No. 48
Local news
Edited interviews of the Riverside judicial candidates—Andrea Garcia, Jennifer Loflin, and Michelle Paradise, are now on the Inland Empire Law Weekly podcast, available on both Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Regardless of the upcoming election, each of these candidates have a wealth of information on law that is worth listening to.
Apple Valley woman stabs husband, sets house on fire
The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department reported a non-fatal stabbing and home arson in Apple Valley on Friday, April 24.
The husband was taken to a hospital for treatment. A woman's body was found on the scene, and is being identified.
San Bernardino gun sweep
San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies arrested 23 people for illegally owning guns in a six-day sweep. They seized 31 firearms, including eight ghost guns, when executing 14 search warrants.
Montclair officer shooting cleared by DA
Jacks jumping onto the Officer Rivera's car.
The non-fatal Sept. 12, 2018, shootings of Anthony Jacks by Montclair Police Officers Miguel Huerta and Eric Rivera was self-defense, the San Bernardino District Attorney's Office found.
The officers were responding to a call of a person throwing rocks at vehicles. When Huerta arrived to Central Ave., Montclair, and the 1-10, he saw Jacks throw a rock at a Chevy Cobalt. Jacks approached Huerta with a large rock. Huerta shot at Jacks, who dropped the rock and ran onto the on-ramp. Rivera, also responding to the call, drove onto the on ramp. Jacks lunged at Rivera's windshield, then jumped on the hood of his car. Rivera fired once then arrested Jacks. Due to the incident and an outstanding warrant, Jacks was sentenced to seven years in state prison.
The District Attorney's Office found that both shots were in self-defense and defense of others.
Full report available here
CA Supreme Court picks up undercover confession case
The California Supreme Court will review the May 17, 2023 murder verdict against Rozell Anthony Hale.
Hale was convicted of murdering Johnny Gil in a gang-related shooting. Hale was a member of the 1200 Blocc Crips in Eastern Riverside. Gil was a member of the East Side Riva gang. He had been intentionally terrorizing people on Georgia Street, which he said was claimed by the 1200 Blocc Crips, according to an appellate ruling. Gil was fatally shot on Oct. 24, 2019, while driving his truck near the corner of 14th St. and Park Ave.
Hale was arrested for violating parole shortly after the fatal shooting. While in jail, he was placed in a cell with five undercover law enforcement agents. The agents, posing as inmates, worked with a uniformed detective to ask Hale about his alibi and whether anyone could connect him to the shooting, according to the appellate ruling. Hale's responses were used as evidence in the trial which resulted in his conviction.
The Supreme Court will ask two questions:
(1) If a defendant has invoked his right to remain silent while being interrogated by a law enforcement officer, are incriminating statements obtained through a subsequent Perkins operation (i.e., the use of an undercover agent to question a jailed defendant) admissible as substantive proof of the defendant’s guilt at trial?
(2) What effect, if any, does the fact that the interrogating officer continued questioning after petitioner invoked his Fifth Amendment right to silence have upon the admissibility of the statements subsequently obtained during the Perkins operation?
Local events
San Bernardino Grand Jury
Applications to join the San Bernardino County Grand Jury are open until July 31. The Grand Jury investigates county, city, and special district operations.
Apply here
Joshua Tree CARE Court event
San Bernardino Superior Court is sending its mobile courtroom to the Joshua Tree Courthouse on May 8, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Attendees will have access to self-help services for document preparation and filing, an on-site judicial officer to determine eligibility for CARE Court, and Department of Behavioral Health representatives to answer questions. CARE Court provides treatment for people with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. No appointment is needed to attend.
Appellate mediation program
The Riverside Court of Appeal is asking for attorneys to participate in its mediation program. The volunteers can be experienced in all areas of law, and can be retired, but must have ten years of legal experience. One hundred and sixty-five attorneys over the years have participated in the 34-year-old program.
Mediations are scheduled at the convenience of the attorney, and can be remote. The program saves time for litigants as well as the Court of Appeals.
Interested attorneys can call the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, and ask for Jackie Hoar.
