Senior LAUSD officials knew of child abuse claims, lawyers say

Senior LAUSD officials were allegedly aware of parent complaints in 2009 about a Wilmington teacher who was charged in January with abusing children over an extended period of time, say attorneys who represent alleged victims.

The latest allegations concern the case of Robert Pimentel, 57, who has been charged with molesting 12 students at De La Torre Elementary School. Pimentel has pleaded not guilty.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials had previously acknowledged Pimentel’s principal was aware of allegations in 2002 and 2008. The principal’s alleged failure to act was cited as reason for her removal by L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy. Both Pimental and Principal Irene L. Hinojosa resigned as the district was preparing to fire them.

The superintendent said in January that he did not know whether allegations against Pimental went higher than the principal.

On Thursday, attorneys alleged the allegations reached senior officials, namely Holly Priebe-Diaz, a veteran district mediator, and Linda Del Cueto, who oversees instructional programs in the San Fernando Valley. In 2009, she was one of eight top regional administrators across the nation’s second-largest school system.

Dorner captives stake claim to $1.2-million reward

The Big Bear couple tied up and held captive by ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner are staking their claim to the $1.2-million reward offered for his capture.

In letters sent to the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, an attorney for Karen and Jim Reynolds says the couple’s phone call to police after Dorner fled in their car was the “only information provided to law enforcement” that led to the end of the manhunt.

Dorner was tracked to Big Bear, where he holed up in the Reynolds’ home. He tied them up and stole their car. He crashed it and carjacked another man, Rick Heltebrake, and was eventually chased by authorities to a cabin, where he shot himself as sheriff’s deputies closed in and the cabin burned to the ground.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Dorner was wanted for killing an Irvine couple and two law enforcement officers and wounding others in a nine-day rampage across five Southern California counties, for the sake of revenge. Dorner said in a manifesto police believe he posted online that he wanted to clear his name and hunt down those responsible for his firing from the LAPD.

Defense attorneys should have polled jury after verdict, experts say

A decision not to poll the jurors after Wednesday's verdict in the Bell corruption trial might prove to be an important mistake by the defendants' attorneys, experts indicated.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy has ordered the jury back into deliberations over undecided counts, but not before one juror sent a note Thursday expressing doubt over the guilty verdicts handed down the day before.

"It is better to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt to give a verdict of guilty than send someone innocent to prosecution," the juror wrote.

CHEAT SHEET: Bell corruption verdicts

But on Wednesday -- after receiving a similar juror note -- Kennedy said, "That's done, we're not going to reopen verdicts that have been reached."

When lawyers for the ex-councilmembers raised concerns over the jurors' note Wednesday, Kennedy was quick to point out that attorneys had opted not to poll the jury after the verdict was read, which would have allowed them to individually state how they voted.

Legal expert Dimitry Gorin, a criminal defense attorney, said he makes it a practice to always poll the jury because of the possibility that a juror might change their mind.

FULL COVERAGE: Bell corruption trial

“It’s surprising they passed on that here,” Gorin said.

Robert Sheahen, a veteran Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, said he does it as a matter of routine.

Gorin said the late developments in the Bell trial and verdicts is out of the ordinary.

“Questions from the jury as a collective aren’t unusual, but individual questions are rare and what is happening here is highly unusual and unique,” Gorin said.

TIMELINE: 'Corruption on steroids'

Other experts agreed.

"I have never heard of anything like this in my 40 years of law," Sheahen said. "What is going on now is nothing short of bizarre. To go back and ask to reexamine verdicts doesn't happen."

However, as puzzling as the behavior might be, experts said it was extremely unlikely the jury would be allowed to go back on their decision.

Anaheim police officer cleared in fatal shooting

An Anaheim police officer had reason to believe his life was in danger after cornering a young man in an apartment complex and fatally shooting him in a known hotbed for gang activity, prosecutors say.

After a monthslong investigation, Orange County prosecutors said Wednesday they had cleared Officer Nicholas Bennallack in last summer's shooting -- one in a string of officer-involved shootings that prompted a torrent of unrest in the county's largest city.

"In such a scenario, one can have only a split-second to decide how to proceed," said Assistant Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner, who added that the evidence suggested that Bennallack "believed he was in imminent danger."

PHOTOS: Protests against Anaheim police shootings

Prosecutors said the examination was "thorough," based on dozens of witness interviews, as well as forensic analysis and a review of the employment record of Bennallack and criminal history of Diaz, 25.

In the report, prosecutors said Diaz was a gang member with a previous gun-possession conviction, and disclosed that investigators found a cellphone at the scene that had photographs of Diaz flashing gang signs and brandishing several handguns.

