latimes--2020-02-08--Lorena Gonzalez likes a good fight. She got it with hotly debated AB5

The framed letter in Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez ’ s office , displayed with pride , was hardly meant as a compliment .
“ This document constitutes formal notice and warning that you are no longer allowed on property owned by Wal-Mart Stores , Inc. , or in any area subject to Wal-Mart Stores , Inc. 's control , ” warns the statement from 2012 .
Then the leader of San Diego ’ s organized labor council , Gonzalez showed up at a local store to demand higher worker pay and better benefits .
Before being escorted out , she was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from ever coming back .
She did so happily , punctuating her signature with a smiley face .
Seven years later , Gonzalez is no less pugnacious and far more powerful .
One of California ’ s most influential legislators , she has written laws to expand the rights of workers , women and immigrants .
In most cases , success has come not in spite of her willingness to pick a fight but because of it .
“ I come from a perspective of conflict is good , ” Gonzalez said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ conflict .
A polite society ensures the status quo.
” A combination of personal persistence and a focus on hot-button issues has given the 48-year-old liberal lawmaker a national following , one that could boost her chances for higher office — beginning with a campaign for secretary of state in 2022 .
Perhaps no fight has been as consequential to her career as the one she began last year to rewrite California employment law and to expand the circumstances under which businesses must create jobs with benefits and pay taxes .
Supporters of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ champion for worker rights while critics have painted her as a pro-union zealot unconcerned over what they believe is the law ‘ s potential to stifle innovation .
It has been a bruising battle , marked by state Capitol protests , high-profile fights in court and on social media , and a likely effort to rewrite the law through a statewide ballot measure in November .
“ This is an effort to right a ship that ’ s gone wrong , ” she said of AB 5 .
“ And I believe so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ willing to continue to take on what is a lot of piling on .
… You ’ ve got to get it right.
” That there ’ s symmetry between what Gonzalez fights for and the struggles of low-wage Californians isn ’ t by accident .
She said she prioritizes her work by its potential impact in her Assembly district , stretching south from San Diego to Chula Vista and the border .
“ We do a lot where we say , ‘ Somebody has to start the conversation on this , ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We really weigh whether it fits into the core things that will help our constituents.
” As chairwoman of the influential Assembly Appropriations Committee , it ’ s rare when one of her bills fails to make it to the Assembly floor or the governor ’ s desk .
But when that happens , Gonzalez has a reputation for coming back again and again .
In 2019 , she wrote laws to expand sexual assault training for female-dominated janitorial jobs ; impose a new ban on immigration arrests in courthouses ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abuse more time to file civil lawsuits ; make diaper sales tax-free ; and impose a statewide ban on fur trapping .
In 2016 , she persuaded then-Gov .
Jerry Brown to extend overtime pay requirements to farmworkers .
And twice in the past four years , she has co-authored strict new rules governing vaccine exemptions for schoolchildren .
“ There is no question that Lorena is a powerhouse , ” said Assemblywoman Monique Limón ( D-Santa Barbara ) .
“ She is someone who has big ideas , bold ideas .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in Vista in northern San Diego County with two older brothers in a single-parent household , her parents divorcing when she was a toddler .
Her father , Roberto , came from Mexico as a teenager to pick strawberries and later dabbled in a variety of small businesses .
Her mother , Carmen Regan , was a nurse who had long wanted union representation while working at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside .
Gonzalez volunteered at the hospital as a teenager just to spend time with her mother , who she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Regan died in 2007 from complications of cancer , Gonzalez helped lead a successful campaign to unionize Tri-City ’ s healthcare workers .
“ Everything about my mom fueled my passion in organizing those workers , ” said Gonzalez , who speaks frequently and emotionally about her mother .
“ There are so many working moms out there like my mom .
There are so many people who aren ’ t asking for anything .
Just a shot , you know ?
Just enough to be sure that their kids can do a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school , graduating from Stanford and then graduate school at Georgetown , eventually earning a law degree from UCLA .
None of it , she said , would have happened had she not learned how to fight for what she wanted .
“ I had to push my way to get where I am .
Every step of the way , ” she said .
“ I know a lot of people don ’ t like it , but I wouldn ’ t be here.
” Gonzalez struggled personally .
She became pregnant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good on a promise to her mother that she ’ d still earn her degree .
A single mother while in law school , she soon after married , then divorced .
She remarried twice more , the final time to Nathan Fletcher , a San Diego County supervisor .
Their blended family includes five children from former marriages , ages 8 to 23 .
“ The family piece of her life is really important , ” Fletcher said .
“ Despite all the demands , she shoulders a really heavy load.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Cruz Bustamante in 1999 , and in 2005 unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the San Diego City Council .
In 2007 , she was chosen to lead the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council , succeeding Jerry Butkiewicz , whose daughter was a friend from high school and whom Gonzalez credits as a mentor .
A newspaper article at the time described her as a “ pragmatic centrist , ” a characterization she now suspects was the result of friends trying to soften her public image .
“ They tried to convince @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of me , ” Gonzalez said .
“ I think they realized , ‘ She ’ s really a good person , but she ’ s going to scare the s— out of people.
’ ” “ She was always pretty clear what her core objectives were and that sometimes you have to ruffle a few feathers to meet those objectives , ” said Rusty Hicks , chairman of the California Democratic Party .
Hicks served in leadership roles at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor while Gonzalez led the San Diego @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t change when she was elected to the Legislature .
“ She ’ s a brawler , ” Hicks said .
“ And I mean that as a compliment.
” But Gonzalez hasn ’ t always been applauded for her rough-and-tumble approach to politics .
Since her election to the Assembly in 2013 , opponents have sometimes taken issue with her style as much as her positions on issues .
During last year ’ s fierce debate over school vaccine exemptions , anti-vaccine groups posted video clips of Gonzalez online , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to maintain order during long legislative hearings .
During a debate on the bill , then-state Sen. Jeff Stone ( R-Temecula ) once seemed to refer to Gonzalez as the “ black widow of public policy ” in Sacramento , without mentioning her by name .
“ It was a lot of personalized criticism , ” Gonzalez said of the vaccine debate .
“ A lot of death threats .
It was emotionally draining.
” But she rarely relents , especially on social media .
Whether it ’ s sparring over one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about any topic of the day , Gonzalez routinely weighs in .
“ Whatever is in her mind is just coming out , ” Fletcher said .
“ She ’ s going to say it or she ’ s going to tweet it and you ’ ll just know where she is.
” Nor has she hesitated to blend the personal with the political , particularly when it comes to her husband .
Fletcher served in the Assembly as a Republican before renouncing his party during a failed mayoral race , ultimately re-registering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a county supervisor was aided by the political muscle of Gonzalez , whom he married the year before .
Companies and powerful groups with an interest in Gonzalez ’ s work in Sacramento donated to Fletcher ’ s nonprofit in 2015 .
In the 2018 supervisor ’ s race , Fletcher benefited from almost $ 1 million in political spending by the San Diego County Democratic Party , its own coffers filled by some $ 370,000 donated by Gonzalez from her own campaign account — far exceeding what she had given to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But she rejects any suggestion that she unfairly boosted Fletcher ’ s chances .
“ I know my husband .
I had no doubts about what kind of elected official he would be .
And I was right , by the way , ” Gonzalez said .
“ I ’ d vote for him to be president tomorrow .
Come on , why would I not want him to be county supervisor ?
” For now , Gonzalez has placed her presidential hopes on Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren .
And Warren gave the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsing AB 5 as the bill was meeting with resistance in Sacramento .
“ I believe in markets and in providing entrepreneurs the chance to succeed , ” Warren wrote in a newspaper op-ed at the time .
“ But markets without rules and workplaces without labor protections are ripe for exploitation.
” The topic has become all-consuming for Gonzalez .
In the months since Gov .
Gavin Newsom signed AB 5 into law , she ’ s done little else but field questions and complaints — in person , when protesters showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and in news interviews and online .
She has insisted that AB 5 offers important clarity to when a business ’ s work can be done by an independent contractor , offering a more lenient system than would otherwise apply under a high-profile California Supreme Court ruling from 2018 .
On Thursday , Gonzalez announced on Twitter that she will soon unveil new legislation “ to help ease the implementation ” of the law , specifically promising to examine concerns raised by freelance journalists , photographers and musicians .
“ This is just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see ” in the coming weeks , she wrote .
The promised efforts come after blistering criticisms of both the tone and substance of her defense of AB 5 .
“ From looking at your own posts , I sense a truly disturbing indifference , ” Vanity Fair correspondent Anthony Breznican wrote in a tweet last month .
“ Prove you are not that person .
People are begging you for a fix .
They will remember when it comes time to vote.
” Modifications will mollify some , but not all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican lawmakers have introduced a series of bills in the Legislature to exempt additional lines of work from the limits on independent contractors .
At least one bill seeks to fully repeal AB 5 , and drew a boisterous crowd to a state Capitol rally on Jan. 28 .
“ We have continued work to do , ” Gonzalez said in an interview with The Times .
“ And it takes a lot of work , it takes a lot of my time to meet with so many people .
And I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t like is when people are like , ‘ Repeal it.
’ I ’ m like , ‘ Are you kidding me ?
’ ” Few disputes over AB 5 were more intense than those Gonzalez had with the trucking industry and app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft .
Trucking groups have won two early court battles against the law , while the tech companies have turned to the ballot : Uber , Lyft and DoorDash have put a combined $ 100 million in a political campaign to ask voters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fight is likely to continue to be as much about her as the policy .
In the federal lawsuit filed against AB 5 on Dec. 30 , attorneys for Uber and Postmates singled her out — complaining that “ this hostility toward the on-demand economy held by Assemblywoman Gonzalez ” led to the law ’ s passage .
That night , Gonzalez responded in kind on Twitter .
“ Come and get me tech bros , ” she wrote .
“ I ’ m here every single day to take on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

