On September 27, 2022, the San Bernardino County Sheriff Deputies Office was searching for Savannah Graziano, who had been allegedly abducted by her father Anthony Graziano. Anthony had allegedly shot Tracy Martinez, Savannah’s mother, the day before.   Deputies cornered Anthony’s vehicle on a freeway 80 miles east of Los Angeles. As Savannah exited the vehicle, deputies opened fire. Savannah was killed. Sheriff’s officials claimed after the shooting that it was unclear whether Savannah was shot by deputies or her father and claimed they didn’t realize it was Savannah when she exited ..read more

Annaleine Reynolds purchased an empty lot for about $22,500 at a Hawaiian tax auction in 2018. Reynolds had intended to leave the lot empty to use as a meditative healing woman’s retreat. The lot was still empty when Reynolds flew back to California. Reynolds stayed in California when the pandemic struck. Reynolds was rather surprised when she received a call from a real estate broker in 2023 claiming that he had just sold the house on her property.   Keaau Development Partnership hired PJ’s Construction to build multiple homes on the properties that Keaau had purchased. PJ’s Constru ..read more

In public relations, the customer is always right in tastes especially if the taste could kill them. On October 5, 2023, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a New York State doctor, and her husband, Jeffrey J. Piccolo, stopped at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at the Downtown Disney Center at Disneyworld for dinner. The couple allegedly chose to eat there to accommodate Dr. Tangsuan’s food allergy to nuts. Dr. Tangsuan allegedly told their server about her allergies and the server responded that their food could be made without specific food items if so ordered. The couple ordered “Sure I’m Frit ..read more

John Cheeks thought his entire life was about to change in January 2023 when he saw that the Powerball winning numbers matched his ticket. He was right, though not in the way he expected. When Mr. Cheeks presented his ticket to the Office of Lottery and Gaming, his claim was denied. The office claimed that he did not have the winning ticket and instructed him to throw his ticket in the trash can instead. Instead, Mr. Cheeks filed a lawsuit for the $340million jackpot, plus interest he would have earned on it per day. Powerball and a lottery contractor, the DC-based Taoti Enterprises, claim the ..read more

King County Prosecutors have declined to press criminal charges against Seattle Officer Kevin Dave for the death of Jaahnavi Kandula in January 2023. Officer Kevin Dave hit Kandula with his Ford sport utility vehicle while driving 74 mph moments at the moment of impact. Kandula was using a cross-walk. Officer Dave was responding to a call about a third-party overdosing on cocaine. The speed limit was 25mph. The case had drawn significant media attorney because Officer Daniel Auderer, a police union representative left his body camera on while speaking with another officer. Auderer could be hea ..read more

Florida passed a law in May 2023 banning Chinese citizens from owning homes or land in the state. The law targets individuals who are “domiciled” in China and are not US citizens or green card holders from purchasing buildings or land in the state. There is a narrow exception for non-tourist visa holders whose countries own a single property that is at least five miles from critical infrastructure. Governor DeSantis stated that the law would help protect Americans from the influence of the Chinese Community Party. The law also bars citizens from Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North ..read more

Imagine if you burned down a national park, destroyed 20 buildings, and killed a firefighter, all so that you could get the perfect family photo. And then the media misrepresents your intentions as a “gender reveal” party instead of the tasteful family outing that it actually was. A real tragedy that it was misreported… On September 5, 2020, Refugio Jimenez Jr. and Angelina Jimenez staged a photo shoot with their young children for their baby’s gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch in Yuciapia, at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains. Their smoke-generating pyrotechnic machine was set off in a ..read more

Former actor Gina Carano has filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Corporation and Lucasfilm for alleged wrongful termination. The suit was filed in federal court in California. Carano alleges she was fired from her role on the Disney+ show Mandalorian for voicing right-wing opinions online. She is seeking a court order requiring Lucasfilm reinstate her or compensate her for at least $75,000. Carano claims in the suit that she suffered emotional damage and lost millions of dollars in income. Carano also claims that Disney and Lucasfilm discriminated against her, and alleges that male colleag ..read more

If your driver’s license shows a different sex than how certain people view you does that constitute fraud? The state of Florida is prepared to make that argument even if it leads to illicit sex discrimination. Robert Kynoch, the deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, issued a memo dated January 26, 2024 that said “establishing gender on a newly issued Florida Driver License is based on the supporting documents provided with an application.” Kynoch defined “gender” as a synonym for “sex,” which to Kynoch is determined by innate and immutable b ..read more

Most states have a “waiting period” for divorcing couples before their divorce is finalized. What happens if a state applies a longer waiting period for some divorcing couples than others though? Would that discrimination be legal? Missouri law prohibits courts from finalizing a divorce when a woman in the couple is pregnant. Texas and a few other states have an informal policy among their state’s judiciary that divorces should not be finalized while a woman is pregnant. However, a pregnancy would impact the custody and child support terms of a divorce. If the woman has twins, triplets, or a c ..read more