Federal Civil Rights Violations Lawsuit - Calguns Foundation California Attorney General Kamala Harris and DOJ Firearms Bureau Chief Stephen Lindley

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

The Calguns Foundation filed a new federal civil rights lawsuit this morning on behalf of three California residents, naming Attorney General Kamala Harris and DOJ Bureau of Firearms Chief Stephen Lindley as defendants. The case challenges the California Department of Justice's practice of denying individuals' fundamental rights protected under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

The Department, through defendants Harris and Lindley, have been and continue to enforce a policy of forbidding many gun purchasers from taking possession of their lawfully-obtained firearms through what are commonly referred to as "DROS delays", sometimes for over a year or indefinitely.

One plaintiff in the case, Darren Owen of Taft, California, has been denied his firearm for over 18 months.

"It's the government's responsibility to timely prove that someone has already been adjudicated and their Constitutional right to purchase and possess guns taken away through due process," explained Gene Hoffman, the Foundation's Chairman. "It's not the individual's job to prove that they have fundamental rights."

"By shifting the burden to the individual, the DOJ is blatantly violating the Constitution and thumbing its nose at the U.S. Supreme Court's D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago decisions."

Victor Otten, an attorney for the plaintiffs, agrees. "Our clients are not prohibited from owning guns under state and federal law," noted Otten. "The bottom line is that if the DOJ cannot determine that someone is ineligible to possess firearms in a timely manner with all of the databases and law enforcement resources it has at its disposal, then they have no choice but to allow our clients and other similarly-situated gun owners to take possession of their firearms."

Under current California law, the DOJ must permit a firearm purchaser to receive their firearm at the end of the 10-day DROS background check period unless it determines that the purchaser is not eligible to possess or purchase firearms. Earlier this year, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D - San Francisco) amended his bill AB 500 to allow the Department of Justice to deny the release of firearms for up to 30 days. AB 500 is presently awaiting California Governor Jerry Brown's action.

"We've received hundreds of reports like those at issue in this case and it's a virtual certainty that there are thousands of others like the individual plaintiffs out there," said the Foundation's Executive Director, Brandon Combs. "The DOJ's policy is nothing short of outrageous."

Continued Combs, "It's time for the DOJ to respect the Second Amendment. If the Attorney General and her staff refuse to do it voluntarily, we will not hesitate to force it in the courts. In filing this case, we seek to ensure that the Constitutionally-enshrined fundamental rights of Californians to buy and possess firearms are respected no matter how far Ms. Harris or Assemblymember Ammiano might wish the DOJ's powers extended."

The new federal lawsuit is entitled Darrin Owen, et. al. vs. Kamala Harris, et. al. and may be viewed or downloaded at
http://ia601002.us.archive.org/8/items/gov.uscourts.caed.259271/gov.uscourts.caed.259271.docket.html

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DUI Not Driving

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Can you imagine how difficult life would be without being able to drive? Think about how many times you jump in the car for a quick trip to the store, the dry cleaners or to pick up your child from a friend’s house. With countless errands needing to be run on weekends and using the car to get to and from entertainment activities, we spend a big portion of our time driving. And that’s before you consider the commute to and from work.

But driving is a privilege and when people get a DUI not driving becomes a way of life. If you are arrested for DUI in California, your license is taken and you must attend a hearing at the DMV to try to get it back. If you are convicted of drunk driving, your license can be suspended for several months. You may or may not be able to get a restricted license which means you have to rely on public transportation or having friends pick you up to get back and forth to work. Eventually you are going to have to tell people the humiliating reason you cannot drive.

Besides not being able to drive, you will have to pay fines and will most likely be dropped by your insurance carrier. You may have to secure a vehicle liability insurance bond known as Form SR22 after your license has been reinstated. The ramifications of DUI convictions are serious. It is best to avoid them completely by never getting behind the wheel after drinking.

More Information...  http://duidaily.com/dui-not-driving/

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DUI Checkpoint Locator

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

For many years, the California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies in California have set up DUI checkpoints to deter people from drinking and driving and also to remove drunk drivers from the road before they could cause harm to themselves or others. Depending on the agency, sobriety checkpoint dates may be announced in advance with the locations kept confidential until the day of the checkpoint.

In order to circumvent officers and alert drivers to the whereabouts of sobriety checkpoints, a variety of individuals and groups have created DUI checkpoint locator Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and text messaging services. The individuals or groups send out notices to followers alerting them to where checkpoints are located throughout the state.