The framed letter in Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s office, displayed with pride, was hardly meant as a compliment.
“This document constitutes formal notice and warning that you are no longer allowed on property owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., or in any area subject to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.’s control,” warns the statement from 2012.
Then the leader of San Diego’s organized labor council, Gonzalez showed up at a local store to demand higher worker pay and better benefits. Before being escorted out, she was asked to sign a letter banning her from ever coming back.
She did so happily, punctuating her signature with a smiley face.
Advertisement
Seven years later, Gonzalez is no less pugnacious and far more powerful. One of California’s most influential legislators, she has written laws to expand the rights of workers, women and immigrants. In most cases, success has come not in spite of her willingness to pick a fight but because of it.
“I come from a perspective of conflict is good,” Gonzalez said. “You actually get change out of conflict. A polite society ensures the status quo.”
A combination of personal persistence and a focus on hot-button issues has given the 48-year-old liberal lawmaker a national following, one that could boost her chances for higher office — beginning with a campaign for secretary of state in 2022.
Perhaps no fight has been as consequential to her career as the one she began last year to rewrite California employment law and to expand the circumstances under which businesses must create jobs with benefits and pay taxes. Supporters of Assembly Bill 5 see her as a champion for worker rights while critics have painted her as a pro-union zealot unconcerned over what they believe is the law‘s potential to stifle innovation. It has been a bruising battle, marked by state Capitol protests, high-profile fights in court and on social media, and a likely effort to rewrite the law through a statewide ballot measure in November.
Gonzalez isn’t wavering.
“This is an effort to right a ship that’s gone wrong,” she said of AB 5. “And I believe so fully in it that I’m willing to continue to take on what is a lot of piling on. … You’ve got to get it right.”
Advertisement
That there’s symmetry between what Gonzalez fights for and the struggles of low-wage Californians isn’t by accident. She said she prioritizes her work by its potential impact in her Assembly district, stretching south from San Diego to Chula Vista and the border.
“We do a lot where we say, ‘Somebody has to start the conversation on this,’” Gonzalez said of her legislative agenda. “We really weigh whether it fits into the core things that will help our constituents.”
As chairwoman of the influential Assembly Appropriations Committee, it’s rare when one of her bills fails to make it to the Assembly floor or the governor’s desk. But when that happens, Gonzalez has a reputation for coming back again and again.
In 2019, she wrote laws to expand sexual assault training for female-dominated janitorial jobs; impose a new ban on immigration arrests in courthouses; offer those with allegations of childhood sexual abuse more time to file civil lawsuits; make diaper sales tax-free; and impose a statewide ban on fur trapping. In 2016, she persuaded then-Gov. Jerry Brown to extend overtime pay requirements to farmworkers. And twice in the past four years, she has co-authored strict new rules governing vaccine exemptions for schoolchildren.
“There is no question that Lorena is a powerhouse,” said Assemblywoman Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara). “She is someone who has big ideas, bold ideas. And she’s fearless.”
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and her husband, Nathan Fletcher, a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, at the Women’s March San Diego on Jan. 18. (Howard Lipin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Gonzalez grew up in Vista in northern San Diego County with two older brothers in a single-parent household, her parents divorcing when she was a toddler. Her father, Roberto, came from Mexico as a teenager to pick strawberries and later dabbled in a variety of small businesses. Her mother, Carmen Regan, was a nurse who had long wanted union representation while working at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. Gonzalez volunteered at the hospital as a teenager just to spend time with her mother, who she said often worked 60-hour weeks.
Just before Regan died in 2007 from complications of cancer, Gonzalez helped lead a successful campaign to unionize Tri-City’s healthcare workers.
“Everything about my mom fueled my passion in organizing those workers,” said Gonzalez, who speaks frequently and emotionally about her mother. “There are so many working moms out there like my mom. There are so many people who aren’t asking for anything. Just a shot, you know? Just enough to be sure that their kids can do a little bit better.”
She excelled in school, graduating from Stanford and then graduate school at Georgetown, eventually earning a law degree from UCLA. None of it, she said, would have happened had she not learned how to fight for what she wanted.
“I had to push my way to get where I am. Every step of the way,” she said. “I know a lot of people don’t like it, but I wouldn’t be here.”
Gonzalez struggled personally. She became pregnant while in graduate school, and made good on a promise to her mother that she’d still earn her degree. A single mother while in law school, she soon after married, then divorced. She remarried twice more, the final time to Nathan Fletcher, a San Diego County supervisor. Their blended family includes five children from former marriages, ages 8 to 23.
“The family piece of her life is really important,” Fletcher said. “Despite all the demands, she shoulders a really heavy load.”
Gonzalez joined the staff of then-Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in 1999, and in 2005 unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the San Diego City Council. In 2007, she was chosen to lead the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, succeeding Jerry Butkiewicz, whose daughter was a friend from high school and whom Gonzalez credits as a mentor.
A newspaper article at the time described her as a “pragmatic centrist,” a characterization she now suspects was the result of friends trying to soften her public image.
“They tried to convince people they shouldn’t be scared of me,” Gonzalez said. “I think they realized, ‘She’s really a good person, but she’s going to scare the s— out of people.’”
“She was always pretty clear what her core objectives were and that sometimes you have to ruffle a few feathers to meet those objectives,” said Rusty Hicks, chairman of the California Democratic Party. Hicks served in leadership roles at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor while Gonzalez led the San Diego group, and says his former counterpart didn’t change when she was elected to the Legislature.
“She’s a brawler,” Hicks said. “And I mean that as a compliment.”
But Gonzalez hasn’t always been applauded for her rough-and-tumble approach to politics. Since her election to the Assembly in 2013, opponents have sometimes taken issue with her style as much as her positions on issues.
During last year’s fierce debate over school vaccine exemptions, anti-vaccine groups posted video clips of Gonzalez online, showing the Democratic lawmaker as she tried to maintain order during long legislative hearings. During a debate on the bill, then-state Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) once seemed to refer to Gonzalez as the “black widow of public policy” in Sacramento, without mentioning her by name.
“It was a lot of personalized criticism,” Gonzalez said of the vaccine debate. “A lot of death threats. It was emotionally draining.”
But she rarely relents, especially on social media. Whether it’s sparring over one of her proposals, national politics or just about any topic of the day, Gonzalez routinely weighs in.
“Whatever is in her mind is just coming out,” Fletcher said. “She’s going to say it or she’s going to tweet it and you’ll just know where she is.”
Nor has she hesitated to blend the personal with the political, particularly when it comes to her husband. Fletcher served in the Assembly as a Republican before renouncing his party during a failed mayoral race, ultimately re-registering as a Democrat. His electoral comeback as a county supervisor was aided by the political muscle of Gonzalez, whom he married the year before.
Companies and powerful groups with an interest in Gonzalez’s work in Sacramento donated to Fletcher’s nonprofit in 2015. In the 2018 supervisor’s race, Fletcher benefited from almost $1 million in political spending by the San Diego County Democratic Party, its own coffers filled by some $370,000 donated by Gonzalez from her own campaign account — far exceeding what she had given to the local party in prior elections.
But she rejects any suggestion that she unfairly boosted Fletcher’s chances.
“I know my husband. I had no doubts about what kind of elected official he would be. And I was right, by the way,” Gonzalez said. “I’d vote for him to be president tomorrow. Come on, why would I not want him to be county supervisor?”
For now, Gonzalez has placed her presidential hopes on Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And Warren gave the California legislator a boost last summer by endorsing AB 5 as the bill was meeting with resistance in Sacramento.
“I believe in markets and in providing entrepreneurs the chance to succeed,” Warren wrote in a newspaper op-ed at the time. “But markets without rules and workplaces without labor protections are ripe for exploitation.”
The topic has become all-consuming for Gonzalez. In the months since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 5 into law, she’s done little else but field questions and complaints — in person, when protesters showed up at her San Diego office, and in news interviews and online. She has insisted that AB 5 offers important clarity to when a business’s work can be done by an independent contractor, offering a more lenient system than would otherwise apply under a high-profile California Supreme Court ruling from 2018.
On Thursday, Gonzalez announced on Twitter that she will soon unveil new legislation “to help ease the implementation” of the law, specifically promising to examine concerns raised by freelance journalists, photographers and musicians. “This is just a piece of the clarifications you will see” in the coming weeks, she wrote.
The promised efforts come after blistering criticisms of both the tone and substance of her defense of AB 5.
“From looking at your own posts, I sense a truly disturbing indifference,” Vanity Fair correspondent Anthony Breznican wrote in a tweet last month. “Prove you are not that person. People are begging you for a fix. They will remember when it comes time to vote.”
Modifications will mollify some, but not all, of the law’s critics. Republican lawmakers have introduced a series of bills in the Legislature to exempt additional lines of work from the limits on independent contractors. At least one bill seeks to fully repeal AB 5, and drew a boisterous crowd to a state Capitol rally on Jan. 28.
“We have continued work to do,” Gonzalez said in an interview with The Times. “And it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of my time to meet with so many people. And I think that gets lost. What I don’t like is when people are like, ‘Repeal it.’ I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
Few disputes over AB 5 were more intense than those Gonzalez had with the trucking industry and app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft. Trucking groups have won two early court battles against the law, while the tech companies have turned to the ballot: Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have put a combined $100 million in a political campaign to ask voters in November to rewrite the law.
And the fight is likely to continue to be as much about her as the policy. In the federal lawsuit filed against AB 5 on Dec. 30, attorneys for Uber and Postmates singled her out — complaining that “this hostility toward the on-demand economy held by Assemblywoman Gonzalez” led to the law’s passage.
That night, Gonzalez responded in kind on Twitter.
“Come and get me tech bros,” she wrote. “I’m here every single day to take on the plight of workers against big tech.”


