Results tagged “prison”

The way things are going now, being on California's death row seems cozier than a life term without possibility of parole, the LA Times finds. On death row, you get a single cell, good telephone access and "exclusive control over the television, CD player or other diversions in their cells," among other perks. What about that whole death penalty part? A four-year-old moratorium has stopped the practice, at least for now. And in any case, since 1977, 13 executions have occurred while 71 condemned prisoners died by other causes. 685 are currently on death row, making the state's death row population the largest in the country.

Yesterday, Swiss officials refused to grant a bail request for the release of notorious film director Roman Polanski, who has been detained there since late last month following his arrest in Zurich on a thirty-year-old warrant from Los Angeles County. Feeling the flee-friendly and famed French citizen was a flight-risk, the Swiss are not bowing to pressure from members of foreign governments or cinema power-players to let the septuagenarian go.

Susan Atkins, the longest incarcerated woman in California history, died last night of natural causes. The 61-year-old native from San Gabriel was diagnosed with brain cancer, which prompted her to and relatives to ask for a compassionate release. That, along with thirteen attempts to be paroled, was denied last summer. Her last parole hearing was just a few weeks ago on September 3rd (she's been trying to be paroled since 1976).

Interesting fact, via the Disaster Accountability Blog, about how state budget woes and a court order to lower prison population could affect firefighting: According to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation press release, “there are 2,245 adult inmates and 53 Division of Juvenile Justice youth deployed to fires statewide, including Los Angeles, Riverside, and 15 other counties,” under the supervision of “187 correctional officers and supervisors.

Could the 18th time be a charm for Susan Atkins? The San Gabriel-born 61-year-old woman who was "convicted of killing actress Sharon Tate and seven others four decades ago," is up for parole one more time today, according to abc7.com, in a hearing postponed from May 28th.

Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee will arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow after a surprise visit by former President Bill Clinton prompted a pardon by Kim Jong II. In June, they were convicted of entering the country illegally and other unspecified "hostile" acts against the country which led to a sentence of 12 years of hard labor.

The LAPD, its union and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today will discuss the impact to the city if 27,000 people are released from state prisons. While saving the state budget, the cost to taxpayers will be more than $4 billion over three years according to their calculations based on " the number of inmates to be released and standard recidivism rates." That could mean an additional 245,000 new crimes and new crime victims in the same time period statewide. Shees, there goes L.A.'s dropping crime rate. "The people being considered for release are convicted felons," said Paul Weber, the Los Angeles Police Protective League's President. "A large number of them parole violators -- in other words, they are people who have already proven they cannot remain law abiding after being released from prison. That is why they were rearrested and put back into custody."

After a jury found Phil Spector guilty of actress Lana Clarkson's murder, a judge today sentenced the music producer to 15 years to life for second-degree murder and four years for personal use of a gun. "Six years ago, Phil Spector was barely a blip on the American celebrity radar screen," explained the Associated Press of his past. "Although his music lived on, his name and face were only dimly recalled by rock music aficionados until a shooting at his Alhambra mansion propelled him to notoriety." A lottery was done for people who wanted to witness the sentence, noted the LA Weekly. "Deptartment 106 is packing out with media, D.A. types and lottery-drawn spectators," they said.

"Esha Momeni, the 28-year-old grad student that was arrested last month in Iran, has been released by the Iranian government after 25 days in jail," reports CSUN's campus newspaper, the Daily Sundial. Momeni, who was in Iran working on a part of her Master's thesis on women’s issues there, is "is being charged with 'propagandizing against the regime,'" according to professor and chair of Gender & Women's Studies Dr. Nayereh Tohidi. Momeni is expected to return to the US next week. The Daily News reports that "Hassan Hussein, a close friends of Momeni's, said she was freed on bail after her family surrendered the deed to their home to Iranian authorities."

Father Greg Boyle is the director and founder of Homeboy Industries, a well respected Los Angeles organization that works to educate and provide job training for at-risk youth and former gang members. Connie Rice is the director of the Advancement Project Los Angeles and is a prominent civil rights activist and lawyer. They are featured speaking out against Proposition 6, a measure that could bring lengthier sentences for youth, try 14 year olds as adults for "gang-related" crimes, and increase our prison overcrowding problem in California (link to LAist profile of Prop 6)

What is Proposition 6? Prop 6, also known as the Runner Initiative or the Safe Neighborhoods Act, is a move to increase funding for police and prisons and toughen penalties on "gang-related" and drug crime . It has been introduced by George Runner (Republican state senator) and his wife Sharon Runner (Republican state assemblywoman).

The porn star who goes by the name Tony Eveready, most famously known on the internet for his solo double penetration performances called a "booyah" (the usual penetration at the same time as nuts in the butt, errr), was sentenced to over six years in prison, according to the Daily News. Duane Reed Moore, 37, of Winnetka was driving in the West Valley last October when he was stopped by the LAPD for having no license plate. They found nearly four grams of cocaine, two guns and a collapsible baton. He said he dealt the drugs when the industry was slow and that the guns were used for filming. He was found guilty for possession of a firearm and cocaine. According to his MySpace page, he was in jail and charged with crimes prior to the October 2007 arrest.