Free legal aid clinics
Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Associations hosts free legal aid clinics at the 838 Alta St, Redlands, on the last Wednesday of every month. They also host clinics the first, second and fourth Monday of every month at Bordwell Park, 2008 Martin Luther King Blvd., Riverside. All clinics are held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
State news
Assembly leaders redefine state superintendent’s role, demand more oversight
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to shift control of the Department of Education from the state superintendent of public instruction to a new education commissioner under future governors’ authority passed its first test in the Legislature last week — but probably not the way Newsom expected.
The bill, which the Assembly Education Committee passed unanimously, differed significantly from the governor’s proposal in redefining the role of the state superintendent and in tilting more power to the Legislature.
The changes include...
7,120 attorneys join State Bar over last year
11,971 applicants took the 2025 bar exam, and only 7,120 applicants were admitted, joining 27,430 other attorneys throughout the state, according to the the State Bar of California's 2025 annual report, released last week.
The report also says that the Bar distributed $308 million in legal aid funs, while processing 21,205 complaints about attorney misconduct and disciplining 138 attorneys.
Read the full report here
Who wants to be California’s insurance commissioner? Your guide to the candidates
Picking the next insurance commissioner could be one of the most important decisions Californians make for their wallets this election year.
They may have seen a big increase in their insurance premiums in the past couple of years. They might know someone whose homeowners policy got canceled. Or perhaps they’re trying to rebuild after last year’s deadly Los Angeles County fires.
If you’re not sure what the insurance commissioner does...
California’s race for secretary of state shows partisan divide over how to count ballots
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who made history in 2021 as the first Black person to hold the office, is seeking a second four-year term.
As the incumbent and the only Democrat in the field, she will almost certainly cruise to victory in November. She faces only one serious challenger: Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, a Republican. No Republican has won a statewide race since 2006.
During her tenure...
Candidates target Steyer, Becerra in free-wheeling California governor debate
Six leading Democratic candidates for governor were seeking a breakout moment Tuesday night in a race that has been dominated by its lack of certainty, with two Republican candidates frequently in the lead.
None of them appeared to find one in a chaotic, combative and often hard-to-follow CBS debate at Pomona College, prompting former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter to declare at one point that “this is worse than my teenagers at dinner.”
With less than a week before ballots...
Meet the candidates for California lieutenant governor: ‘A job about nothing’
The candidates running for lieutenant governor are apt to hint at the post’s largely symbolic and overlooked status when discussing their ambitions for the statewide office.
It’s true that California’s lieutenant governor is mostly a ceremonial position.
Eleni Kounalakis, who currently holds the position...
Resistance state: Tracking California’s lawsuits against the new Trump administration
Resistance state: Tracking California’s lawsuits against the new Trump administrationThis story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Round 2 of California vs. Trump is well underway. President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders moments after being inaugurated president, and many of them could directly affect California. These orders include revoking licenses for offshoreInland Empire Law WeeklyCalMatters Staff
National news
A US Supreme Court ruling hammered voting rights. What does it mean and what happens now?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gutting the federal Voting Rights Act could upend American politics and trigger a new rush to redraw congressional districts.
The opinion released on Wednesday, in a case called Louisiana v. Callais, holds sweeping consequences for how states and local governments draw district lines at all levels of government, from Congress to school boards.
Louisiana, whose congressional map...
Trump, US House speaker prod GOP states to gerrymander after voting rights ruling
President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to capitalize on a U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening the federal Voting Rights Act as he urged one governor to gerrymander his state and praised another for suspending an approaching primary.
The court’s decision on Wednesday struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as unconstitutional and empowered other Republican states to break apart districts where most residents are Black for a partisan advantage.
The opinion could...
Supreme Court ruling on voting won’t change California districts, but could hurt Democrats
Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling narrowing the Voting Rights Act undermines legal protections that have helped Latinos gain representation in politics, California Democrats and activists say.
The case centered on the boundaries of a Louisiana congressional district. The court found by a 6-3 majority that Louisiana had relied too heavily on race to decide the borders.
“One may lament partisan gerrymandering, but …
Ex-FBI Director James Comey, targeted by Trump, indicted for '86 47' seashell photo
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday obtained a second grand jury indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, long a target of President Donald Trump’s anger for overseeing an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted Comey related to a photo he posted on social media of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Comey took the photo while vacationing in North Carolina last year. The indictment alleges that Comey threatened to harm the president and that he used interstate commerce to transmit the threat when he posted the photo.
An arrest warrant...
