Nassar attack happened in his cell, away from cameras

• July 12, 2023

By Michael R. Sisak and Michael Balsamo | Associated Press

Investigators probing disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar’s stabbing Sunday at a federal penitentiary in Florida are lacking a key piece of evidence: video of the assault.

Nassar was attacked inside his cell, a blind spot for prison surveillance cameras that only record common areas and corridors, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. In federal prison parlance, because of the lack of video, it is known as an “unwitnessed event.”

It’s the second time Nassar, the former U.S. women’s gymnastics team doctor, has been assaulted in federal custody while he’s serving decades in prison for sexually abusing athletes and possessing explicit images of children.

The attack, which left Nassar hospitalized in stable condition with injuries including a collapsed lung, underscored persistent problems at the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Despite the Biden administration’s vow to fix the broken prison system — with new leadership and an emphasis on turning prisoners into “good neighbors” — the agency has continued to struggle with violence, understaffing, abuse and misconduct.

Nassar’s stabbing, just weeks after “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a North Carolina federal medical center and amid lingering fallout from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 jail suicide, also highlighted the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe.

“This kind of violence in our federal prisons is inexcusable,” said Daniel Landsman, the deputy director of policy at the criminal justice advocacy group FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimums. “The failures that led to this assault are not isolated — too often we see similar incidents impact incarcerated people across the country.”

“The assault of Larry Nassar raises a number of questions regarding safety in in federal prisons,” Landsman said.

The Bureau of Prisons did not respond Tuesday to AP’s questions about Nassar’s stabbing, and violence, low staffing levels and other problems plaguing its facilities. In a statement Monday, the agency confirmed an altercation involving an inmate at the United States Penitentiary Coleman, but declined to identify the person “for privacy, safety and security reasons.”

Nassar, 59, was attacked inside his cell Sunday by a prisoner armed with a makeshift weapon, according to the person familiar with the matter. Nassar was stabbed multiple times in the neck, chest and back. Two officers guarding the unit where Nassar was held were working mandated overtime shifts because of staffing shortages, the person said.

The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack or the ongoing investigation and did so on condition anonymity.

Nassar was previously assaulted in May 2018 at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, within hours of being placed in general population — an attack his lawyers blamed on the notoriety of his case and a seven-day televised sentencing where scores of victims made impassioned statements. Nassar’s lawyers did not specify the nature or severity of that attack.

Cell doors on most federal prison units are typically open during the day, letting prisoners move around freely within the facility. Surveillance cameras aren’t positioned to see inside cells, though other cameras may have captured Nassar’s assailant walking in and out of the cell.

At some federal prison facilities, including the Manhattan jail where Epstein died, surveillance cameras been found to malfunction or not record at all — an issue Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sought to address last December with a law requiring the Bureau of Prisons to overhaul failing and outdated security systems. The agency, however, has been slow to make progress.

Facing increased scrutiny in the wake of Epstein’s suicide and an ongoing AP investigation that has uncovered myriad scandals, Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters has pledged to overhaul recruiting and hiring practices and end systemic abuse and corruption.

But changing the culture of the massive agency — the Justice Department’s largest with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion — has proved exceedingly difficult. Correctional workers say they’ve seen no meaningful reforms to fix longtime staffing problems that put inmates’ and their own lives at risk.

Just two weeks before Nassar’s stabbing, workers at the Florida prison complex where he was attacked organized a protest outside a nearby supermarket to highlight what they said were dangerous staffing levels.

“They’re going to have somebody killed, either staff or an inmate, if they don’t fix the problem,” said Jose Rojas, the union president at the Coleman prison complex. “We sounded the alarm, we warned the public, and I hate to be prophetic, but we were right.”

At Nassar’s prison, known as USP Coleman II, nearly one-quarter of correctional officer positions are vacant, according to records obtained by AP. Staffing guidelines show the facility, with more than 1,200 prisoners, should have 222 correctional officers. Only 169 positions are filled.

The day Nassar was stabbed, 44 posts were left vacant and unassigned at the prison, records show. One of the officers assigned to Nassar’s unit was working a third straight 16-hour day, while the other officer was on a second straight day of mandated overtime.

The AP has revealed widespread criminal conduct by employees, sexual abuse by workers, inmate escapes, and staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies.