latimes--2020-02-08--Stunning twist in sensational case: Judge puts off decision on Robicheaux rape charges

As soon as it hit the news in 2018 , the sensational serial-rape case against Newport Beach hand surgeon Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend , Cerissa Riley , became tangled in a bitter political feud between Orange County ’ s top prosecutor and the man who would succeed him .
Looming over the apparent wreckage of the case , 16 months later , is the question of what role the political spat between longtime antagonists ultimately played .
It was a question that Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory Jones wrestled with Friday , openly expressing skepticism that what prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rape charges — equaled justice .
“ Politics have infected this case , ” Jones said .
“ Mixing politics with prosecution gives you a toxic cocktail.
” In a rare , stunning move , Jones declined to do what judges almost always do , which is to automatically approve prosecutors ’ decision to drop a case when they say they can ’ t prove it .
Instead , after grilling prosecutors for hours and listening to wrenching statements from two of the accusers Friday morning , Jones said he wanted more information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do .
Orange County Dist .
Atty .
Todd Spitzer wants to drop all charges against Robicheaux , a doctor and former reality-TV personality who was charged with sexually assaulting seven women , and against Riley , a former schoolteacher who was charged with five .
The judge ’ s refusal to scuttle the charges seemed a bitter surprise for the defendants , who began the day with an appearance on “ Good Morning America , ” where Riley said , “ I feel like I finally woke up from a bad nightmare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” By morning ’ s end , Riley was slumped weeping against Robicheaux ’ s shoulder in court , and the defense had withdrawn an offer to make the couple available for further interviews .
“ It ’ s a terrible thing when the elected district attorney has so politicized a case that the judge doesn ’ t accept at face value that you ’ re seeking justice , ” said Brian Gurwitz , a former prosecutor and longtime defense attorney who is unaffiliated with the case .
“ I don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years that I ’ ve been practicing law in Orange County.
” Spitzer and two of his staff prosecutors spent the morning insisting to the judge that the case against Robicheaux and Riley was not provable .
“ We scoured the evidence in this case , ” said prosecutor Richard Zimmer .
“ We went through every single victim ’ s statement.
” The judge asked Zimmer to detail what drugs had been seized from Robicheaux ’ s home when it was searched , a list that included cocaine , ecstasy and GHB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ date rape ” drug .
“ Did you take into consideration the corroborating value of the drugs ?
” the judge asked .
Yes , Zimmer replied — but it wasn ’ t enough to prove the case .
His office could not prove that the defendants believed their accusers incapable of sexual consent , he said .
Michael Fell , an Irvine attorney who represents an accuser known as Jane Doe # 4 , said that his client was devastated by Spitzer ’ s decision to drop charges and maintained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ October 2016 .
“ I know in my heart of hearts that I was sexually assaulted that night and that I will never be the same , ” the woman wrote .
A victim ’ s advocate then read a longer , more detailed statement from an accuser referred to as Jane Doe # 1 , who said Robicheaux attacked her in 2009 .
“ One of the worst days of my life was when I was raped by Grant Robicheaux , ” the woman wrote , saying she was a first-year law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initially report the incident because she feared it would derail her career and hurt her parents .
“ I suppressed this horrible experience.
” Jane Doe # 1 said she decided to approach prosecutors after she saw that Robicheaux had been charged in September 2018 , but felt guilty because , she said , “ I didn ’ t stop him when I could.
” She said the defense team had unleashed a “ campaign of harassment ” against her , calling her office , sending a process server to her parents ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best friends testify about her sexual habits in a civil case .
She said the defense team ’ s behavior ultimately forced her to tell her father , who was in his late 60s , that she had been raped .
Jane Doe # 1 then took aim at Spitzer , saying he had never met with her and that his office had given her scant notice — “ less than 10 minutes ” — before the news conference at which he “ apologized to the man who raped me.
” Zimmer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jane Doe # 1 ’ s statement by telling the judge : “ It ’ s not that we don ’ t believe her.
” The judge shot back : “ But a jury might believe her.
” The judge scheduled another hearing for March 19 .
After the hearing , Spitzer said he would be “ more than pleased ” to share the evidence with the judge , whose decision to inform himself about the facts he called “ completely reasonable.
” In 2016 , two women in separate incidents told police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s 44th Street house in Newport Beach and assaulted .
One woman described Robicheaux and Riley as a “ Bonnie and Clyde ” team .
When then-DA Tony Rackauckas announced charges against Robicheaux , 38 , and Riley , 31 , in September 2018 , Rackauckas was in the home stretch of an acrimonious reelection campaign , fighting to keep the job he ’ d held for 20 years .
The story he told — of a telegenic couple who lured women with their looks , slipped drugs into their drinks and sexually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Spitzer , Rackauckas ’ opponent and former protege , wasted no time in attacking Rackauckas for the timing of the rape charges .
Rackauckas had delayed the charges for political effect and thereby potentially endangered the public , Spitzer suggested .
He noted that it had been more than two years since Newport Beach police received accusations against the couple , and eight months since the search of Robicheaux ’ s house .
“ How many more women were exposed to illegal acts since 2016 when these allegations first came to light @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election two months later .
The initial charges involved two accusers , though after the case became public other women came forward , and charges involving five additional women were filed .
The couple pleaded not guilty and denied having nonconsensual sex with their accusers .
Compounding the media fervor was the sheer scope of the alleged crimes and Robicheaux ’ s profile — he was not just a doctor but had appeared on the Bravo reality show “ Online Dating Rituals of the American Male.
” Investigators had seized video tapes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might be hundreds of victims , perhaps “ more than a thousand , ” a remark that defendants ’ attorneys said tainted the potential jury pool .
Spitzer inherited the case when he won Rackauckas ’ job and asked the California attorney general ’ s office to step in because of perceived conflict of interest , but the request was rejected .
Late last year , Spitzer assigned two prosecutors to examine the case .
He said they found the case could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt , and that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the seized videos .
What played a role in prompting Spitzer to reexamine the case were Rackauckas ’ remarks in a deposition in the summer of 2019 — half a year after he ’ d left office — under questioning from attorney Philip Cohen .
Cohen represents Robicheaux both in his criminal case and in a civil suit filed by one of his accusers , an Ohio woman who was in her mid-30s when she says she met Robicheaux and Riley at a Newport Beach Halloween party in October 2016 .
The couple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which caused her to pass out , and she awoke while she was being sexually assaulted , prosecutors had alleged .
In a deposition as part of the woman ’ s civil suit , Cohen asked Rackauckas about the videos seized from Robicheaux ’ s house .
Rackauckas said he had not seen the videos himself but had discussed their contents with a prosecutor and an investigator who had reviewed them .
“ Do you believe there ’ s about a thousand or so victims of sexual assault/rape depicted on the electronic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think there probably are , ” Rackauckas replied .
Cohen turned to the question of publicity surrounding the case amid Rackauckas ’ reelection bid .
“ Did you see this case of a thousand victims , a good-looking doctor , a good-looking girlfriend , as being a potential publicity vehicle for you ?
” Cohen asked .
“ I certainly expected it to get a lot of publicity , yes , ” Rackauckas said .
“ And did you think that that publicity may be helpful to your campaign ?
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to help your campaign , I assume .
You wanted to get reelected ?
” In an interview with The Times this week , Rackauckas said he was just admitting to the obvious .
“ The attorney very cleverly didn ’ t ask questions about motivation , ” Rackauckas said .
“ Would a case like this create a lot of publicity ?
Of course it would .
But am I motivated by that ?
No .
That has nothing to do with the filing.
” Rackauckas said he still believes that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a strong one .
“ It ’ s not about video evidence or politics , ” Rackauckas said .
“ Think about what ’ s being dismissed here — the testimony of seven different victims .
To throw that out based on the claim that the statement about the videos was exaggerated doesn ’ t make any sense.
” Laurie L. Levenson , a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor unaffiliated with the case , said the case might have hinged on “ questions regarding witnesses ’ credibility , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get torn up on cross-examination.
” “ It might be Spitzer saying , ‘ Rackauckas brought this case , and it ’ s a dog and it is probably a loser , and I don ’ t want to take the loss for him , ’ ” Levenson said .