Drivers who want to take the initiative and find out the location of checkpoints proactively, can send a text to Mr. Checkpoint with the message NODUI. The creator of this free service states that he is helping to deter drunk drivers because, when they realize the locations of checkpoints, they are apt to not drink if they are in that specific area. Mr. Checkpoint also has a Twitter account and people can also check the website to find out about area sobriety checkpoints that they want to avoid.

A DUI checkpoint Facebook page has been created to alert the page’s fans to checkpoints throughout California. The area that the checkpoint is being set up as well as the timeframe is posted on the page. Fans will also chime in with messages alerting others about checkpoints that do not appear on the page.

Drunk Driving Checkpoints Los Angeles

Police are often working to find new and more effective ways of catching drunk drivers, and one of the more effective of these are drunk driving checkpoints Los Angeles residents have to drive through while on their way to a particular area. Checkpoints can take a variety of forms, from having a patrol car hidden behind something and watching for drunken behavior to actually having each and every car stop and talk with a police officer a bit.

If you’re intoxicated enough where the police may notice (which, if you’re talking face-to-face, they certainly will), you’ll almost certainly be given a DUI charge right then and there. In addition to tests like the breathalyzer, however, a police officer at a checkpoint might also look inside your vehicle for signs of things like opened bottles of alcohol that would help to prove your intoxication. Fortunately, there’s still hope for you.

Most drunk driving cases are fairly straightforward in court because, among other things, the legal system is used to dealing with them and has a fairly good idea of what penalties to apply in each situation. Legal representation can often convince the court to lower or modify any applicable punishments, including the potential of saving your license and avoiding a major disruption in your life as a result of being caught at a checkpoint for drunk driving within the Los Angeles area. Of course, the easiest way of all to avoid a DUI charge is to avoid drinking at all or select a designated driver for the evening.



More Information...   http://duidaily.com/category/checkpoints/

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Victoria’s Secret Cardholders Where Misled by Debt Collectors Class Action Lawsuit

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

On Wednesday, September 11, two debt collection companies were hit with a class action lawsuit accusing them of misleading Victoria’s Secret credit card holders about the accruing interest on their debts.

New Jersey resident Justina Luna filed the class action lawsuit, claiming that Allied Interstate LLC failed to properly inform her about the accruing interest on her defaulted Victoria’s Secret account when it sent her a collection letter in September 2012, allegedly in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The Victoria’s Secret account was purchased by CVF, a purchaser of defaulted debt. CVF is listed as the current creditor for the account.


“The FDCPA broadly prohibits unfair or unconscionable collection methods; conduct which harasses, oppresses or abuses any debtor; and any false, deceptive or misleading statements, in connection with the collection of a debt and requires certain disclosures,” the Victoria’s Secret credit card class action lawsuit says.

According to the class action lawsuit, the letter sent by Allied only stated that it was attempting to collect on a $272.97 balance owed on the defaulted Victoria’s Secret credit card. The letter did not indicate that interest would continue to accrue on the unpaid principal balance. According to Luna, the letter simply asserted that she owed a fixed sum.

“By sending the letter … Allied violated the FDCPA because the collection letter was subject to two interpretations because it did not explain that interest would continue to accrue on the unpaid principal balance and asserted that a fixed sum was owed,” the Victoria’s Secret credit card class action lawsuit says. Luna also claims that CVF is vicariously liable for Allied’s conduct because it acted as an agent of Allied.

At some point after Luna received the letter from Allied, her defaulted account was sold or transferred to LVNV Funding LLC, another entity that buys consumer debt. On June 25, after the debt had been transferred to LVNV, Luna received another letter from Allied, stating that it was attempting to collect the balance on her Victoria’s Secret credit card. The amount it claimed she owed was $283.74. In this letter, Allied informed her that interest was accruing on the account.

By filing the class action lawsuit, Luna seeks to represent a putative class of New Jersey residents who received a letter from Allied that failed to inform them that interest would accrue on unpaid debts owed to Victoria’s Secret. She is seeking statutory damages, litigation expenses, attorneys’ fees and other relief to be determined by the court. She believes that there will be at least 40 Class Members who are eligible to join the class action lawsuit.

Luna is represented by Ryan L. Gentile of The Law Offices of Gus Michael Farinella PC.

The Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Class Action Lawsuit is Justina Luna v. Allied Interstate LLC et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-05404, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Find out more.... http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/4929-class-action-lawsuit-claims-debt-collectors-misled-victoria-s-secret-cardholders

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#MassShootings in 2013 within the USA

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

The FBI's definition of mass murder is the slaying of four or more people. There have been at least 17 such tragedies already this year where the victims were gunned down, but shootings related to drug or gang violence often get less attention than those perpetrated by a crazed gunman.