Last August, the Justice Department appointed Peters — a reformer who previously ran Oregon’s state prison system — to replace former Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, a Trump administration holdover who clashed with Congress, claimed staffing wasn’t problematic and had to be subpoenaed before attending one of his last oversight hearings.

Peters, in turn, has focused on shifting the Bureau of Prisons away from its strictly carceral roots, emphasizing that “our job is to make good neighbors, not good inmates.” Peters has rewritten the agency’s mission statement to emphasize employees’ job to “foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety” by preparing people behind bars for successful reentry into their communities.

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Hotline 2-1-1 OC is now under OC United Way

• July 12, 2023

The hotline that connects residents with social services, 2-1-1 OC, has been acquired by Orange County United Way, a nonprofit that provides a wide range of health and human care services.

“It is an honor to build on the important work of 211OC and establish a path forward that will enhance and grow this essential service to the community, ” said Susan Parks, CEO of Orange County United Way, which took control of the hotline on July 1.

“At Orange County United Way, our mission is to improve lives in our community, and we are committed to strengthening 211OC well into the future.”

Steve Churm, former chair of the nonprofit’s board of directors, said the integration is “a major step forward in providing critical housing, food, employment and crisis assistance and resources to those in need.”

When dialing “211,” community members are connected to an information and referral specialist who assesses their needs and connects them with the correct resources in their communities such as housing, food and employment assistance.

Between Jan. 2023 – June 2023, 211OC reported 58,015 calls. The hotline’s reach is expected to expand as a result of the acquisition.

“The Board of Directors of 211OC is very excited about the possibilities offered by Orange County United Way,” said Janice Genevro, chair of the 211OC board. “211OC has helped thousands of our Orange County neighbors connect with needed services over the past four decades. Stronger together, Orange County United Way with 211OC will continue to lead efforts to use technology to provide better care, coordinate service delivery, and support the work of community-based agencies.”

Hotline staff who are eligible will become employees of Orange County United Way and Karen Williams, president and CEO at 211OC, will have an advisory role in the new organization. According to their 2021 Form 990, 211OC staffed 49 employees and 164 volunteers.

“All 211OC employees were offered the opportunity to apply. And everyone who has interviewed has accepted a position,” Parks said.

“We will be planning listening sessions to hear from partner organizations and the community on how we can grow and evolve 211OC. We look forward to gaining community input on expanding the scale and impact of the service into the future.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers find their quarterback on Day 3 of draft in DJ Uiagalelei

• July 12, 2023

The Dodgers concluded the MLB amateur draft on Tuesday with 10 picks. The final selection, DJ Uiagalelei, was the most intriguing. Drafted out of Oregon State, he has never played for the Beavers – or played baseball since high school.

Uiagalelei was born in Riverside and played both baseball and football at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower. He boasted a mid-90s fastball as a high school pitcher and was considered a five-star recruit as a quarterback. He continued his college career at Clemson but only competed in football.

In 2019, Uiagalelei told Yahoo! Sports “it would be a dream to be a relief pitcher. You only have to come in and throw an inning. You get paid to throw one inning a night. You don’t have to save energy. You can go all out.”

Uiagalelei completed his undergraduate degree at Clemson, then transferred to Oregon State with two years of NCAA eligibility remaining. His brother, Matayo, starred in football at St. John Bosco before committing to the University of Oregon.

Uiagalelei, 22, was the 610th overall pick in the draft, which lasted 20 rounds.

The Dodgers drafted two other Southern California products on Day 3 of the draft.

South Hills High left-handed pitcher Sterling Patrick (18th round, 550th pick) went 10-1 with a 0.37 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 76⅔ innings as a senior. He held opponents to a .158 batting average and threw two complete game shutouts.

LSU’s Jordan Thompson (15th round, 460th pick) batted .246 with 11 home runs as a junior and is considered a polished defensive player at shortstop. He was born in Chula Vista and prepped at Helix High School in La Mesa.

