Tag Archives: Palos Verdes Estates

City of PVE And Jeff Kepley And The PVE Police Officers’ Association File Opposition To Motion Because They Don’t Want To Hand Over Text Messages From Cops’ Personal Phones — No One Seems To Be Discussing The Fact That The California Supreme Court Decided In March That Work Information On Personal Phones Is Public Record

August 15, 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 week the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys case asked magistrate judge Rozella Oliver to sanction the City of PVE because they refused to hand over work-related text messages. Oliver subsequently denied this motion on technical grounds. At roughly the same time the plaintiffs filed a motion for administrative relief, essentially asking Judge Otero to deny the zillions of defense motions for summary judgment because of various discovery failures on the part of the defense.

And tonight the City of PVE and Jeff Kepley filed their opposition to that motion. The most important item is this memorandum of points and authorities which has, as these all seem to, a good discussion of the facts of the dispute.

The main issue seems to be, though, that the plaintiffs’ asked for material from the personal phones of PVE cops and the cop union intervened and said via their lawyer, Howard A. Liberman, that they weren’t going to hand it over because it would violate the officers’ privacy and also it would violate their contract with the City of PVE. The City also argues that they can’t hand it over since they don’t have control over it.

There are links to all the other goodies after the break, by the way, along with more of the usual uninformed speculation.
Continue reading City of PVE And Jeff Kepley And The PVE Police Officers’ Association File Opposition To Motion Because They Don’t Want To Hand Over Text Messages From Cops’ Personal Phones — No One Seems To Be Discussing The Fact That The California Supreme Court Decided In March That Work Information On Personal Phones Is Public Record →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The PVEPD Sting Filed Unredacted! Jeff Kepley Seems To Acknowledge Existence Of Bay Boys As A Settled Fact! Tony Dahlerbruch Evidently Don’t Know Nothing ‘Bout Nothing!

August 2, 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.

So a couple days ago the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys case filed a ton of papers to go along with their opposition to the City of PVE’s motion for summary judgment. Among this stuff was a totally redacted copy of the private investigator’s report on who leaked advance notice of a planned PVEPD sting operation to catch some Bay Boys.

The City claimed that the contents were confidential, hence the redactions. The plaintiffs disagreed, and asked Judge Otero to make it public. Yesterday Otero agreed, and today the judge filed yet another order requiring the redacted report to be made public. And, subsequently, the plaintiffs filed the whole unredacted report! (As usual, there’s a transcription of this lengthy PDF after the break).

The report is completely inconclusive and basically says that too many people knew about the sting, so it’s not possible to figure out who leaked it. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there, though. In particular, PVE chief of police Jeff Kepley speaks about the Bay Boys as if their existence is an established fact. Turn the page for some more commentary and, as usual, a transcription of the report itself.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The PVEPD Sting Filed Unredacted! Jeff Kepley Seems To Acknowledge Existence Of Bay Boys As A Settled Fact! Tony Dahlerbruch Evidently Don’t Know Nothing ‘Bout Nothing! →

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 →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

City Of PVE Argues That They Put Many Cops On Anti-Bay-Boy Patrol, Tying Up Resources And Allowing Criminals From South Central LA To Commence Unprecedented “Burglary Spree” — Residents Complained But Kepley Kept Cops On Bay Anyway, Which Is How Seriously He Took It. Therefore, Your Honor, Please Dismiss The Damn Case! Also 9th Circuit Won’t Hear Interlocutory Appeal On Class Action Certification

July 14, 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.

Today the City of Palos Verdes Estates and its police chief, Jeff Kepley who, along with the Lunada Bay Boys themselves, are defendants in the monumental anti-localism case brought by Cory Spencer and his co-plaintiffs, filed a massive slew of papers with the court. The main item is this motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to obliterate the case against PVE and Kepley.

The rest of the paper filed consists of various exhibits and proposed orders in support of this motion, and is extremely interesting as it contains huge selections from the depositions of Cory Spencer and Diana Reed. There are links to all the new stuff after the break along with brief descriptions. There is presently a hearing on this motion scheduled for August 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m in James Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Federal Courthouse.