Dana Douglas, an attorney for the Diaz family, criticized the decision to not file charges, calling the findings "biased" and Bennallack — who had been investigated and cleared in another fatal shooting earlier in 2012 — "trigger-happy."

Mayor moves to protect seals in La Jolla; issue returns to court

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has ordered the Children's Pool beach in La Jolla closed at night after viewing a surveillance video of people "harassing, taunting and causing stress" to mother seals and their pups on the beach under the cover of darkness.

"The behavior was shocking, reprehensible and certainly not a reflection of how most citizens in this fine city believe animals should be treated," Filner said in issuing the emergency order this week.

Under the order, the beach will be closed from sunset through sunrise until May 15, considered the end of the pupping season.

A group called Friends of the Children's Pool, which believes the city has tilted too far in supporting the seals over people, is seeking a court order overturning Filner's order. A hearing is set for April 12 in Department 66 of the San Diego County Superior Court.

Soon after taking office, Filner ordered a surveillance camera installed to monitor the beach, day and night. The video shows what appears to be two women sitting on the seals and kicking them.

City Atty. Jan Goldsmith, while noting that Filner did not contact him before issuing the order, said he stands ready to defend the order in court.

"I have seen the videos of the seal abuse and I am appalled," Goldsmith said. "Once we receive information as to the identity of these perpetrators, they will be brought to justice."

For two decades, opposing sides have battled in court and the political realm over the presence of the seals on the horseshoe-shaped beach. One group says the seals should be allowed to remain and be protected; the other says the beach is meant for children and the seals and their droppings imperil public health and restrict access to the tranquil water.

Also at issue in the court hearing will be the rope installed by the city to keep the public away from the seals during pupping season. Friends of the Children's Pool assert the rope exceeds the length permitted by a Coastal Development Permit.

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Bell trial: Jury due back in court to discuss undecided charges

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Bell trial: Judge’s note to jury a setback, defense says

A juror sent the judge in the Bell corruption case a note that showed panel members were struggling with counts surrounding the pay council members received for serving on the Bell Community Housing Authority.

The juror's note, which Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy read in court Thursday, asked whether there was any other state law regarding the Housing Authority.

Kennedy said she would tell jurors that state law says housing authority members can be paid for four meetings a month at the rate of $50 a meeting. The jury is deadlocked on 21 counts related to the Housing Authority.

CHEAT SHEET: Bell corruption verdicts

"There is no other state law providing for compensation for the Community Housing Authority," she said she would respond.

Her answer is a setback for the defense attorneys who had argued that their clients could receive additional pay from the housing authority for work they performed outside meetings. The judge asked jurors to resume deliberations on the deadlocked counts.

Stanley L. Friedman, the attorney for defendant Oscar Hernandez, said that calling the decision a setback "was rather a mild term."

FULL COVERAGE: Bell corruption trial

Kennedy did not buy the defense argument during the often-heated court hearing. "I reject that for the housing authority," she said. "The state law governs the housing authority and the housing authority has a specific statute that says what the compensation is."

Bell trial: Jurors ordered to resume deliberations

Jurors in the Bell corruption trial were ordered Thursday to resume deliberations on the multiple charges they were unable to reach a verdict on, lengthening a drawn-out effort to bring the criminal case to a close.

Jurors returned mixed verdicts Wednesday, convicting five former council members on multiple counts of misappropriation of public funds but acquitting the defendants on an equal number of charges. But jurors were unable to reach a verdict on roughly half the counts.

One of the former council members, Luis Artiga, was acquitted on all charges.

FULL COVERAGE: Bell corruption trial

Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy ordered jurors to resume their efforts to reach a verdict on 42 criminal counts relating to the high salaries the elected officials were drawing in one of Los Angeles County’s poorest cities.

The day began as chaotically as it ended Wednesday, with a juror expressing misgivings about the guilty verdicts that had been handed down. All of the guilty verdicts – each one a felony – related to the council member’s pay for serving on the small town’s Solid Waste and Recycling Authority.

In a note early Thursday, the juror cited the pressure and stress of the deliberation process as his or her reason to rethink the vote on the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority.

CHEAT SHEET: Bell corruption verdicts

A juror also requested more information or evidence on Edward Lee, a former city attorney for Bell who was not called as a witness in the four-week trial. It was not clear if the note was from a different juror than No. 7, who sent a similar note on Wednesday.

Kennedy denied the request to reconsider the guilty verdicts.

Bell jury can't change guilty verdicts, judge and experts say

Despite evidence that some Bell jurors might be having misgivings about the guilty verdicts in the Bell corruption trial, the judge and legal experts said the panel can't change its mind.