HuffPost combed through a variety of news sources, including Reddit's community-generated database of mass shootings, and came up with this graphic, which may be incomplete. Killing sprees that occurred in more than one location were counted, but mass shootings that unfolded over more than one day, such as the string of homicides committed by ex-cop Christopher Dorner in Los Angeles, were not.

This is just one small and somewhat arbitrary measure of gun violence, but it shows that mass shootings have become too common for each to be treated as a national event. Guns have killed about 24,580 Americans since Newtown, according to Slate's estimate based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Sept. 16, 2013 - Washington, D.C. - 13 dead (including gunman)
Defense contract employee and former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis, 34, allegedly opened fire shortly after 8 a.m. inside building 197 in the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people and wounding more than a dozen others. Alexis was slain in a gun battle with police.

Sept. 11, 2013 - Crab Orchard, Tenn. - 4 dead
Jacob Allen Bennett, 26, was arrested in the shooting deaths of a woman and three teenagers. Their bodies were found in a car about 50 miles west of Knoxville, Tenn.

August 14, 2013 - Oklahoma City, Okla. - 4 dead
Daniel Livingston Green, 40, was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder, after his mother, sister and her two children were discovered fatally shot inside their home.

August 11, 2013 - Omaha, Neb. - 4 dead
Nikko Jenkins, 26, was arrested for allegedly shooting four people in the head. Police say three of the four victims had no connection to Jenkins.

Aug. 7, 2013 - Dallas - 4 dead
Erbie Lee Bowser, 44, a former teacher and Dallas Mavericks hip-hop dancer, was charged with two counts of capital murder after police said he attacked the homes of his estranged wife and his girlfriend, killing both women and two of their children. Four additional people were wounded in the attacks.

July 26, 2013 - Hialeah, Fla. - 7 dead (including gunman)
Police say Pedro Vargas, 42, went on a shooting spree in his South Florida apartment complex, killing the building's two managers, a family of three, and a man returning from his son's boxing practice. Before the attack, Vargas called the police asking the dispatcher to run the license plate of a vehicle parked outside the building, after reporting he had been followed and threatened by people doing witchcraft.
Vargas was killed by a SWAT team after an eight-hour stand-off with police, during which he took two people hostage. The hostages were rescued when the SWAT team stormed the apartment.

July 26, 2013 - Clarksburg, W. Va. - 4 dead
Sidney Muller, 27, was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing two individuals after a drug deal gone wrong. Muller allegedly then turned his weapon on two passersby, a father and his son who were delivering the local newspaper, killing them.

June 7, 2013 - Santa Monica, Calif. - 5 dead (including gunman)
Police say John Zawahri, 23, armed with a homemade assault rifle and high-capacity magazines, killed his brother and father at their home and then headed to Santa Monica College, where he carjacked a woman, ordering her to drive him around while he fired at other people. The woman escaped unharmed but two other people were gunned down.
Zawahri was confronted by police outside the school's library. They traded fire and police officers ultimately shot him dead.

May 11, 2013 - Waynesville, Ind. - 4 dead
Four bodies were discovered in a home after a vicious killing that authorities said was a drug-related crime. One victim's son returned home to find the bodies and reported them to 911. Police say Samuel Sallee, 55, is the prime suspect in the case.

May 10, 2013 - Fernley, Nev. - 5 dead
Jeremiah Bean, 25, was arrested days after allegedly killing an elderly couple in their home, then a newspaper delivery man and another couple nearby. Police say the first attack went undetected, giving Bean the opportunity to commit the three others. He was arraigned on 19 counts, including first-degree murder, arson and burglary.

April 24, 2013 - Manchester, Ill. - 5 dead
Rick Odell Smith, 43, allegedly stormed a home, killing five members of the same family. Smith had been in a dispute with at least one of the victims, potentially over the custody of a child, police said. The five victims included a grandmother, her granddaughter, the granddaughter's boyfriend and their two children.

April 21, 2013 - Federal Way, Wash. - 4 dead (including gunman)
A domestic-violence homicide claimed three additional lives before the gunman was killed by responding officers. Police say Dennis Clark III, 27, shot and killed his girlfriend in their shared apartment before killing two witnesses in the building's parking lot and a third victim in another apartment.

