All posts by Mike

Judge Otero Extends All Lunada Bay Boys Case Deadlines, Moves Hearing To September 5 From August 21

July 26, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

Remember two days ago when the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys zillionaire surf-thuggery case asked for extra time to respond to all the defense motions for summary judgment? Well today Judge Otero issued an order extending all the response deadlines, including defendants’ deadlines to reply to the responses, and continuing the hearing, formerly scheduled for August 21, until September 5, 2017 at 10 a.m. in James Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Federal Courthouse. Transcription of the order after the break.
Continue reading Judge Otero Extends All Lunada Bay Boys Case Deadlines, Moves Hearing To September 5 From August 21 →

Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee Ordered To Produce Everything On His Damn Phone Except His Home Address, Emails From His Lawyer, And His Porn Collection, And To Do It By 2 P.M. Today

July 25, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

You may recall that, a few days ago, the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys case filed a bunch of paperwork having to do with defendant Sang Lee’s uncooperative attitude towards his discovery obligations, leading to the Honorable Rozella Oliver, magistrate judge in the case, issuing a minute order telling Sang Lee to get moving and hand over the goods.

Well, they had another telephone conference about Sang Lee’s phone this morning, and Oliver, having inspected everything on the phone in secret, issued an order compelling Sang Lee to hand over everything on the phone except “sensitive personal photographs, Defendant Lee’s residential address, and communications between Defendant Lee and his attorneys.” (As always, there’s a transcription of the order after the break).¹ Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee Ordered To Produce Everything On His Damn Phone Except His Home Address, Emails From His Lawyer, And His Porn Collection, And To Do It By 2 P.M. Today →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys OMFG More Motions For Summary Judgment: Charlie And Frank Ferrara Now — Perhaps This Is The Last Of Them?

July 25, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

The last ten days have seen defendant after defendant file motions for summary judgment saying that they themselves didn’t personally do anything to the plaintiffs so the case against them should be dropped. I wonder if this is related to the fact that the case wasn’t certified as a class action? Like maybe the defendants did stuff to other people who just don’t happen to be the plaintiffs?

In any case, yesterday night late Charlie and Frank Ferrara filed their motions and a bunch of supporting paper. It all looks really interesting but I don’t have time to do more than provide links to the documents in the Archive.Org collection of pleadings in the case. They are after the break, and here is a list of all of my posts on these motions for summary judgment so far:

Oh, one little thing more. In this Declaration of Tiffany Bacon in support of Charlie Ferrara’s motion, which has tons of excerpts from depositions, we find this stunning bit of lawyer humor when they’re asking Charlie Ferrara if he heard Jalian Johnston sexually harassing Diana Reed. Samantha Wolff is asking questions, Ms. Hurley is representing Charlie Ferrara:

Q. Do you recall whether or not Mr. Johnston was acting in a sexually suggestive manner at the time?

MS. HURLEY: Objection, calls for speculation, calls for expert opinion testimony, lacks foundation.

Calls for expert opinion testimony indeed, friends!

Also, don’t forget that the hearing for all of these defense motions for summary judgment is scheduled for August 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m in James Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Federal Courthouse.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys OMFG More Motions For Summary Judgment: Charlie And Frank Ferrara Now — Perhaps This Is The Last Of Them? →

Announcements, Skid Row Neighborhood Council

MK.Org At The LA Poverty Department Tomorrow Night, 7:30 PM! Bad BIDness in the City of Angels: Business Improvement Districts, Lobbying, and Class Warfare.

July 24, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Hey, friends! I’m speaking tomorrow night at the Los Angeles Poverty Department. The title of the talk is Bad BIDness in the City of Angels: Business Improvement Districts, Lobbying, and Class Warfare. It’s at 7:30 p.m. at 250 S. Broadway. Here’s a link to the Facebook event if that’s more convenient for you. This PDF contains somewhat more than I’m going to talk about. Perhaps I’ll see you there!

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Defendants Angelo Ferrara, Jalian Johnston, and Brant Blakeman File Motions For Summary Judgment, Blakeman Makes Highly Rapey Argument That Johnston Couldn’t Have Assaulted Diana Reed By Spraying Beer On Her Cause She Was Smiling The Whole Time, Plaintiffs Ask For Extra Time To Respond To Barrage Of Motions

July 24, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Jalian Johnston spraying beer on Diana Reed next to the Lunada Bay Boys fort. Brant Blakeman: They taught me at the Palos Verdes School Of Bro-fessional Surf Thuggery that smiles equal consent…”

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

Earlier today I wrote about a bunch of filings in the Lunada Bay Boys case, but clearly I wrote too soon. Quite soon after I published that post, a bunch more paper hit PACER. This includes motions for summary judgment from defendants Angelo Ferrara, Jalian Johnston, and Brant Blakeman. There’s also a request from the plaintiffs for a time extension to respond to all these zillions of defense motions for summary judgment. A major argument therein is, as promised, the fact that Jalian Johnston won’t be deposed until July 28 and the unextended deadline for the plaintiffs to respond is July 31.