In a note delivered Thursday morning, one anonymous juror said, "It is better to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt to give a verdict of guilty than send someone innocent to prosecution."

But on Wednesday -- after receiving a similar juror note -- Judge Kathleen Kennedy said, "That's done, we're not going to reopen verdicts that have been reached."

CHEAT SHEET: Bell corruption verdicts

Legal experts said the behavior is extremely unusual.

"I have never heard of anything like this in my 40 years of law," said Robert Sheahen, a veteran Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. "What is going on now is nothing short of bizarre. To go back and ask to reexamine verdicts doesn't happen."

However, as puzzling as the behavior might be, experts said it was extremely unlikely the jury would be allowed to go back on their decision.

FULL COVERAGE: Bell corruption trial

Gerald F. Uelmen, a Santa Clara University School of Law criminal law professor who was part of the O.J. Simpson defense "dream team," said the "verdict is final once returned and rendered."

"One juror changing their mind afterward doesn't make any difference because the verdict was returned," he said.

Uelmen, who was also a lawyer in the Pentagon Papers case, said defense attorneys could try to pursue an inquiry into the jury deliberations.

TIMELINE: 'Corruption on steroids'

"They will be looking to see if there was any coercion and will probably file motions for a new trial," he said. "But the bottom line is the jury reached its decision."

Laurie Levenson, a former prosecutor and Loyola Law School professor, said defense attorneys may believe it is grounds for an appeal. But if there is no jury misconduct, "second thoughts just aren't enough to challenge the verdicts.

"Second thoughts aren't legal grounds to overturn a verdict once a verdict is rendered," she said. "That is kind of it."

DOCUMENT: Read the charges

To overturn the verdicts, she said, the council members would need to show actual misconduct in the jury room, such as use of outside information.

Fatal blows described in Clark Rockefeller case

The murder trial for Christopher Gerhartsreiter, otherwise known as Clark Rockefeller, in the death of a 27-year-old man whose remains were discovered in 1994 in the backyard of a San Marino home is continuing Thursday in L.A. County Superior Court.

John Sohus suffered at least three potentially fatal blows to the head from a blunt object before his skull was wrapped and buried in two plastic bags bearing insignias of universities linked to Gerhartsreiter, prosecution witnesses testified Wednesday.

Gerhartsreiter — then known as Christopher Chichester — had previously lived in the guest house of the San Marino home where the remains were found.

PHOTOS: Clark Rockefeller investigation

After the discovery, crime scene investigators found four bloodstains on the floor of the guest house, said Lynne Herold, a criminalist for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The bloodstains were not visible to the naked eye, Herold said, but chemical tests showed the blood was wiped while it was still wet. One of the stains was 25 inches wide, she said.

Herold said the technology to identify whom the blood in the guest house belonged to did not exist at the time she examined the scene. It is still unknown how long the blood had been there, whom it belonged to and whether it is human blood, she said.

FULL COVERAGE: Rockefeller imposter on trial

German-born Gerhartsreiter, who is being tried in Sohus' killing, has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys have said there was no forensic evidence linking Gerhartsreiter to the slaying. They said they don't dispute that the buried remains were Sohus' or that he was killed.

Bobby Brown spends only 8 hours in jail

Singer Bobby Brown is now wearing an electronic ankle bracelet and is out of jail after serving eight hours behind bars in connection with a DUI conviction, sheriff's officials said Thursday.

Brown, who was part of the group New Edition and for a time had a successful solo career, reported to court Wednesday to begin serving his sentence of 55 days in jail and four years of informal probation after pleading no contest in February to a DUI charge, one of two such offenses last year by the singer.

Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said Brown was likely to serve no more than nine days in County Jail because of overcrowding, as well as time off for good behavior and credit for "good time work time." But Whitmore also noted the sentence could be influenced by his county probation officials.

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It was their decision to place Brown on an electronic ankle bracelet, Whitmore said. The exact requirements were not available, Whitmore said, but inmates typically cannot travel outside their homes for the time they are under electronic monitoring.

In addition to the jail time for pleas related to drunk driving, driving on a suspended license and a probation violation for a prior DUI incident, Brown also must complete an 18-month alcohol-treatment program and attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week.

Brown, once married to the late Whitney Houston, had been sentenced to a day in jail and three years' probation for the March 26, 2012, arrest, which took place in the San Fernando Valley after officers with the California Highway Patrol spotted him talking on his cellphone while driving.

The second arrest, also in the Valley, took place Oct. 24.

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-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Bobby Brown last year in Connecticut. Credit: Associated Press.