As soon as it hit the news in 2018, the sensational serial-rape case against Newport Beach hand surgeon Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, became tangled in a bitter political feud between Orange County’s top prosecutor and the man who would succeed him.
Looming over the apparent wreckage of the case, 16 months later, is the question of what role the political spat between longtime antagonists ultimately played. It was a question that Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory Jones wrestled with Friday, openly expressing skepticism that what prosecutors are now seeking — the dismissal of rape charges — equaled justice.
“Politics have infected this case,” Jones said. “Mixing politics with prosecution gives you a toxic cocktail.”
Advertisement
In a rare, stunning move, Jones declined to do what judges almost always do, which is to automatically approve prosecutors’ decision to drop a case when they say they can’t prove it.
Instead, after grilling prosecutors for hours and listening to wrenching statements from two of the accusers Friday morning, Jones said he wanted more information about the facts before deciding what to do.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer wants to drop all charges against Robicheaux, a doctor and former reality-TV personality who was charged with sexually assaulting seven women, and against Riley, a former schoolteacher who was charged with five.
The judge’s refusal to scuttle the charges seemed a bitter surprise for the defendants, who began the day with an appearance on “Good Morning America,” where Riley said, “I feel like I finally woke up from a bad nightmare and feel like I can breathe again.”
By morning’s end, Riley was slumped weeping against Robicheaux’s shoulder in court, and the defense had withdrawn an offer to make the couple available for further interviews.
“It’s a terrible thing when the elected district attorney has so politicized a case that the judge doesn’t accept at face value that you’re seeking justice,” said Brian Gurwitz, a former prosecutor and longtime defense attorney who is unaffiliated with the case. “I don’t recall this ever happening in the 25 years that I’ve been practicing law in Orange County.”
Spitzer and two of his staff prosecutors spent the morning insisting to the judge that the case against Robicheaux and Riley was not provable. “We scoured the evidence in this case,” said prosecutor Richard Zimmer. “We went through every single victim’s statement.”
The judge asked Zimmer to detail what drugs had been seized from Robicheaux’s home when it was searched, a list that included cocaine, ecstasy and GHB, a tranquilizer sometimes referred to as a “date rape” drug.
“Did you take into consideration the corroborating value of the drugs?” the judge asked.
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Yes, Zimmer replied — but it wasn’t enough to prove the case. His office could not prove that the defendants believed their accusers incapable of sexual consent, he said.
Michael Fell, an Irvine attorney who represents an accuser known as Jane Doe #4, said that his client was devastated by Spitzer’s decision to drop charges and maintained that she was drugged and attacked in October 2016.
“I know in my heart of hearts that I was sexually assaulted that night and that I will never be the same,” the woman wrote.
A victim’s advocate then read a longer, more detailed statement from an accuser referred to as Jane Doe #1, who said Robicheaux attacked her in 2009.
“One of the worst days of my life was when I was raped by Grant Robicheaux,” the woman wrote, saying she was a first-year law student at the time and did not initially report the incident because she feared it would derail her career and hurt her parents. “I suppressed this horrible experience.”
Jane Doe #1 said she decided to approach prosecutors after she saw that Robicheaux had been charged in September 2018, but felt guilty because, she said, “I didn’t stop him when I could.”
She said the defense team had unleashed a “campaign of harassment” against her, calling her office, sending a process server to her parents’ home, and making one of her best friends testify about her sexual habits in a civil case. She said the defense team’s behavior ultimately forced her to tell her father, who was in his late 60s, that she had been raped.
Jane Doe #1 then took aim at Spitzer, saying he had never met with her and that his office had given her scant notice — “less than 10 minutes” — before the news conference at which he “apologized to the man who raped me.”
Zimmer, one of the prosecutors, responded to Jane Doe #1’s statement by telling the judge: “It’s not that we don’t believe her.”
The judge shot back: “But a jury might believe her.”
The judge scheduled another hearing for March 19.
After the hearing, Spitzer said he would be “more than pleased” to share the evidence with the judge, whose decision to inform himself about the facts he called “completely reasonable.”
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer announced he would seek dismissal of all charges against Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
In 2016, two women in separate incidents told police that they were taken to Robicheaux’s 44th Street house in Newport Beach and assaulted. One woman described Robicheaux and Riley as a “Bonnie and Clyde” team.
When then-DA Tony Rackauckas announced charges against Robicheaux, 38, and Riley, 31, in September 2018, Rackauckas was in the home stretch of an acrimonious reelection campaign, fighting to keep the job he’d held for 20 years.
The story he told — of a telegenic couple who lured women with their looks, slipped drugs into their drinks and sexually assaulted them — generated widespread coverage.
But Spitzer, Rackauckas’ opponent and former protege, wasted no time in attacking Rackauckas for the timing of the rape charges.
Rackauckas had delayed the charges for political effect and thereby potentially endangered the public, Spitzer suggested. He noted that it had been more than two years since Newport Beach police received accusations against the couple, and eight months since the search of Robicheaux’s house.
“How many more women were exposed to illegal acts since 2016 when these allegations first came to light?” said Spitzer, who won the election two months later.
The initial charges involved two accusers, though after the case became public other women came forward, and charges involving five additional women were filed. The couple pleaded not guilty and denied having nonconsensual sex with their accusers.
Compounding the media fervor was the sheer scope of the alleged crimes and Robicheaux’s profile — he was not just a doctor but had appeared on the Bravo reality show “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male.”
Investigators had seized video tapes, Rackauckas said. He suggested there might be hundreds of victims, perhaps “more than a thousand,” a remark that defendants’ attorneys said tainted the potential jury pool.
Spitzer inherited the case when he won Rackauckas’ job and asked the California attorney general’s office to step in because of perceived conflict of interest, but the request was rejected.
Late last year, Spitzer assigned two prosecutors to examine the case. He said they found the case could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and that there was no evidence of nonconsensual sex on the seized videos.
What played a role in prompting Spitzer to reexamine the case were Rackauckas’ remarks in a deposition in the summer of 2019 — half a year after he’d left office — under questioning from attorney Philip Cohen.
Cohen represents Robicheaux both in his criminal case and in a civil suit filed by one of his accusers, an Ohio woman who was in her mid-30s when she says she met Robicheaux and Riley at a Newport Beach Halloween party in October 2016.
The couple slipped the drug GHB into her drink, which caused her to pass out, and she awoke while she was being sexually assaulted, prosecutors had alleged.
In a deposition as part of the woman’s civil suit, Cohen asked Rackauckas about the videos seized from Robicheaux’s house. Rackauckas said he had not seen the videos himself but had discussed their contents with a prosecutor and an investigator who had reviewed them.
“Do you believe there’s about a thousand or so victims of sexual assault/rape depicted on the electronic media?” Cohen asked.
“I think there probably are,” Rackauckas replied.
Cohen turned to the question of publicity surrounding the case amid Rackauckas’ reelection bid.
“Did you see this case of a thousand victims, a good-looking doctor, a good-looking girlfriend, as being a potential publicity vehicle for you?” Cohen asked.
“I certainly expected it to get a lot of publicity, yes,” Rackauckas said.
“And did you think that that publicity may be helpful to your campaign?”
“Yes.”
“And that was the thought — you wanted to help your campaign, I assume. You wanted to get reelected?”
“Of course.”
Then Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas speaks after Dr. Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend Cerissa Riley, was charged with drugging and raping five more women as prosecutors added felony kidnapping counts and increased bail for each of them to $1 million on Oct. 17, 2018. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
In an interview with The Times this week, Rackauckas said he was just admitting to the obvious.
“The attorney very cleverly didn’t ask questions about motivation,” Rackauckas said. “Would a case like this create a lot of publicity? Of course it would. But am I motivated by that? No. That has nothing to do with the filing.”
Rackauckas said he still believes that the criminal case against Robicheaux and Riley is a strong one.
“It’s not about video evidence or politics,” Rackauckas said. “Think about what’s being dismissed here — the testimony of seven different victims. To throw that out based on the claim that the statement about the videos was exaggerated doesn’t make any sense.”
Laurie L. Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor unaffiliated with the case, said the case might have hinged on “questions regarding witnesses’ credibility,” and concern that “they are going to get torn up on cross-examination.”
“It might be Spitzer saying, ‘Rackauckas brought this case, and it’s a dog and it is probably a loser, and I don’t want to take the loss for him,’” Levenson said.


latimes--2020-02-08--Lopez: About to become teachers, they're worried about affording the rent