The merits of the motion are beyond my amateurish capacity to discuss, although they make interesting reading if you’re so inclined. The main argument seems to be that the plaintiffs didn’t really suffer any harm, and the City didn’t have a duty to do anything more than what they did to protect them. Also, the following freakish little argument did catch my eye. My general feeling is that the appearance of “gang-affiliated criminal groups from south Los Angeles” in government-generated discourse is irrefutable evidence that they’re lying. But judge for yourself:

A number of the above-described events (as well as Plaintiff Spencer and Reed’s alleged incidents discussed under the factual background above) took place during a time the City was experiencing a substantial increase in residential burglaries by organized gangs or gang-affiliated criminal group from south Los Angeles. It is typical for the City to have zero to three burglaries per month, but in December 2015 the City experienced 20 to 25 burglaries. In fact, a number of residents complained about the amount of law enforcement resources allocated toward patrolling Lunada Bay, as well as the tough stance Chief Kepley took against local surfers harassing or intimidating other surfers. Nonetheless, the City directed law enforcement resources to ensuring access to Lunada Bay and preventing harassment. Chief Kepley opined that given so few incidents at Lunada Bay and the burglary spree in the City that the Police Department efforts were appropriate and reasonable in scope and size.

Also, you may recall that in March the plaintiffs asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to file a motion asking them to overturn Judge Otero’s decision to deny certification as a class action. I didn’t hear about it at the time, but one of the exhibits filed today is the Ninth Circuit’s denial of the request for permission to appeal. Anyway, turn the page for links to and brief descriptions of all the new paper filed today.
Continue reading City Of PVE Argues That They Put Many Cops On Anti-Bay-Boy Patrol, Tying Up Resources And Allowing Criminals From South Central LA To Commence Unprecedented “Burglary Spree” — Residents Complained But Kepley Kept Cops On Bay Anyway, Which Is How Seriously He Took It. Therefore, Your Honor, Please Dismiss The Damn Case! Also 9th Circuit Won’t Hear Interlocutory Appeal On Class Action Certification →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

City Of Palos Verdes Estates Shortcircuits Ongoing Discovery Dispute By Just Handing Over The Damn Private Investigator’s Report On How The Undercover Sting Operation Got Blown, But The Squabbles Never Cease And Now They Are Fighting Over Scheduling Defendant Alan Johnston’s Deposition!

June 16, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Jeff Kepley is sworn in as new police chief of Palos Verdes Estates, CA. The ceremony for Chief Kepley, who was joined by family, friends, council members from PVE, and many police from various cities, took place at the La Venta Inn, located in Palos Verdes Estates.

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 few days ago I wrote about a telephonic conference between the Lunada Bay Boys case plaintiffs and the City defendants¹ before magistrate judge Rozella Oliver. They were fighting over a report submitted by a private eye hired by the City to figure out who blew a planned sting operation against the Bay Boys’ surf thuggery.

At that time Judge Oliver ordered the parties to brief her thoroughly on the matter. Well, it seems that the City decided to just hand over the report rather than fight about it any more. Hence they all filed a joint stipulation asking the judge not to make them write the briefs any more. You’ll find a transcription of the stipulation after the break. It’s not by any means clear that we’ll be able to get our hands on the report itself, although often discovery material turns up in the exhibits to later motions, so maybe we will.