Former gang member, now community activist Najee Ali, 45, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty for attempting to bribe a witness in a case about his daughter. He normally would have recieved two years, but the doubling was due to a 1992 robbery conviction and a 2004 parole violation, according to the LA Times. Ali has been a consistent figure in local activism, once being appointed to a city commission by then Mayor Jim Hahn even after Chief Bratton called him "one of the biggest nitwits in Los Angeles" on CNN. Bratton later apologized.

It's good to solve a cold case and what makes this one easier to deal with is the fact that the accused criminal is already in jail. From the LAPD: "The Robbery-Homicide Division’s (RHD) Detectives, obtained a warrant for the arrest of Michael Hubert Hughes, 51-years-old, charging four counts of murder with additional charges relating to sexual assault of the four female victims. The series of crimes occurred between 1986 and 1993. Three occurred in the City of Los Angeles and one in the City of Inglewood. RHD detectives investigating the murders determined that Hughes who is serving a life sentence in a California State Prison for similar murder convictions was responsible for the additional four cases charged today."

Calculating prison terms and release dates may more easily lead to errors in numbers, but when it comes to who has the honor of being California's longest-incarcerated woman, that distinction does indeed belong to Susan Atkins, the former Manson family member who is currently asking for a compassionate release from her life sentence.

Last week, news that one branch of what remains of the Manson family tree, Susan Atkins, was seeking a compassionate release due to an undisclosed and likely terminal illness triggered waves of reaction from the public, many of whom believe convicts of Atkins' ilk should remain incarcerated for the duration of their life sentences.

Convicted murderer Susan Atkins has earned a dubious honor: She has been the longest incarcerated woman in California history*, having logged 37 of her 59 years as an inmate following her conviction in the famous 1969 "Manson Murders."

The results of a recent survey administered in seven public schools in South Los Angeles are downright depressing. Students feel scared, unmotivated, unsupported, and ignored, and it's causing many to experience the symptoms of clinical depression. Administrators and psychologists agree, noting that the multiple killings of youth in the community leaves a pall on the students, and that their choice to skip school because they are "tired, had trouble sleeping, felt helpless or hopeless, were bored or felt lazy" is to be expected. With schools a reflection of a depressive environment, it's no wonder their students are sad.

• One week after being subdued in his cell with a taser gun and lapsing into a coma, 35-year-old Orange County inmate Jason Jesus Gomez has died, officials announced today. Gomez, who was in jail for a probation violation, stopped breathing after officers used the taser on him during a scuffle.
• Say cheese: LA City Council voted today to approve a contract that will put cameras in 300 LAPD cars.
• Just like Britney Spears, blonde bombshell Farrah Fawcett had her alluring face and form plastered on posters in bedrooms all over the country. Now, also like Spears, Fawcett's medical records were subject to some prying eyes.
• The tragic details of a 911 call placed last fall by a 15-year-old girl whose family was murdered in the yard while gathered for a barbeque have been released by authorities. Danielle Blixt made the call before realizing the killer was her own brother, who also committed suicide during the bloody incident.
• You'rrrrrrreeeeee OUT! "Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa was suspended for three games and fined by the commissioner's office Wednesday following a wild argument." Bowa got the boot from last night's game versus the Giants.
• Shell game: A Diamond Bar man has been sentenced to spend 6 1/2 months in prison for participating in an international smuggling ring that brought rare Asian tortoises into the country.
• Pandora's Box? The Community Thrift Store in Covina found an unusual item nestled among the items in a box of donated goods: A grenade! The building was evacuated.
• Are you Hollywood or Westside? Do you know enough about local landmarks, newsmakers, history, and...cashmere sweaters? Have a high tolerance threshold for the misspelling of well-know spots in the city (i.e. Pizzeria Mozzo and Grumman's Chinese Theatre? Ahem.) and cross-promotion? Represent your 'hood over at the MetroChallenge, an online quiz tied to the crop of new Metro Collection condos in partnership with our friends over at CurbedLA.

Willie Earl Green was arrested 25 years ago for shooting to death a woman in a crack house. Today, his conviction has been overturned by L.A. Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus, and he has been freed from jail.

Three Los Angeles Sheriff Department (LASD) deputies assigned to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown are suspended (or, paid leave, that is) as a criminal investigation is opened into accusations from an inmate saying that he was isolated by them, punched and pepper-sprayed in the anus and scrotum area. It all started when inmate Alejandro Franco, 23, who is there for "allegedly violating terms of his probation for a domestic violence conviction," swore at a deputy when he requested a clean shirt and was refused.

About 45 minutes after the argument, three deputies removed him from his cell, handcuffed him and took him to a recreation area away from other inmates, Franco said.

Continue reading "Police Accused of Pepper-Spraying Inmate's Genital Area"

There are 14,000 firefighters our there right now helping protecting us. 3,000 of them are prison inmates who began working the front lines yesterday.A spokesman for the corrections department says it's close to the most the state has ever used. The inmates go through a four-week training program. They must be physically fit, have no history of violent crime and have between four months to three years remaining on their sentences. They're paid $1...