“ So what we ’ re going to do now is label our triangles , ” student teacher Keiri Ramirez told her class at Northridge Academy High School .
“ A prime , B prime and C prime.
” Ramirez , inspired by her middle-school teacher in Huntington Park , is about to graduate from Cal State Northridge and become a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District , where the starting salary is about $ 53,000 .
She ’ s a natural in class , with a big easy smile and lots of encouraging words as she leads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dilation .
But Ramirez , 23 , knows what lies ahead in a region where housing costs have soared while wages for teachers have been pretty flat .
When she got her math degree a year ago before starting on a teaching track , she thought about angling for a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , and she thought about moving to a less-expensive area .
But L.A. is home and she loves teaching , so she ’ s going to make it work .
At the moment she shares a two-bedroom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whom are going into teaching along with her .
“ Three out of the four of us graduate in May and the plan is to live together for another year or two , until we get settled , ” she said , and then they ’ ll see if they can afford places of their own .
It ’ s the California paradox .
There ’ s so much wealth and demand for housing , prices have gone way up and put even more financial stress on the very people who help power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is luring students out of teaching and into more lucrative fields , said CSUN ’ s education department dean , Shari Tarver-Behring , who has seen a steep drop in the number of teacher candidates .
“ Nationally and statewide there ’ s been a decline , ” Tarver-Behring said .
“ They ’ re making such an important contribution to our society , and yet we do not value them in terms of how they ’ re paid.
” As I dropped in on education classes at CSUN with Tarver-Behring , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committing to a noble profession .
Some of them , she pointed out , are mid-career people who decided that living right might be more satisfying than living well .
Lynne Johnson told me she left the insurance industry after 25 years because it was little more than a job .
Teaching , she said , is a commitment to social justice .
“ You have 36 kids in class and that ’ s a lot of influence and you can make their lives better , ” Johnson said .
As a student @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thrill of having students call her their favorite .
“ I had a student come in and spend lunchtime with me today.
” Gregory Winley said it ’ s not all about money , but about doing what you love to do , and he wants to be an English teacher .
Chase Stauffer , another English teacher in the making , said no one should be surprised that teaching is not well-compensated .
“ It ’ s by design , ” he said .
“ Neoliberalism is the siphoning of funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles has more millionaires than any other city and yet we ’ re constantly told there ’ s no money in education .
… I wanted to do something that ’ s public , to be a part of public education , to be in a union because I believe in that .
We ’ re fractured and atomized as a society , and the only way things will get better is if good , smart people … decide it ’ s time to seek meaning in life beyond self-enrichment.
” I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wondered how he intends to pay his bills .
Turns out he has a good sense of humor along with all that passion .
“ I have no idea , ” he said .
Shireen Pavri , dean of the education department at Cal State Long Beach , said many of her grads have traditionally gone straight to jobs with Long Beach Unified .
But because of the cost of coastal real estate , some are doubling up with roommates , driving long distances or moving to inland areas with cheaper housing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where lower rent makes it easier to whittle away at debt from student loans .
“ As a state and as citizens , we have to ask how we better support this profession , ” said Pavri , who noted that in a 30-year career a teacher can have an effect on thousands of young lives .
“ It ’ s the profession on which all others are built .
It sets a foundation for young people to be successful later in life.
” The good news is that because of the shortage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the paycheck isn ’ t .
And a lot of teaching jobs come with great benefits as well as chances to earn extra by teaching summer classes , coaching teams or running clubs .
CSUN will soon be sending about 300 new teachers to Los Angeles Unified , which hires about 1,500 instructors a year on average to replace retirees .
And an anticipated state shortage of as many as 100,000 teachers over the next decade makes job security look like a good bet .
Higher salaries would help fill the shortage , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fees , which run as high as $ 1,100 .
At LAUSD , Supt .
Austin Beutner is exploring the possibility of building housing for teachers , custodians , cafeteria workers and other employees on campuses that have underused acreage .
The school district wouldn ’ t put up any money , Beutner told me , but if private and nonprofit developers get free land to build on , the housing will be cheaper .
He sent me a map that shows where LAUSD employees live , and a shocking number are as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ventura and beyond .
Commute times , according to district data , run as high as two hours and longer in each direction .
If 30 to 50 LAUSD campuses can accommodate 50 or so housing units each , Beutner said , “ you can start to make a meaningful contribution .
It ’ s a great service to the community and it ’ s equally important to us to attract and retain good employees.
” At CSUN , I found graduating students who intend to live with their parents , students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be fine financially , students considering a move out of the area , and students second-guessing their decision to be teachers .
“ I made more money at one point waiting tables than I will probably as a first-year teacher , ” said Barnaby Williams , who used to work at a Cheesecake Factory .
He said he lives with a girlfriend who ’ s a teacher , but if at some point they ’ re not together , he suspects he ’ ll leave the area to teach or maybe find something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Students are all familiar with what ’ s known as first-year burnout , a phenomenon in which idealism butts up against the realities of bureaucracy , school politics , resource shortages , the demands of parents and the challenges from students .
Sean Saenz said he works on the side as a video editor and might do that full time if he doesn ’ t get a good teaching job in an area where he can afford to live .
He said that as a student teacher and a substitute he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high end of the pay scale , juggle coaching and clubs and teaching on weekends and summers , just to get by .
He said of one teacher in particular , “ He ’ s beat.
” And yet , Saenz said , that teacher is as passionate about teaching as anyone he ’ s met .
Keiri Ramirez is beyond the wondering .
She ’ s ready to be a teacher .
Ideally , she ’ d love to own a house .
But if she and her boyfriend get married and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a one-bedroom apartment , she said , that ’ ll be fine .
“ We kind of go with what our hearts want .
We don ’ t really pay attention to the numbers , ” Ramirez said .
The thought of sitting at a computer in an office , rather than standing before a class , was enough to keep her on track for her credential .
“ I was a student at LAUSD and where I came from , the majority were Latino and black and I felt like I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women in the math field , ” Ramirez said .
“ So in my last year of high school I knew that I wanted to be that person for someone.
” As she led class at Northridge Academy High , a student named Ashley Chacon whispered to me that she likes Miss Ramirez as a teacher .
She ’ s easy to relate to , she said , because there ’ s not that much of an age difference .
She said she thinks she wants to be a teacher .

Keiri Ramirez, a student at Cal State Northridge, teaches math to sophomores at Northridge Academy High School, where she is a student teacher.
“So what we’re going to do now is label our triangles,” student teacher Keiri Ramirez told her class at Northridge Academy High School. “A prime, B prime and C prime.”
Ramirez, inspired by her middle-school teacher in Huntington Park, is about to graduate from Cal State Northridge and become a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where the starting salary is about $53,000. She’s a natural in class, with a big easy smile and lots of encouraging words as she leads 23 students through a drill on triangle dilation.
But Ramirez, 23, knows what lies ahead in a region where housing costs have soared while wages for teachers have been pretty flat. When she got her math degree a year ago before starting on a teaching track, she thought about angling for a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and she thought about moving to a less-expensive area.
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But L.A. is home and she loves teaching, so she’s going to make it work. At the moment she shares a two-bedroom apartment with three roommates, two of whom are going into teaching along with her.
“Three out of the four of us graduate in May and the plan is to live together for another year or two, until we get settled,” she said, and then they’ll see if they can afford places of their own.
It’s the California paradox. There’s so much wealth and demand for housing, prices have gone way up and put even more financial stress on the very people who help power the economic engine.
That strong economy is luring students out of teaching and into more lucrative fields, said CSUN’s education department dean, Shari Tarver-Behring, who has seen a steep drop in the number of teacher candidates.
“Nationally and statewide there’s been a decline,” Tarver-Behring said. “They’re making such an important contribution to our society, and yet we do not value them in terms of how they’re paid.”
They’re making such an important contribution to our society, and yet we do not value them in terms of how they’re paid. — CSUN education department dean Shari Tarver-Behring
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As I dropped in on education classes at CSUN with Tarver-Behring, she made a point of thanking students for committing to a noble profession. Some of them, she pointed out, are mid-career people who decided that living right might be more satisfying than living well.
Lynne Johnson told me she left the insurance industry after 25 years because it was little more than a job. Teaching, she said, is a commitment to social justice.
“You have 36 kids in class and that’s a lot of influence and you can make their lives better,” Johnson said. As a student teacher, she’s already experienced the thrill of having students call her their favorite. “I had a student come in and spend lunchtime with me today.”
Gregory Winley said it’s not all about money, but about doing what you love to do, and he wants to be an English teacher.
Chase Stauffer, another English teacher in the making, said no one should be surprised that teaching is not well-compensated.
“It’s by design,” he said. “Neoliberalism is the siphoning of funds from public programs into private funds. Los Angeles has more millionaires than any other city and yet we’re constantly told there’s no money in education. … I wanted to do something that’s public, to be a part of public education, to be in a union because I believe in that. We’re fractured and atomized as a society, and the only way things will get better is if good, smart people … decide it’s time to seek meaning in life beyond self-enrichment.”
I told him I admired his commitment but wondered how he intends to pay his bills. Turns out he has a good sense of humor along with all that passion.
“I have no idea,” he said.
Keiri Ramirez’s teaching materials sit on a desk during her math class for 10th graders at Northridge Academy High School. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Shireen Pavri, dean of the education department at Cal State Long Beach, said many of her grads have traditionally gone straight to jobs with Long Beach Unified. But because of the cost of coastal real estate, some are doubling up with roommates, driving long distances or moving to inland areas with cheaper housing, such as Bakersfield or San Bernardino, where lower rent makes it easier to whittle away at debt from student loans.
“As a state and as citizens, we have to ask how we better support this profession,” said Pavri, who noted that in a 30-year career a teacher can have an effect on thousands of young lives. “It’s the profession on which all others are built. It sets a foundation for young people to be successful later in life.”
The good news is that because of the shortage, jobs are plentiful, even if the paycheck isn’t. And a lot of teaching jobs come with great benefits as well as chances to earn extra by teaching summer classes, coaching teams or running clubs.
CSUN will soon be sending about 300 new teachers to Los Angeles Unified, which hires about 1,500 instructors a year on average to replace retirees. And an anticipated state shortage of as many as 100,000 teachers over the next decade makes job security look like a good bet.
Higher salaries would help fill the shortage, and so would waiving paperwork and credentialing fees, which run as high as $1,100.
At LAUSD, Supt. Austin Beutner is exploring the possibility of building housing for teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other employees on campuses that have underused acreage. The school district wouldn’t put up any money, Beutner told me, but if private and nonprofit developers get free land to build on, the housing will be cheaper.
He sent me a map that shows where LAUSD employees live, and a shocking number are as far out as Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and beyond. Commute times, according to district data, run as high as two hours and longer in each direction.
If 30 to 50 LAUSD campuses can accommodate 50 or so housing units each, Beutner said, “you can start to make a meaningful contribution. It’s a great service to the community and it’s equally important to us to attract and retain good employees.”
At CSUN, I found graduating students who intend to live with their parents, students who live with working spouses and will be fine financially, students considering a move out of the area, and students second-guessing their decision to be teachers.
“I made more money at one point waiting tables than I will probably as a first-year teacher,” said Barnaby Williams, who used to work at a Cheesecake Factory. He said he lives with a girlfriend who’s a teacher, but if at some point they’re not together, he suspects he’ll leave the area to teach or maybe find something else to do for a living.
I made more money at one point waiting tables than I will probably as a first-year teacher. — Barnaby Williams
Students are all familiar with what’s known as first-year burnout, a phenomenon in which idealism butts up against the realities of bureaucracy, school politics, resource shortages, the demands of parents and the challenges from students.
Sean Saenz said he works on the side as a video editor and might do that full time if he doesn’t get a good teaching job in an area where he can afford to live. He said that as a student teacher and a substitute he’s watched teachers, even those at the high end of the pay scale, juggle coaching and clubs and teaching on weekends and summers, just to get by.
He said of one teacher in particular, “He’s beat.” And yet, Saenz said, that teacher is as passionate about teaching as anyone he’s met.
Keiri Ramirez is beyond the wondering. She’s ready to be a teacher.
Ideally, she’d love to own a house. But if she and her boyfriend get married and both teach and all they can afford is a one-bedroom apartment, she said, that’ll be fine.
“We kind of go with what our hearts want. We don’t really pay attention to the numbers,” Ramirez said.
The thought of sitting at a computer in an office, rather than standing before a class, was enough to keep her on track for her credential.
“I was a student at LAUSD and where I came from, the majority were Latino and black and I felt like I didn’t see a lot of women in the math field,” Ramirez said. “So in my last year of high school I knew that I wanted to be that person for someone.”
As she led class at Northridge Academy High, a student named Ashley Chacon whispered to me that she likes Miss Ramirez as a teacher. She’s easy to relate to, she said, because there’s not that much of an age difference.
I asked Chacon what career she’s interested in.
She said she thinks she wants to be a teacher.


