former boss Bill Postmus, he was testifying under a plea agreement with prosecutors.
James Rufus Koren
May 17, 2017
A San Francisco federal judge is leaning toward rejecting some of the terms of a $142-million settlement aimed at ending a bevvy of class-action lawsuits against Wells Fargo & Co. over its sham accounts scandal.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/16/17 – 1:55 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Former San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus testified Tuesday in the Colonies corruption trial that he never thought a $102 million settlement favorable to a Rancho Cucamonga developer 11 years ago would result in kickback money to him — a statement that goes to the heart of the six-year-old case.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/11/17 – 9:02 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A prosecutor in the Colonies corruption case on Thursday walked former county Supervisor Bill Postmus through his 2011 statements that helped bring charges in the bribery trial, but Postmus appeared to be putting distance between himself and what he told authorities six years ago.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/11/17 – 10:27 AM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The judge in the Colonies corruption trial on Thursday dismissed two felony charges against former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin after an appellate court determined that the offenses could only be charged as misdemeanors.
Joel Rubin
May 12, 2017
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, once a towering, respected figure in policing, was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to obstruct an FBI investigation of abuses in county jails, marking an end to a corruption scandal that has roiled the Sheriff’s Department for several years.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/10/17 – 7:43 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Colonies trial defendant Jim Erwin, depicted by prosecutors as scheming against former San Bernardino County Supervisor and Assessor Bill Postmus more than a decade ago, actually stood beside the beleaguered politician with “tough love” as Postmus struggled with his drug addiction, Postmus agreed in testimony Wednesday.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 05/09/17 – 3:48 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> While Bill Postmus was being interviewed and turned into a prosecution witness in the Colonies corruption case in 2011, San Bernardino County District Attorney investigators never tested or monitored him for drugs, despite his well-documented use of methamphetamine, Postmus testified Tuesday.
By Bob Egelko
May 2, 2017 Updated: May 2, 2017 2:43pm
Prosecutors who withhold evidence that might have helped a criminal defendant will soon face the prospect of punishment by the State Bar of California, under rules already in place in every other state.
Ed Mendel
April 17, 2016
In another ruling allowing pension cuts, an appeals court last week overturned a state labor board ruling that a voter-approved San Diego pension reform was invalid because the city declined to bargain the issue with labor unions.