1. The Legal Background: General Principles
The California Coastal Act (the Coastal Act) was passed in
1976. (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.)
1 It is
“a comprehensive scheme to govern land use planning for the
entire coastal zone of California.” (Yost v. Thomas (1984) 36 Cal.3d
561, 565 (Yost).) The Coastal Act requires “all local governments
lying in whole

¶1 The Complainant, State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association (Complainant), began proceedings pursuant to Rule 6, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP) 5 O.S. 2011, ch. 1, app. 1-A alleging three counts of professional misconduct against the Respondent, Laurie Jean Miller (Respondent). The Respondent is an active member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and is currently in good

Newport News, VA - United States of America charged Kenneth R. (Ken) Spirito with:

T.18 USC Sections 666(a)(1)(A) and 2 - Conversion and Misapplication of Property from Organization Receiving Federal Funds / T.18 USC Sections 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(1); T.28 USC Section 2461 - Forfeiture
(1s-11s)
T.18 USC Sections 1957 and 2 - Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Deriv

San Diego, CA - The United States of America charged Matthew John Anderson with stealing from the Zoo.

Matthew John Anderson, age 49, a former San Diego Zoo biologist, pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the world-renowned institution.

Anderson worked for the zoo for over 17 years, starting as a research fellow and ultimately

This is the fourth appeal in this longstanding lawsuit, and
challenges a $7 million default judgment entered after the trial
court issued terminating sanctions. Among the many issues
raised by the parties on appeal, three present significant legal
questions: (1) May a trial court issue terminating sanctions when
the discovery a party contumaciously refuses to provide
encomp

Appellant HGST, Inc. (HGST) filed an action against the County of Santa Clara
(the County) seeking a refund for business property taxes paid on machinery, equipment,
fixtures, and other personal property located in San Jose. Among other things, HGST
claimed the Santa Clara County Assessment Appeals Board (the AAB) erroneously
overassessed the value of the property. After a four-day

Hazlehurst, MS - The United States of America charged Barbara Thedford Skipper with conversion of public funds.

Barbara Thedford Skipper, 51, of Hazlehurst, pled guilty to theft of federal funds.

From 2015 through 2017, while serving as Executive Director for the Hazlehurst Housing Authority, Skipper knowingly converted and misapplied funds from the Housing Authority’s operatin

Atlanta, GA - The United States of America charged Hassan Ra El, a/k/a Rasheem Harrson Crockett with mail fraud.

Hassan Ra El, a/k/a Rasheem Harrson Crockett has pleaded guilty to mail fraud related to a scheme in which he falsely claimed to be a member of the Moroccan Royal Family to defraud business owners around the country to pay an advance fee before obtaining millions in business lo

Bernd Schaefers appeals an order denying his motion to:
(1) vacate entry of a $3.825 million Kansas judgment, and (2) post
a $5,737,500 undertaking to stay enforcement of the sister-state
judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 1710.50, subd. (c)(1)).1 We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
In 2017, a Kansas jury awarded Blizzard Energy, Inc.
(Blizzard), a Kansas corporation, $3.825

Defendants Stephen Brown (Brown) and Ignite Channel, Inc. (Ignite) solicited and
obtained $180,000 in investments from plaintiff Bassel Ojjeh to produce a documentary
film on the refugee crisis in Syria. Plaintiff later sued, claiming that no “significant” or
“substantial” work had been performed on the film, and that defendants had breached
their contractual obligations, d

Salt Lake City, UT - The United States of America charged Gary Mark Hill with importing and dealing machine guns and illegal possession and transfer of machine guns.

A federal jury convicted Gary Mark Hill, age 42, of Salt Lake City of unlawfully engaging in the business of importing and dealing machine guns and illegal possession and transfer of machine guns Wednesday afternoon followin

Peter Sepling moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 for the District Court to vacate the judgment of sentence imposed following his guilty plea based upon his attorney’s alleged ineffectiveness during his sentencing in 2014. Sepling asks us to vacate the order of the District Court denying this motion. We agree that he was prejudiced by his counsel’s ineffectiveness and we will therefore vacate the Di

Enid, OK - The State of Oklahoma charged Jeffrey Krogmann with embezzlement in violation of 21 O.S. 1451, which provides:



A. Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property of any person or legal entity, legally obtained, to any use or purpose not intended or authorized by its owner, or the secretion of the property with the fraudulent intent to appropriate it to such u

Oilton, OK - The State of Oklahoma charged Patrick Leon Kennedy with embezzlement in violation of 21 O.S. 1451, which provides that:



A. Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property of any person or legal entity, legally obtained, to any use or purpose not intended or authorized by its owner, or the secretion of the property with the fraudulent intent to appropriate i