The Dodgers’ other selections on Day 3 of the draft included:

• Samford University right-handed pitcher Carson Hobbs (11th round, 340th pick)

• Tyler JC right-handed pitcher Noah Ruen (12th round, 370th pick)

• Northwestern State University right-handed pitcher Alex Makarewich (13th round, 400th pick)

• South Mountain Community College right-handed pitcher Jaxon Jelkin (14th round, 430th pick)

• LSU left-handed pitcher Javen Coleman (16th round, 490th pick)

• Duke left-handed pitcher Luke Fox (17th round, 520th pick)

• Richland High School right-handed pitcher Spencer Green (19th round, 580th pick)

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​ Orange County Register 

Newly acquired Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois ready to ‘just fully be me’

• July 12, 2023

EL SEGUNDO — Although he made it to a Dodgers game, a Galaxy match and other outdoor events that might have left his skin sun-kissed after nearly a week in Southern California, center Pierre-Luc Dubois was looking a bit pale during his first in-person interview as a member of the Kings.

“I feel like I haven’t slept or haven’t stopped in the five or six days I’ve been here; it’s been really fun,” Dubois said.

If he’s been soaking up his new environs, it might be understandable as he will, foreseeably, be staying a while, and that’s a novel feeling for him. Not only has he successfully asked out of two NHL cities in six seasons (more on that later), Dubois grew up the son of a Quebecois coach and a supportive Atlantan mom. That meant stints in England, Germany and three different Canadian cities before Dubois moved away from home at 15 to intensify preparation for his pro career.

“It helped prepare me for this life of hockey where you could always, potentially, be on the move,” Dubois said of his youth.

Since turning pro, he has been on the move more than once, most recently when he was traded to the Kings, who signed him to a hefty eight-year, $68 million contract extension. That pact came after they moved heaven and earth in trades to accommodate his contract and that of Dubois’ former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. The unique aspect of that commitment might be less on the Kings’ side than on that of Dubois.

His infamous final shift and subsequent benching and trade from Columbus ended his first NHL stint in a sequence that saw him request and effectively force his departure. As he approached a contractual impasse this summer, he informed his second club, the Winnipeg Jets, that they should be looking for ways to move him before next season, when he would have been eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.

“I don’t really live in the past. I try to live in the moment. With an eight-year contract, obviously, you get to live in the future a bit,” Dubois said. “But I think the opportunity to help build and help maintain the culture of winning is really interesting.”

Dubois did not shy away from questions about his past, reputation or character, but was a bit guarded and vague in addressing any potential baggage. What was clear was that he felt that the Kings offered a more conducive situation that lured him into the maximum commitment possible.

“There’s so many rumors, so many things floating around,” Dubois said. “I think as a player, and as a person mostly, there’s times where you just want to grab the microphone and say something. But, also, you have to remain patient. You have to remain positive.”

If his tan and his public perception weren’t quite up to par just yet, his physique appeared to be, which was nothing new for the meticulous pivot.

Dubois packed on 40 pounds of muscle in the two campaigns leading up to his draft eligibility, helping him ascend the board all the way to 2016’s third overall selection. From his high school years onward, Dubois has worked with Dr. Sebastien Lagrange of Axxeleration Performance Center in Châteauguay, Quebec.

“When I was (15), (my father) told me, ‘If you want to make it to the NHL, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices at some point, and this could be a time where you might have to move away to get better training.’ And that’s what I did,” Dubois said. “I moved to Montreal and started training with Sebastien. Our relationship has really developed through the years. At first, he was my trainer and now he’s a really good friend.”

Lagrange said the categorizations of Dubois, who said he was “misunderstood at times,” as capricious or cantankerous hardly tracked with the young man he’d known and worked with closely for a decade.

“If I tell him to do three repetitions, he does three repetitions, not two, not four,” said Lagrange, who added that Dubois showed uncommon discipline not only during workouts but in seeking out other activities and professionals to improve his skills, conditioning and physique.

Dubois, listed at 6-foot-4, had skated around his peak functional weight of 225 pounds, but he slimmed down from 11% body fat to just under 9%, tipping the scales around 215 presently, Lagrange said. While the offseason ahead will focus largely on refinement, conditioning, injury prevention and work toward greater explosiveness, Lagrange said he thought Dubois would carry a desire onto the ice to show the world a player beyond what he already had in Columbus and Winnipeg.

“He is underrated because if everyone knew Pierre-Luc, they would quickly understand his ability to consistently compete – his willingness to give maximum effort no matter the situation in every aspect of his life – is off the charts,” Lagrange said. “He has been taking responsibility for his development since I met him at 15 years old, and he hasn’t changed since. This is the quality that can turn a good athlete into a great athlete and a great player into an elite player.”