latimes--2020-02-08--The 1971 Sylmar quake is keeping veterans homeless in L.A. in 2020. That may change soon

When Del Gill arrived at the sprawling West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus in 2016 , federal officials had just unveiled a master plan for transforming dozens of disused historic buildings into permanent housing for veterans like him .
Four years later , the ex-Marine still lives in a tent .
“ I don ’ t see any ground being lifted or bricks getting stacked , ” Gill said , nodding over the fence from San Vicente Boulevard , where he and other homeless veterans bed down every night .
“ All these old buildings ... they just let them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This summer , developers plan to gut Building 207 , a midcentury Mission Revival-style ward of weathered stucco and terra cotta tile , transforming the former hospital into 59 units of permanent housing for homeless veterans that will one day anchor an enclave of 1,800 .
Yet few Angelenos remember , less than 50 years ago , 2,800 veterans lived on the campus .
The land was used primarily as housing from 1888 until 1972 , when the federal government evacuated residents and shuttered what was then the largest veterans housing development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is finished on schedule , it will end half a century of decay set off by the 10-second Sylmar earthquake .
“ We all own this land , it ’ s all dedicated [ to ] veterans , ” Mayor Eric Garcetti said of the campus , where officials have tried and failed to rebuild housing ever since .
“ People are encamped all around this property , and then there ’ s all these acres inside — if we can ’ t solve it here we won ’ t be able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Building 207 will be a test case for the West LA Veterans Collective , a partnership between the veterans-services nonprofit U.S. Vets , Century Housing and the developer Thomas Safran & Associates , which contracted to produce the bulk of the community mandated by the plan .
Proposed names like Arroyo Pacific and Vetwood Village and Stearns Baker Park nod to the site ’ s storied past .
But its more recent history — the story of how Building 207 and so many others came to be vacant — is quietly left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we were going to start from today and go forward , ” said U.S. Vets Chief Executive Stephen Peck .
“ We know we know how to do this , that we can create a cohesive campus .
We ’ re creating a real community.
” The community was a hard-won victory for homeless veterans , who sued the VA in 2011 over mismanagement of the land .
But the sudden mass eviction , more than any other policy or event , is what seeded the rot on the campus .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and decades of neglect at the heart of the 2011 suit .
The removal , its aftermath and the seismic events that led up to it continue to shape the lives of the nearly 4,000 homeless veterans living in Los Angeles today .
The West L.A. VA ’ s housing crisis began 42 seconds after 6 a.m. on Feb. 9 , 1971 , when a 6.5 temblor jolted the slumbering foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains .
The Sylmar earthquake killed 58 people .
Forty-nine of them died at the Sylmar VA .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Committee on Veterans Affairs that two hospital buildings collapsed “ in a cloud of dust ” while the ground was still shaking .
Members of the committee summoned UC Berkeley professor Bruce Bolt and other eminent seismic experts to testify at a special hearing convened in Los Angeles nine days after the earthquake .
Lawmakers wanted to know how the disaster had happened , and how many more of their buildings might be at risk .
Records show federal officials were initially optimistic about California VA facilities , including the L.A.-area hospitals where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collapsed in Sylmar had been erected in 1925 — eight years before early seismic engineering codes were introduced across the state — while many others had more modern infrastructure .
But VA engineers had assessed the failed buildings just three months before the earthquake , and declared them to be safe .
The ultra-modern Olive View Hospital , located not far from the Sylmar VA , had also suffered significant damage despite being built to the most recent codes .
Congress was adamant that the VA take every precaution to avoid future seismic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We have to make a tough decision .
We either have to abandon those facilities , build new ones , or spend the [ money ] to restructure them , ” Pucinski told the L.A. subcommittee hearing .
“ We have a lot of hospitals and a lot of veterans and staff who , in the wake of this tragedy , must be protected ... .
Any way you look , it ’ s going to cost money.
” Earthquake engineering was “ still an art , not yet a science , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Studies should be conducted with all possible speed , but it was ultimately impossible to know the extent of the vulnerabilities , or how costly they might be to fix .
Congress appropriated millions for the seismic studies , which were completed by private contractors in the months that followed .
But the results were not made public .
Instead , records show that on the morning of Jan. 14 , 1972 , top VA officials converged on the West L.A. campus , where Deputy Administrator Fred Rhodes declared 30 of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents evacuated by the end of February .
The homes were not themselves unsafe .
But the VA had decided to convert them into medical wards while a new “ earthquake proof ” hospital was built .
“ This has been a very traumatic situation for all of us , ” J.J. Cox , the VA ’ s Southern California Regional Medical District director , told The Times in 1972 .
“ Had we been able to extend the time limit , we would have done it , but we had to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the time , residents were mostly elderly — a man interviewed in 1970 said he ’ d fought in the Spanish-American War — but a growing number were in their teens and early 20s .
Reports indicate that by the time the housing units were evacuated , they were already home to hundreds of Vietnam veterans .
Inside a decade , such men would be L.A. 's largest homeless demographic .
Records show the VA spent more than $ 8 million transforming former housing into medical facilities like Building 207 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All other repairs were deemed “ not economically feasible ” by the federal government .
That decision was reaffirmed a year later , during an appropriations hearing in 1973 .
“ What this committee wants is specific assurance that if we are going to spend money out of this VA budget that it is not going to be jeopardized , ” said Rep. Joseph McDade ( R-Pa. ) .
“ You have already had to close a series of existing buildings .
We don ’ t want to put additional money in and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be good money after bad.
” The first disputed leases followed within weeks .
In May 1973 , the L.A. City Council opened discussions to annex portions of the campus they expected the federal government to declare excess .
Reports from the time show the Brentwood School was already courting its controversial lease .
That same year , UCLA received a donation for its Jackie Robinson Stadium .
A plot in Westwood was tentatively selected , but when homeowners pushed back in 1976 , the university turned to “ surplus ” land on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 83.7-million Wadsworth Hospital opened in March 1977 , making the hastily converted medical wards redundant just five years after veterans were evicted .
The same buildings that had housed “ old soldiers ” for decades were leased off or abandoned while slept on the street .
The decade that followed saw L.A. overwhelmed by homelessness .
Official estimates from the mid-1980s put L.A. ’ s unhoused population at 30,000 to 50,000 -- though such estimates are considered far less reliable than those made today .
At the time , a third were believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that percentage was closer to half .
In Venice alone , UCLA researchers estimated that 33 % of the homeless population had served in Vietnam .
Still , plans to restore housing on the vast VA campus foundered .
“ We knew that wherever there were homeless , there are going to be veterans , ” VA social worker Margaret Ronan told The Times in 1988 .
Yet , months earlier , neighbors had scuttled a city plan to house veterans in city-owned trailers on the site , which had fewer than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cranston wrote to demand a survey of vacant buildings that might be converted to housing , but little was done .
Instead , by the early ’ 90s , huge encampments of homeless veterans emerged on the edge of the land .
Veterans like Gill still live there today .
Outside experts were cautiously optimistic the new West L.A. development could at last reverse that trend .
“ Affordable housing is a huge deal and there ’ s not a lot of it , particularly for veterans , ” said Kathryn Monet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Homeless Veterans .
“ We ’ re pleased to see that the VA is starting to prioritize that.
” Still , there are no current estimates of what the community will cost , or who will ultimately pay for it .
“ With a recently approved campus plan , we are currently working to assess full scope of infrastructure , historic preservation , and other costs across the campus — and also the ways that we can partner with VA , government and our community to achieve this vision , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But history weighed heavily on the San Vicente Boulevard encampment .
“ Wasn ’ t this land given to veterans ?
” asked Gill , the ex-Marine .
“ I ’ d love to see them give us back the VA .
”