Suspect in Washington press dinner attack to remain detained in D.C. jail
The man who allegedly targeted President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner agreed in federal court Thursday to remain jailed as the Department of Justice continues its investigation, including examining ballistics to prove a single shot fired at a Secret Service agent came from the defendant’s weapon.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of California, appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya in Washington, D.C., five days after he allegedly charged security one level above the Washington Hilton ballroom where Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet officials were attending the annual black-tie event that dates back a century.
Allen is charged with...
Suspect charged with attempt to assassinate Trump intended mass casualties, prosecutors say
The suspect in the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night was prepared for a mass casualty event, prosecutors said in a document filed in federal court early Wednesday.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney...
US Supreme Court hears arguments on cancer warning labels for Roundup weedkiller
The U.S. Supreme Court could be ready to overturn a Missouri state court verdict that favored a man who sued the manufacturer of the popular herbicide Roundup for lacking any warning that the product carried a risk of cancer after oral arguments in the case Monday.
The arguments focused on whether states could enforce their own labeling requirements of pesticides, or whether federal law preempted any deviation among states. Members of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority emphasized the need for uniformity across the country.
The U.S. Department of Justice intervened...
5th Circuit blocks remote access to abortion medication nationwide
One of the main methods of obtaining abortion medication for those living in states with bans is now blocked nationwide, after a federal appeals court decision issued Friday afternoon.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule from 2023 that allowed mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy before 10 weeks and to treat miscarriages, to be dispensed without an in-person visit with a health provider.
In the years since...
History
The Declaration of Independence
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Inland Empire Law Weekly is reviewing each of the reasons for independence as outlined in the Declaration.
The 20th reason: "For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies."
The patriots declared independence over the Quebec Act, which gave the King more power over Canadian colonies.
"What can speak in plainer language, the corruption of the British Parliament, than its act; which invests the King with absolute power over a little world?" Alexander Hamilton asked.
The Quebec Act removed the right to trial by jury. "The possibility that the legislature of Canada may hereafter introduce trials, by juries, does not imply a right, in the people, to enjoy them," Hamilton wrote.
Their opposition to the acts was partly due to its establishment of a state religion in the Canadian colonies. The Quebec Act gave religious freedom to Catholics, but also gave Catholic clergy the power to impose tithes. The fact that the church could now legally demand tithes meant that the church was supported by the state.
"The characteristic difference between a tolerated and established religion consist in this—With respect to the support of the former, the law is passive and improvident; leaving it to those, who profess it, to make as much, or as little provision, as they shall judge expedient; and to vary and alter that provision, as their circumstances may require," Hamilton wrote.
Hamilton wasn't alone in voicing disgust at the Quebec Act. The First Continental Congress sent a letter to the Province of Quebec in 1774.
"Little did we imagine that any succeeding Ministers would so audaciously and cruelly abuse the royal authority, as to with-hold from you the fruition of the irrevocable rights, to which you were thus justly entitled," they wrote.
Book recommendation
Every week, Inland Empire Law Weekly recommends a book. Today's selection isn't the typical heavy non-fiction that we recommend. It's a crime thriller written by a local author.
They Took it Inland: A Zane Bruce Thriller is the debut crime novel from IE resident James Dawson.
"Detective Zane Bruce followed his father into law enforcement, believing the badge could outrun blood. Now, his partner is gone, his career is hanging by a thread, and a case involving the mayor's son pulls him deep into a web of Inland Empire real estate deals where corruption wears tailored suits and buries its mistakes in the dirt.
"As bodies stack up across San Bernardino, the trail leads somewhere Zane never wanted to look. Back to his own family."
$15 from Amazon
Today in history: Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791
The first modern constitution in Europe was ratified this day in 1791 by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Constitution established Catholicism to be the dominant faith, restricting conversion, but allowing religious freedom for believers of other faiths. It established three branches of government, with the King as an executive, and a bicameral legislature. All bills would start in the 204-member Chamber of Deputies, but have to be approved in the 130-member Chamber of Senators, made up of bishops and landowners.
It wouldn't last long. The national parliament, bribed by the Russian Empire, would declare it null just 19 months later. In the same session, the parliament gave up claims to 120,000 square miles, handing the land over to its neighbors. Two years later, the country would be entirely annexed.
Discussion in the ATmosphere