If there’s an award for rapiest pleading filed in federal court, Blakeman’s motion is gonna be a strong contender. He actually claims that even though Jalian Johnston did spray beer on Diana Reed, she was smiling the whole time so it can’t be assault:

Plaintiffs’ case against moving party Brant Blakeman consist solely of Spencer’s claim that Blakeman surfed too close to him on one occasion at Lunada Bay and Reed’s claim that Blakeman videotaped her at the patio structure at the Bay when defendant Alan Johnston opened a can of beer that sprayed some drops on her arm.

These factual claims fall far short of establishing a violation of the Bane Act by Blakeman, which requires violent acts, physical threats, coercion, or intimidation resulting in fear of injury or harm and, thereby, prevents them from exercising a constitutional right. With respect to the incident in which Blakeman did nothing more than videotape Reed, who, by the way, was photographing Blakeman and others with her own camera and invited a photographer from the LA Times, Reed can be seen throughout the video smiling, smirking, and in no apparent distress. Indeed, she spent over 60 minutes at the bay and made no attempt to leave the patio structure

Anyway, turn the page for links to the new filings. I’m super-busy with another project, to be announced soonest,² so no time for more than that. Also, don’t forget that the hearing for all of these defense motions for summary judgment is scheduled for August 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m in James Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Federal Courthouse.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Defendants Angelo Ferrara, Jalian Johnston, and Brant Blakeman File Motions For Summary Judgment, Blakeman Makes Highly Rapey Argument That Johnston Couldn’t Have Assaulted Diana Reed By Spraying Beer On Her Cause She Was Smiling The Whole Time, Plaintiffs Ask For Extra Time To Respond To Barrage Of Motions →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Parties Jointly Ask Judge Otero To Dismiss Suit Against Anonymous Minor Defendant NF, Michael Papayans Files Motion For Summary Judgment

July 24, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

A bunch of paper was filed this afternoon in the Lunada Bay Boys surf localism case, including a hitherto unanticipated³ joint stipulation to dismiss the case against the anonymous minor defendant NF. There’s a transcription of this PDF after the break along with a link to the proposed order that the parties submitted with it.

Also, following along with his putative partners in horridity, Lunada Bay beatdown artist Michael Papayans filed a motion for summary judgment on the basis of the fact that the named plaintiffs, Cory Spencer and Diana Reed, said in their depositions that he didn’t personally beat up either one of them. As always, this motion comes with a bunch of supporting exhibits, mainly excerpts from the plaintiffs’ depositions. There are links and some brief commentary after the break.

Oh, also! There’s yet another telephonic hearing before the magistrate judge scheduled for tomorrow morning, so we can expect yet another minute order telling everyone to cut out the damn nonsense!
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Parties Jointly Ask Judge Otero To Dismiss Suit Against Anonymous Minor Defendant NF, Michael Papayans Files Motion For Summary Judgment →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee Files Motion To Dismiss All Counts Against Him Except Negligence Cause He Didn’t Do Nothing, Your Honor!

July 21, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

You may recall that the other day, the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys case filed a bunch of paperwork having to do with defendant Sang Lee’s uncooperative attitude towards his discovery obligations, leading to the Honorable Rozella Oliver, magistrate judge in the case, issuing a minute order telling Sang Lee to get moving and hand over the goods.

Victor Otten’s most recent letter to Sang Lee’s attorneys noted that “… you have stated an intention to file a motion for summary judgement, this will be our last attempt to resolve this matter informally. Moreover, should you file a motion for summary judgement without providing adequate discovery responses, that will be a basis to oppose the motion.”

Well, today Sang Lee filed that very motion to dismiss, along with a bunch of supporting exhibits. His main argument seems to be that all of the plaintiffs have admitted that he personally didn’t do anything to them, so how can he be guilty of intimidating them away from the beach?

Of course, with respect to the allegation of conspiracy, and especially given that, according to Victor Otten, Sang Lee has withheld all the essential evidence, the fact, and it does seem to be a fact, that Sang Lee didn’t intimidate anyone in person seems pretty irrelevant. The plaintiffs’ theory seems to be that he coordinated via cell phone with the actual intimidaters, which certainly sounds like conspiracy to me. Well, as Victor Otten said on July 4, “…should you file a motion for summary judgement without providing adequate discovery responses, that will be a basis to oppose the motion.”