Steve Peck, left, president and chief executive of U.S. Vets, and Brian D’Andrea, senior vice president of housing for Century Housing, talk about plans for veteran housing at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus.
When Del Gill arrived at the sprawling West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus in 2016, federal officials had just unveiled a master plan for transforming dozens of disused historic buildings into permanent housing for veterans like him.
Four years later, the ex-Marine still lives in a tent.
“I don’t see any ground being lifted or bricks getting stacked,” Gill said, nodding over the fence from San Vicente Boulevard, where he and other homeless veterans bed down every night. “All these old buildings ... they just let them sit vacant.”
That may soon change. This summer, developers plan to gut Building 207, a midcentury Mission Revival-style ward of weathered stucco and terra cotta tile, transforming the former hospital into 59 units of permanent housing for homeless veterans that will one day anchor an enclave of 1,800.
Yet few Angelenos remember, less than 50 years ago, 2,800 veterans lived on the campus. The land was used primarily as housing from 1888 until 1972, when the federal government evacuated residents and shuttered what was then the largest veterans housing development in the country.
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If Building 207 is finished on schedule, it will end half a century of decay set off by the 10-second Sylmar earthquake.
“We all own this land, it’s all dedicated [to] veterans,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said of the campus, where officials have tried and failed to rebuild housing ever since. “People are encamped all around this property, and then there’s all these acres inside — if we can’t solve it here we won’t be able to solve it anywhere.”
The multimillion-dollar rehabilitation of Building 207 will be a test case for the West LA Veterans Collective, a partnership between the veterans-services nonprofit U.S. Vets, Century Housing and the developer Thomas Safran & Associates, which contracted to produce the bulk of the community mandated by the plan.
Proposed names like Arroyo Pacific and Vetwood Village and Stearns Baker Park nod to the site’s storied past. But its more recent history — the story of how Building 207 and so many others came to be vacant — is quietly left out.
“We decided early on that we were going to start from today and go forward,” said U.S. Vets Chief Executive Stephen Peck. “We know we know how to do this, that we can create a cohesive campus. We’re creating a real community.”
The scene at the VA hospital in Sylmar that was destroyed in the 1971 earthquake. The following year, 2,800 veterans were moved out of the VA complex in West Los Angeles, creating a housing shortage for veterans that has fed today’s homelessness crisis. (Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times )
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The community was a hard-won victory for homeless veterans, who sued the VA in 2011 over mismanagement of the land.
But the sudden mass eviction, more than any other policy or event, is what seeded the rot on the campus. It set the stage for the controversial leases and decades of neglect at the heart of the 2011 suit. The removal, its aftermath and the seismic events that led up to it continue to shape the lives of the nearly 4,000 homeless veterans living in Los Angeles today.
::
The West L.A. VA’s housing crisis began 42 seconds after 6 a.m. on Feb. 9, 1971, when a 6.5 temblor jolted the slumbering foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Sylmar earthquake killed 58 people. Forty-nine of them died at the Sylmar VA. Witnesses later told members of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs that two hospital buildings collapsed “in a cloud of dust” while the ground was still shaking.
“Just collapsed instantaneously?” Rep. Roman Pucinski (D-Ill.) asked, according to congressional transcripts.
“Instantaneously,” San Fernando engineering officer Clifford Lemear said.
“There was no forewarning?”
“None whatsoever,” Lemear said.
Members of the committee summoned UC Berkeley professor Bruce Bolt and other eminent seismic experts to testify at a special hearing convened in Los Angeles nine days after the earthquake. Lawmakers wanted to know how the disaster had happened, and how many more of their buildings might be at risk.
Records show federal officials were initially optimistic about California VA facilities, including the L.A.-area hospitals where survivors were evacuated. The buildings that collapsed in Sylmar had been erected in 1925 — eight years before early seismic engineering codes were introduced across the state — while many others had more modern infrastructure.
But VA engineers had assessed the failed buildings just three months before the earthquake, and declared them to be safe.
The ultra-modern Olive View Hospital, located not far from the Sylmar VA, had also suffered significant damage despite being built to the most recent codes. Congress was adamant that the VA take every precaution to avoid future seismic failures, no matter the cost.
Touring the quake destruction at Olive View Hospital are, from left, health commissioners Marvin. E. Tincher, vice chairman; Dr. Maceo Broxton, Sr., Mrs. Merwin S. Kendis, president; N.M. Reeves and Edward Gendel. Scanned 10/1/2013. (Los Angeles Times / Los Angeles Times)
“We have to make a tough decision. We either have to abandon those facilities, build new ones, or spend the [money] to restructure them,” Pucinski told the L.A. subcommittee hearing. “We have a lot of hospitals and a lot of veterans and staff who, in the wake of this tragedy, must be protected.... Any way you look, it’s going to cost money.”
Earthquake engineering was “still an art, not yet a science,” expert Henry Degenkolb told the panel. Studies should be conducted with all possible speed, but it was ultimately impossible to know the extent of the vulnerabilities, or how costly they might be to fix.
Congress appropriated millions for the seismic studies, which were completed by private contractors in the months that followed. But the results were not made public.
Instead, records show that on the morning of Jan. 14, 1972, top VA officials converged on the West L.A. campus, where Deputy Administrator Fred Rhodes declared 30 of its 236 buildings uninhabitable, and ordered 1,460 residents evacuated by the end of February.
The homes were not themselves unsafe. But the VA had decided to convert them into medical wards while a new “earthquake proof” hospital was built.
“This has been a very traumatic situation for all of us,” J.J. Cox, the VA’s Southern California Regional Medical District director, told The Times in 1972. “Had we been able to extend the time limit, we would have done it, but we had to make the moves as rapidly as possible.”
At the time, residents were mostly elderly — a man interviewed in 1970 said he’d fought in the Spanish-American War — but a growing number were in their teens and early 20s. Reports indicate that by the time the housing units were evacuated, they were already home to hundreds of Vietnam veterans.
Inside a decade, such men would be L.A.’s largest homeless demographic.
Records show the VA spent more than $8 million transforming former housing into medical facilities like Building 207, the first of which opened that May. All other repairs were deemed “not economically feasible” by the federal government. That decision was reaffirmed a year later, during an appropriations hearing in 1973.
“What this committee wants is specific assurance that if we are going to spend money out of this VA budget that it is not going to be jeopardized,” said Rep. Joseph McDade (R-Pa.). “You have already had to close a series of existing buildings. We don’t want to put additional money in and find out that it is going to be good money after bad.”
The first disputed leases followed within weeks.
::
In May 1973, the L.A. City Council opened discussions to annex portions of the campus they expected the federal government to declare excess. Reports from the time show the Brentwood School was already courting its controversial lease.
That same year, UCLA received a donation for its Jackie Robinson Stadium. A plot in Westwood was tentatively selected, but when homeowners pushed back in 1976, the university turned to “surplus” land on the VA campus instead.
The $83.7-million Wadsworth Hospital opened in March 1977, making the hastily converted medical wards redundant just five years after veterans were evicted. The same buildings that had housed “old soldiers” for decades were leased off or abandoned while hundreds of young ones slept on the street.
The decade that followed saw L.A. overwhelmed by homelessness. Official estimates from the mid-1980s put L.A.’s unhoused population at 30,000 to 50,000 -- though such estimates are considered far less reliable than those made today. At the time, a third were believed to be veterans.
On the Westside, that percentage was closer to half. In Venice alone, UCLA researchers estimated that 33% of the homeless population had served in Vietnam.
Still, plans to restore housing on the vast VA campus foundered.
“We knew that wherever there were homeless, there are going to be veterans,” VA social worker Margaret Ronan told The Times in 1988. Yet, months earlier, neighbors had scuttled a city plan to house veterans in city-owned trailers on the site, which had fewer than 300 shelter beds. U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston wrote to demand a survey of vacant buildings that might be converted to housing, but little was done.
Instead, by the early ’90s, huge encampments of homeless veterans emerged on the edge of the land. Veterans like Gill still live there today.
Outside experts were cautiously optimistic the new West L.A. development could at last reverse that trend.
“Affordable housing is a huge deal and there’s not a lot of it, particularly for veterans,” said Kathryn Monet, chief executive officer of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “We’re pleased to see that the VA is starting to prioritize that.”
Still, there are no current estimates of what the community will cost, or who will ultimately pay for it.
“With a recently approved campus plan, we are currently working to assess full scope of infrastructure, historic preservation, and other costs across the campus — and also the ways that we can partner with VA, government and our community to achieve this vision,” said Peck, the U.S. Vets CEO.
But history weighed heavily on the San Vicente Boulevard encampment.
“Wasn’t this land given to veterans?” asked Gill, the ex-Marine. “I’d love to see them give us back the VA.”


latimes--2020-02-07--Daylong police standoff in Bell Gardens leaves one suspect dead

An 11-hour police standoff left one person dead in Bell Gardens , officials said Friday .
Police have not identified the suspect , but KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported that it involved a 17-year-old named Andrew Cortez of Bell Gardens .
Officials with the Los Angeles County medical examiner ’ s office confirmed that Cortez died in Bell Gardens on Thursday evening .
The cause of death was pending an autopsy .
According to a statement issued by the Bell Gardens Police Department , officers came across two people about 9:30 a.m. Thursday .
The interaction led to the two fleeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pursued , one of them turned and shot at the officers , police said .
Officers returned fire .
After one suspect was located , the second suspect , the alleged shooter , barricaded himself inside a house .
Police said he had a weapon and was threatening to kill himself .
Via phone and loudspeakers , officers asked the suspect to surrender .
About 7:15 p.m. a Special Operations Team fired tear gas into the location trying to draw him out .
“ Officers attempted numerous other tactics to try and convince @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were unsuccessful , ” authorities said in the statement .
About 8:45 p.m. they entered the location and found the suspect unresponsive .
He was pronounced dead at the scene .