The Athletic spoke to Dubois’ agent Pat Brisson, who pointed to the opportunity for Dubois to re-write his narrative much as Jack Eichel did after being traded from Buffalo to Stanley Cup champion Vegas, and Kings president Luc Robitaille, who expressed confidence in the relationship between Dubois and the organization.

“You never know until you’re in the room. But I do believe a kid like this, he wants to come to us. He plays hard. He defends his teammates. He’s a team guy,” Robitaille told The Athletic.

For Dubois, the years ahead in “a city that feels like you can never be in a bad mood” represented possibilities, in hockey and beyond, and a stunning horizon rather than a chance to rectify any aspect of the past.

“It’ll be a fun opportunity for me to just be who I am, not show anybody or prove to anybody, just fully be me,” Dubois said.

That attitude might gel with the Kings’ existing group, which has never been especially image-conscious, much as Dubois’ singular focus on team success in his interview certainly did. Dubois reiterated that the Kings’ alternate captain Phillip Danault, a fellow francophone, seemed more intimately familiar than their limited contact would have suggested. He also repeated that captain Anze Kopitar, a man he might eventually replace as the Kings’ No. 1 center, was a role model for a young Dubois.

“Sometimes he doesn’t get all the recognition that he should or all the attention that he should, but he’s won two Stanley Cups,” Dubois said. “That’s the goal.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Students, faculty protest potential CSU tuition hikes, which heads to full board in fall

• July 12, 2023

Hundreds of California State University students, faculty, and staff gathered at the system’s Long Beach headquarters on Tuesday, July 11, to oppose  proposed 6% annual tuition increases over the next five years — which CSU officials say is necessary to help offset a $1.5 billion funding gap.

The CSU Board of Trustees’ Committee on Finance weighed the proposal on Tuesday, and ultimately decided to send it to the full board for final approval. The board will likely hear the item in September, though the date won’t be confirmed until the agenda for that month’s meeting released.

A CSU workgroup first identified the massive funding gap in a nearly 70-page report released in May. It found that the system only has enough money to pay for about 85% of the actual costs of education, institutional and academic support and student services at all of its campuses.

That’s largely because the CSU’s two primary revenue sources — funding from California’s budget and tuition — haven’t kept up with the ever-increasing costs of operating the nation’s largest state university system, the report said. About 60% of the CSU’s operating budget is funded by the state; the remaining 40% comes from tuition revenue.

State funding, officials said Tuesday, is volatile and highly dependent on external factors that impact economic stability throughout the state. And though California Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to a funding compact with the CSU that will provide a 5% annual boost to its annual budget — amounting to a $227.3 million increase for this fiscal year — officials say it isn’t nearly enough to bridge the funding gap.

“Over the past two decades, state tax revenues that support public higher education institutions have significantly fluctuated,” said Ryan Storm, the CSU’s Assistant Vice Chancellor for Budget, on Tuesday, “with a trend toward a decrease in real dollars across the country and within California.”

The state’s share of funding for the CSU total operating budget, Storm said, has declined from about 90% in the 1980s to 60% currently.

The CSU secondary source of funding, tuition revenues, has been stagnant for nearly a decade. The last tuition hike — which was 5%, or $270 a semester — came during the 2011-12 academic year.

Several Finance Committee members on Tuesday said tuition hikes aren’t ideal — but felt obligated to support the proposal because of the CSU’s current financial situation.

“We’re so proud of the fact we have such an affordable system with great access and great affordability,” Trustee Jack McGrory said, “but it’s absolutely fiscally irresponsible to take 40% of your general fund budget and freeze it for 11 years — what’s going to happen is, we will (have) cuts across the board and then all hell will break loose.”

Students and faculty, meanwhile, said they oppose the proposed tuition hikes — arguing that the Board’s proposal is unfair to students.

“The thing that we emphasize it really it shouldn’t be up to the students to essentially pay for their (mismanagement),” said Michael Lee-Chang, a Sac State freshman and member of advocacy group Students for a Quality Education, on Tuesday. “This really isn’t a fight with current students. If anything, it’s probably a greater fight for future students — the later you attend the more you end up paying.”