However, all is not peaceful on the PVP!² Evidently the parties had another telephone call with Judge Oliver yesterday in which they had to admit that they couldn’t agree on how to schedule defendant Alan Johnston’s deposition. She told them more or less to work it out amongst themselves or everyone would have to have another damn phone call. Here’s a link to the minute order summarizing the call, and a transcription of this one is also available after the break.
Continue reading City Of Palos Verdes Estates Shortcircuits Ongoing Discovery Dispute By Just Handing Over The Damn Private Investigator’s Report On How The Undercover Sting Operation Got Blown, But The Squabbles Never Cease And Now They Are Fighting Over Scheduling Defendant Alan Johnston’s Deposition! →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver Orders Further Briefing From Parties On Question Of Whether Lunada Bay Boys Case Plaintiffs Can Get Their Hands On Investigative Report About PVE Police Leak Of Undercover Anti-Bay-Boys Sting Op

June 8, 2017 Mike 1 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 might recall that in early 2016 the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department organized a sting operation to catch zillionaire surf thugs the Lunada Bay Boys in the midst of their zillionaire surf thuggery but someone tipped off the Bay Boys, no doubt because they’re not just all sleeping with each others’ spouses up there on The Hill, they also all grew up together like a bunch of hillbillies in a holler and they operate on a need-to-know basis but they have their own ideas of who needs to know what.

In any case, PVE Chief of Police Jeff Kepley hired an outside investigator to find out what had gone wrong, and the plaintiffs in the case want a copy of the report via discovery. The City of PVE and Jeff Kepley are claiming that the report is privileged under the Work Product Doctrine. So they all had a phone conversation with Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver, and the Judge filed these minutes of the discussion and ordered everyone to submit further briefing by July 6. And if you hate PDFs, turn the page for a transcription of the whole order.
Continue reading Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver Orders Further Briefing From Parties On Question Of Whether Lunada Bay Boys Case Plaintiffs Can Get Their Hands On Investigative Report About PVE Police Leak Of Undercover Anti-Bay-Boys Sting Op →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Taking It To The Fricking Ninth Circuit: In Petition Filed Today Lunada Bay Boys Plaintiffs Ask Permission To Appeal Denial Of Class Certification! Judge Otero’s Many Manifest Errors Enumerated!! The Argument In One Sentence: “Absent an appeal, anarchy remains.”

March 7, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

… by making multiple manifest legal errors … the District Court denied Petitioners’ motion for class certification.

A little more than two weeks ago, federal district court judge James Otero denied class certification in the Lunada Bay Boys case, turning it into a merely personal dispute between a bunch of thuggish zillionaire surf-localist gangbangers and the few surfers brave enough to put their names on the case. Today, the plaintiffs filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for permission to appeal Otero’s decision immediately, rather than, I guess, waiting until the whole case is done, which is probably the more normal time to appeal. This is a so-called interlocutory appeal, in other words, which is made before the case which gives rise to it is settled. Obviously it would cause chaos if lawyers were allowed to appeal every random decision a lower court judge made while the actual case was proceeding, which is probably why it’s necessary to (a) ask the Ninth Circuit for permission to appeal and (b) to argue that the case will suffer “irreparable harm” if the appeal of the given order, in this case denial of class certification, isn’t allowed to proceed while the underlying case is ongoing. The basic argument seems to be this:

Californians have a constitutional right to access their public beaches. Accordingly, Petitioners ask this Court for the opportunity to appeal now, so that their motion for class certification can be given proper consideration under the correct interpretation of rule 23. As this Court has recognized, there is no reason for a plaintiff to litigate to finality “when a certification decision is erroneous and inevitably will be overturned.”

Most of this petition is far too technical for any discourse that I might construct upon it to be profitable for anyone, but the introduction is quite comprehensible and quite stirring. Turn the page to read that. Also, it’s worth reading the summary of the many points where Otero seemingly ignored the expertise of the plaintiffs’ witnesses, but I’m not reproducing that for technical reasons. You can find it, along with the nitty gritty technical nerdview, by reading the petition your own self, friend!
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Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Lawsuit Will Not Be A Class Action! Judge Otero Files Order Denying Motion For Class Certification. But, Says Otero, The Experts Are Mostly But Not Totally Expert Enough!

February 22, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Pretty, pretty Palos Verdes…but no class at all!

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.