Don’t forget, the hearing on this motion and the parallel motion by Jeff Kepley and the City of PVE is scheduled for August 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m in James Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Federal Courthouse. Maybe I’ll see you there! Meanwhile, turn the page for links to all the new pleadings.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee Files Motion To Dismiss All Counts Against Him Except Negligence Cause He Didn’t Do Nothing, Your Honor! →

Fashion District BID

Fashion District BID Bylaws From 2003 Anticipate Los Angeles City Attorney Advising BID On Their Brown Act Obligations, Suggesting That Holly Wolcott’s Stance Against Requiring BIDs To Follow The Law Is A Recent Development

July 20, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

I’ve been collecting copies of bylaws from the property owners’ associations that run BIDs for a while now, and some interesting stuff has turned up. Most egregiously we have the cases of Brown Act violations actually written into the bylaws of the Larchmont Village BID and essentially the same problem with the Melrose Avenue BID. Well, the other day, Rena Leddy, executive directrix of the Fashion District BID, was kind enough to send me a copy of her BID’s bylaws, last amended in 2003, and very interesting they are, indeed!

For one thing, these bylaws reveal that, unlike every other BID that I know of, the property owners in the Fashion District elect their Board of Directors by direct weighted vote.⁴ Most BIDs seem to be run by self-perpetuating boards, in which the directors choose their successors without any input from anyone else. This is interesting, and may save the FDBID from the kind of stagnation and undue staff influence that one finds in so many of our local BIDs.⁵

Most interesting, though, are the two places in these bylaws where it appears that the BID didn’t know whether or not their rules would violate the Brown Act, so they wrote language stating that the rules only applied pending determinations of their legality by the City Attorney of Los Angeles. This contradicts the stance currently taken by City Clerk Holly Wolcott, who insists that BIDs are beyond the City’s power to control due to their status as private corporations. She refuses even to tell BIDs to perform explicit requirements of their contract. How strange, then, to see evidence that in 2003 the City Attorney of Los Angeles was making decisions about whether or not the Fashion District BID’s bylaws were Brown-Act-compliant.
Continue reading Fashion District BID Bylaws From 2003 Anticipate Los Angeles City Attorney Advising BID On Their Brown Act Obligations, Suggesting That Holly Wolcott’s Stance Against Requiring BIDs To Follow The Law Is A Recent Development →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver Orders Sang Lee To Produce Under Seal The Results Of Forensic Imaging Of His Phone To Be Examined In Camera In Order To Settle So-Far Intractable Discovery Disputes — Says The Judge: Do It By Friday Morning!

July 19, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

I just reported this morning that the discovery dispute between plaintiffs and defendant Sang Lee remains unresolved. Today at 1:30 p.m. PDT the parties held a telephonic conference with the Honorable Rozella Oliver, magistrate judge in the Lunada Bay Boys proceedings, to discuss the problems. Mere moments ago Oliver filed a minute order explaining what’s to be done at this stage (as always there’s a transcription after the break).

The upshot is that Sang Lee must produce the extraction report on the forensic imaging of his phone and the plaintiffs must produce a list of names they’re looking for in the phone along with a list of the discovery requests they’ve already made to which they believe information on the phone would be responsive. This is all to be submitted under seal, not on PACER, for Rozella Oliver to review in camera, by Friday, July 21, at 9 a.m. After reviewing the evidence the judge will issue an order settling the matter or else schedule another hearing.

Turn the page for the text of the order.
Continue reading Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver Orders Sang Lee To Produce Under Seal The Results Of Forensic Imaging Of His Phone To Be Examined In Camera In Order To Settle So-Far Intractable Discovery Disputes — Says The Judge: Do It By Friday Morning! →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Victor Otten Files Declaration And A Bunch Of Exhibits Documenting Absolute Failure Of Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee To Cooperate With Discovery, Threatens Motion To Compel Absent Prompt Compliance

July 19, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

Last Thursday the Honorable Rozella Oliver, magistrate judge in the Lunada Bay Boys zillionaire surf thuggery case, ordered various defendants to quit taking the piss and get cracking with their discovery obligations. In particular, the order filed stated with respect to defendant Sang Lee that:

The parties are also directed to file any meet and confer letters regarding the dispute and the privilege log served by Defendant Lee at least 24 hours before the next telephonic hearing.

Well, yesterday evening plaintiffs’ lawyer Victor Otten fulfilled his part of that obligation by filing a declaration and a bunch of letters between his office and Sang Lee’s attorneys about discovery. This is pretty interesting stuff for a number of technical reasons, and there are links and descriptions after the break.
Continue reading Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Victor Otten Files Declaration And A Bunch Of Exhibits Documenting Absolute Failure Of Lunada Bay Boys Defendant Sang Lee To Cooperate With Discovery, Threatens Motion To Compel Absent Prompt Compliance →