April 18, 2013 - Akron, Ohio - 4 dead
Derrick Brantley and Deshanon Haywood, both 21, were each charged for the murder of four adults, two men and two women, who had been found shot in the head in a townhouse basement. Police say two guns were used.

March 13, 2013 - Herkimer County, N.Y. - 4 dead
In a shooting rampage that spanned two upstate New York villages, Kurt Meyers, 64, allegedly took the lives of four people. Police say Meyers first opened fire in a barber shop in Mohawk, killing two customers, one a retired corrections officer. The gunman then fled to an auto care business in neighboring Herkimer and fatally shot an employee and a customer who was a 23-year veteran of the state Department of Corrections. According to authorities, the gunman had no money, no job and was maxed out on his credit cards.

Jan. 19, 2013 - Albuquerque, N.M. - 5 dead
Nehemiah Griego, 15, is accused of killing both his parents and three younger siblings. According to police documents, Griego shot his mother while she slept, then killed his brother and sisters after they woke up. Griego told authorities he ambushed his father, who was returning home from work, with a semi-automatic rifle that his parents owned. All victims appeared to have gunshot wounds to the head. New Mexico authorities also report that the teen had planned to go to Walmart and randomly shoot people.

Jan. 7, 2013 - Tulsa, Okla. - 4 dead
Brothers Cedric Poore, 39, and James Poore, 32, are accused of killing four women, two of whom were twins. The victims, found in an apartment, were all mothers, and a 3-year-old boy was also found unharmed.

Source.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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Disney's Unauthorized Disneyland Horror Movie Will There Be a Legal Battle?

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Sundance breakout "Escape From Tomorrow," which depicts Disney princesses as prostitutes and was filmed without permission inside Disney's parks, fails to provoke a legal response from a studio unwilling to dole out free press.

The movie's backstory has all the ingredients of a classic Hollywood lawsuit: Escape From Tomorrow, a microbudgeted horror pic set for release Oct. 11, was filmed without permission inside Disneyland and Disney World and incorporates several of The Walt Disney Co.'s iconic (and copyrighted) characters doing things like attempting to crush a child.

What's more, Producers Distribution Agency, an arm of indie player John Sloss' Cinetic Media (along with Abramorama and FilmBuff), is brazenly provoking Disney's legal pit bulls with a poster that spells out the title in the company's familiar bubbly handwriting, above which looms an image of a Mickey Mouse-like blood-soaked hand.

Instant litigation, right? Not this time. Unlike so many knee-jerk studio reactions, sources tell THR that Disney will give this movie a free pass.

It's not that the company doesn't have a case. When the David Lynch-ian black-and-white film premiered at Sundance in January, many assumed it would be blocked by Disney lawyers faster than the Queen of Hearts could shout, "Off with their heads!" Director Randy Moore's dark vision is brimming with racy perversions of studio property, including Disney princesses depicted as high-class prostitutes and a parkwide outbreak of a deadly flu virus.

Loyola Law School professor Jay Dougherty says shooting the film inside a Disney park isn't necessarily actionable (beyond a possible trespassing claim on violation of park rules), and "fair use" exceptions to copyright law could be a defense for using the characters in a larger narrative. But "Disney could have a stronger case regarding trademark law and trademark dilution," he adds.

The trailer for Tomorrow slyly notes that the film has not been approved by Disney, but the poster bears no disclaimer distancing the studio from the movie -- and its Disney-esque font might confuse moviegoers into thinking it is studio-approved.

Regardless, Disney -- set to release its own Disneyland-set movie, Saving Mr. Banks, in December -- has decided the less attention paid, the better. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, but a studio source says the strategy is to avoid giving Tomorrow attention that could lead to bigger box office. After all, The Weinstein Co. this year parlayed Warner Bros.' objections to using the title The Butler, which Warners owns, into a mountain of media that put its film on the public's radar.

Disney's silence, rather than legal might, ultimately could hurt Tomorrow, according to studio marketing executives surveyed by THR. Because so much of the film's fascination hinges on its Disney-defying reputation, a shrug of the studio's shoulders could deflate that buzz like a three-day-old Mylar balloon.

Source.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

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Justin Timberlake's Aunt Arrested For $64,000 Check Forgery

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

His aunt is currently locked up after allegedly stealing $64,000 from his parents in a check forging scheme.

According to law enforcement, Jane Harless -- whose brother Paul married Justin's mother when the singer was 5 -- was arrested in Shelby County, TN on Friday after cops say they found evidence she forged more than 100 bad checks.

Source....  http://www.tmz.com

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