Perhaps you recall that yesterday’s scheduled hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion to have their lawsuit against the putative Lunada Bay Boys certified as a class action was cancelled by the Judge on the grounds that he would be able to rule without hearing oral arguments. Well, this morning his order denying class certification hit PACER. I can tell you right now that his reasoning with respect to the conclusion that this case cannot proceed as a class action is completely beyond my ability to interpret sensibly, so you’ll have to figure that part of it out yourself.

The introduction to the order strikes me as pretty skeptical of the plaintiffs’ claims generally, and even a little sarcastic. For instance, in what must be for the plaintiffs a particularly disconcerting example of judicial humor, Otero begins his summary of the facts with the following pun: “Riding the wave of the Point Break remake, Plaintiffs initiated this putative class action lawsuit…” It can’t be pleasant to read insinuations from the judge that one’s lawsuit was essentially a movie tie-in! There are excerpts after the break.

Otero also responded to ongoing debate over plaintiffs’ expert witnesses by saying that the economist Philip King is certainly expert enough, but that his method of arriving at an estimate of $50,000,000 in damages is nonsense.¹ It seems to be that King will be allowed to testify but not testify to damages. Also, Otero says that the plaintiffs’ other expert, Peter Neushul,² is certainly expert enough to testify about surfing in Southern California. Anyway, after the break, find some excerpts from the less technical parts of the order.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Lawsuit Will Not Be A Class Action! Judge Otero Files Order Denying Motion For Class Certification. But, Says Otero, The Experts Are Mostly But Not Totally Expert Enough! →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Plaintiffs: Not Only Is Our Expert Philip King Really Really Expert With Respect To Calculating The Economic Cost Of Lunada Bay Boys Psychopathic Surf Localism, But Defendants’ Motions Challenging Expertise Are Unmitigated Fraudulent Bullshit

February 3, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Philip King of San Francisco State, not just an expert on recreational economics. but a really exceedingly extraordinarily expert expert!

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit.

Oh boy! No doubt you recall that in January, the plaintiffs filed a declaration of Philip King in which King, a professor of economics at San Francisco State who studies coastal recreational economics. King made a preliminary calculation of the economic damage caused by the aggressively psychopathic surf localism of the Lunada Bay Boys at around $50,000,000 since 1970.

Well, a couple weeks ago some of the defendants, namely the City of Palos Verdes Estates and their fine upstanding police chief Jeff Kepley came back on the plaintiffs with a bunch of pleadings claiming that Philip King didn’t have the first idea what he was talking about and asking the court therefore to toss out his declaration and stuff. Tonight the plaintiffs responded with three new items arguing against this and also accusing the defendants of practicing some kind of technical subterfuge on the court by filing a motion to strike and engaging in bad-faith meet-and-confers prior to filing the motion. Links and summaries after the break.
Continue reading Plaintiffs: Not Only Is Our Expert Philip King Really Really Expert With Respect To Calculating The Economic Cost Of Lunada Bay Boys Psychopathic Surf Localism, But Defendants’ Motions Challenging Expertise Are Unmitigated Fraudulent Bullshit →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

City Of Palos Verdes Estates Tells Federal Court That One Of The Plaintiffs’ Experts Ain’t Expert Enough, Other Documents Filed Including Many Responses To Interrogatories

January 21, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

A really pretty archetypally Californian road in the really pretty archetypally Californian City of Palos Verdes Estates, which is a really pretty archetypally Californian example of the kind of hell on earth that gets created around here when zillionaires are allowed to own entire cities and operate them according to customary zillionaire practices.

This is just a short note to memorialize the fact that a bunch of paperwork was filed in the case of Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys. I have added the new material to the Archive.Org page (look for docket numbers 204 through 207). There are links to and brief descriptions of the new material after the break. Don’t forget to look at the plaintiffs’ responses to the defendants’ interrogatories, which aren’t always available to the public via PACER. In this case they were put on the record as part of a lawyer’s declaration. And also don’t forget that there’s an upcoming hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion to certify the case as a class action, scheduled for Tuesday, February 21 at 10 a.m. in Judge Otero’s courtroom 10C in the First Street Courthouse downtown.
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