An 11-hour police standoff left one person dead in Bell Gardens, officials said Friday.
Police have not identified the suspect, but KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported that it involved a 17-year-old named Andrew Cortez of Bell Gardens.
Officials with the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed that Cortez died in Bell Gardens on Thursday evening. The cause of death was pending an autopsy.
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According to a statement issued by the Bell Gardens Police Department, officers came across two people about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The interaction led to the two fleeing from officers. As they were being pursued, one of them turned and shot at the officers, police said. Officers returned fire.
After one suspect was located, the second suspect, the alleged shooter, barricaded himself inside a house. Police said he had a weapon and was threatening to kill himself.
Via phone and loudspeakers, officers asked the suspect to surrender. About 7:15 p.m. a Special Operations Team fired tear gas into the location trying to draw him out.
“Officers attempted numerous other tactics to try and convince the suspect to exit the location but were unsuccessful,” authorities said in the statement.
About 8:45 p.m. they entered the location and found the suspect unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.


latimes--2020-02-07--18th Street gang member takes plea in 1993 Westlake apartment arson that left 10 dead

An 18th Street gang member pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges Friday for his role in a deadly revenge-fueled arson that left 10 people dead in Los Angeles more than a quarter-century ago , prosecutors said .
Joseph Monge , 44 , pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and will be sentenced to 11 years in prison later this year , according to Greg Risling , a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney ’ s office .
Monge was one of three defendants expected to stand trial in a 1993 blaze at a Westlake apartment complex that claimed the lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Olga Leon , 24 , and her three children — Rosia , 7 , Jesus and Jose , both 4 ; Alejandrina Roblero , 29 , and her three children — Leyver , 11 , William and Yadira , both 6 ; and Rosalia Ruiz , 21 , and Lancy Mateo , 1 .
Los Angeles law enforcement leaders announced the charges against Monge , Johanna Lopez and Ramiro “ Greedy ” Valerio in 2017 .
The 18th Street gang held sway over Westlake in the 1990s , and police have said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a manager at the apartment complex , who had taken efforts to curb narcotics sales on the property .
Lopez was arrested in 2011 .
According to court filings connected to her case , she had been paying Valerio and another man for the right to sell drugs on 18th Street ’ s turf .
In 1993 , Lopez said , she told Valerio the manager was driving down her profits and urged gang members to intervene on her behalf , according to court transcripts .
The fire started on the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of safety doors in the complex had been propped open , fire officials said in the weeks after the blaze .
The complex had been repeatedly cited for safety violations , including having dysfunctional smoke detectors .
The inferno ’ s sudden spread left residents frantic to escape .
Some formed human chains to help older neighbors escape , and in some instances , parents threw their children out windows , hoping someone would catch them .
One man watched in horror as his wife and three of his children ran into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 100 residents were displaced , and more than 40 were injured .
Monge was described as a lookout on the day of the fire and has agreed to testify against his co-defendants , according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case .
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the case candidly .
Monge previously served nine years in a Mexican prison after he was convicted of a former girlfriend ’ s murder , the LAPD said at the time of his arrest .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Los Angeles prosecutors said a fourth suspect was wanted in connection with the deadly fire , though he may have fled the country .
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to questions about that suspect .
Court records show Lopez is scheduled to stand trial in connection with the fire later this month .
Valerio ’ s next court appearance is scheduled for late March .

An 18th Street gang member pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges Friday for his role in a deadly revenge-fueled arson that left 10 people dead in Los Angeles more than a quarter-century ago, prosecutors said.
Joseph Monge, 44, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and will be sentenced to 11 years in prison later this year, according to Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Monge was one of three defendants expected to stand trial in a 1993 blaze at a Westlake apartment complex that claimed the lives of three women and seven children: Olga Leon, 24, and her three children — Rosia, 7, Jesus and Jose, both 4; Alejandrina Roblero, 29, and her three children — Leyver, 11, William and Yadira, both 6; and Rosalia Ruiz, 21, and Lancy Mateo, 1.
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Los Angeles law enforcement leaders announced the charges against Monge, Johanna Lopez and Ramiro “Greedy” Valerio in 2017. The 18th Street gang held sway over Westlake in the 1990s, and police have said the fire was set after Lopez expressed frustration with a manager at the apartment complex, who had taken efforts to curb narcotics sales on the property.
Lopez was arrested in 2011. According to court filings connected to her case, she had been paying Valerio and another man for the right to sell drugs on 18th Street’s turf. In 1993, Lopez said, she told Valerio the manager was driving down her profits and urged gang members to intervene on her behalf, according to court transcripts.
The fire started on the second floor and spread rapidly because a number of safety doors in the complex had been propped open, fire officials said in the weeks after the blaze. The complex had been repeatedly cited for safety violations, including having dysfunctional smoke detectors.
The inferno’s sudden spread left residents frantic to escape. Some formed human chains to help older neighbors escape, and in some instances, parents threw their children out windows, hoping someone would catch them. One man watched in horror as his wife and three of his children ran into the smoke, where they perished.
More than 100 residents were displaced, and more than 40 were injured.
Monge was described as a lookout on the day of the fire and has agreed to testify against his co-defendants, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the case candidly.
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Monge previously served nine years in a Mexican prison after he was convicted of a former girlfriend’s murder, the LAPD said at the time of his arrest.
When they announced the charges in 2017, Los Angeles prosecutors said a fourth suspect was wanted in connection with the deadly fire, though he may have fled the country. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to questions about that suspect.
Court records show Lopez is scheduled to stand trial in connection with the fire later this month. Valerio’s next court appearance is scheduled for late March.


latimes--2020-02-07--NTSB releases photo of Kobe Bryant helicopter flying into cloud before crash

As part of its preliminary investigation into the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash , the National Transportation Safety Board released an image of the chopper flying under cloudy conditions shortly before it hit a hill in Calabasas .
The report also included photos showing the poor visibility in the Calabasas area at the time of the crash .
Weather is one of the potential causes of the crash being examined , though no final determination has been made .
Investigators had asked the public for images of weather conditions at the time of the crash on the morning of Jan. 26 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday .
Witnesses said visibility had been very poor when they heard the chopper slam into the hillside .
The preliminary report said there were no signs of engine failure , meaning the chopper didn ’ t lose power before it hit the hill .
The NTSB noted that videos and photos from the public “ depict fog and low clouds obscuring the hilltops.
” The preliminary report repeatedly noted that the pilot had struggled with a low cloud ceiling .
A witness on a mountain bike trail told investigators that the area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he heard the sound of a helicopter and saw a blue and white chopper emerge from the clouds , passing from left to right .
The 1991 Sikorsky S-76B was carrying parents , coaches and players to a youth basketball game at Bryant ’ s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks .
Those who perished in the fiery crash included Bryant ’ s 13-year-old daughter , Gianna ; Christina Mauser ; Payton and Sarah Chester ; John , Keri and Alyssa Altobelli ; along with pilot Ara Zobayan .
According to the report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 34-degree slope and measured 24 feet by 15 feet wide and 2 feet deep .
“ Examination of the main and tail rotor assemblies found damage consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact .
The initial point of impact consisted of highly fragmented cabin and cockpit debris , ” the report noted .
The main wreckage was about 127 feet from the impact crater .
The engines were found lying inverted in the burned area .
“ Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

A security video image shows the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others shortly before it crashed in Calabasas on Jan. 26.
As part of its preliminary investigation into the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, the National Transportation Safety Board released an image of the chopper flying under cloudy conditions shortly before it hit a hill in Calabasas.
The report also included photos showing the poor visibility in the Calabasas area at the time of the crash. Weather is one of the potential causes of the crash being examined, though no final determination has been made.
Investigators had asked the public for images of weather conditions at the time of the crash on the morning of Jan. 26, and some of those were released Friday. Witnesses said visibility had been very poor when they heard the chopper slam into the hillside.
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The preliminary report said there were no signs of engine failure, meaning the chopper didn’t lose power before it hit the hill.
The NTSB noted that videos and photos from the public “depict fog and low clouds obscuring the hilltops.” The preliminary report repeatedly noted that the pilot had struggled with a low cloud ceiling.
A newly released image shows the low-lying marine layer near the site of the crash. (NTSB)
A witness on a mountain bike trail told investigators that the area was “surrounded by mist” and that he heard the sound of a helicopter and saw a blue and white chopper emerge from the clouds, passing from left to right.
The 1991 Sikorsky S-76B was carrying parents, coaches and players to a youth basketball game at Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks. Those who perished in the fiery crash included Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; Christina Mauser; Payton and Sarah Chester; John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; along with pilot Ara Zobayan.
According to the report, the main impact crater was on a 34-degree slope and measured 24 feet by 15 feet wide and 2 feet deep.
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A photo from a resident shows fog near the crash site. (NTSB)
“Examination of the main and tail rotor assemblies found damage consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact. The initial point of impact consisted of highly fragmented cabin and cockpit debris,” the report noted. The main wreckage was about 127 feet from the impact crater.
The engines were found lying inverted in the burned area. “Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure,” the report said.