Student Trustee Diana Aguilar-Cruz, during the Tuesday meeting, also argued that the student groups weren’t given enough time to give their full input on the matter. The Cal State Student Association, for example, doesn’t meet during the summer and have been in the process of onboarding a new set of leaders for the next academic year since May — when the CSU began its discussion about the proposed tuition increase.

“I do believe that our timing should be punched that at least we come back to vote on this in November so that we can give enough time to the students that we serve, so that they can have that conversation,” Aguilar-Cruz said. “Students have fought the same fight countless times and we’ve lost each time — it almost feels that our voices have been ignored throughout the years.”

The CSSA also issued a statement in opposition to the proposal on Tuesday.

The CSU, though, argues that the tuition increases are necessary not only to provide students with the level of education and academic support they’ve repeatedly asked the system to provide, but to comply with several unfunded mandates it will eventually have to pay for in order to maintain compliance with federal and state educational regulations.

Those include up to $18.7 million to institute Title IX regulations, and another $5.8 billion to upgrade decades-old campus facilities that have fallen into despair because of deferred maintenance, according to a staff report for the Tuesday meeting, and another up to $1 billion for employee raises.

The California Faculty Association, a labor union representing about 60,000 employees throughout the CSU, are currently in negotiations for a new employment contract. That group is advocating for 12% wage increases across the board, citing inflation, high costs of living in California, and the CSU’s chronic struggle to hire and retain quality faculty.

Gregory Christopher Brown, an associate professor of criminal justice at CSU Fullerton and the CFA Chapter President at that university, said in a Tuesday interview that the union is in complete opposition to the tuition hikes — arguing that the CSU should find the money to give employees raises elsewhere.

“They’re pricing people out — (tuition) increases have a negative impact on people’s ability to attend the CSU, and this is supposed to be people’s university,” Brown said.

Brown, who is also on the CFA’s bargaining committee, said the union had its first bargaining session with the CSU a few weeks ago, with the next one planned for Thursday, July 20 — though the university system has yet to bring a wage proposal to the table.

“We have a lot of hard working folks out there who are overworked and underpaid and it’s time for the university to step up and give us our rights, respect, and justice, because it means everything to us,” Brown said. “We will fight for it and (we will) strike if we have to.”

Several students and faculty members — along with members of the Finance Committee — also raised concerns about the language in the five-year proposal, arguing that it didn’t outline a firm end-date to the tuition increases.

The Finance Committee, in response, asked staff to amend the proposal to ensure the Board will be required to review and re-authorize additional tuition hikes at the close of the first five years, if approved in the fall, to ensure they won’t continue in perpetuity.

But aside from that change, the Finance Committee moved the proposal on to the full Board without any other amendments. Without the additional revenue from the tuition proposal — which is expected to generate $860 million over those five years — the CSU would have to redirect funding to where it’s most needed.

That could result result in fewer course selections, less student services and a limited capacity for the system to invest in updated learning environments or give pay raises to its employees, officials said.

“We’re doing this for the students — we’re we’re handicapped because we can’t give you what you need because we don’t have the resources to do it,” Trustee Jean Picker Firstenberg said Tuesday. “And yes, it’s on your back — but I tell you, it’s really a modest request and I think it’s done in the most compassionate way possible.”

As it stands, undergraduate tuition — not including other costly fees, such as housing, food and academic supplies — is around $5,742 per year. The tuition rate increase, if approved in the fall, would add an additional $342 to undergrad tuition starting in the fall 2024 semester bringing the total to $6,084.

From there, tuition would go up another 6% annually for the next five years. By the spring 2029 semester, full-time undergrads would be required to pay $7,682 for the academic year, while higher-level programs, such as a doctorate in public health would total about $25,000 per year.

The CSU, in its report, said that the proposed tuition increases wouldn’t change it status as among the most affordable higher education systems in the country. It also added that about 60% of its student population would be unaffected by the change because of grants or fee waivers.

“In addition, many of these same students receive Federal Pell Grants, which helps cover the cost of attendance like books, campus base fees and living expenses,” Storm said. “Annually, CSU students collectively receive $1 billion in Pell grant funds.”

But the students groups took issue with that — arguing that the remaining 40% of the student population who don’t qualify for large financial aid awards would be unduly impacted by the changes.

“Who is in this 40%? Undocumented students and graduate students — both groups do not receive financial aid,” Aguilar-Cruz said. “Imagine being an undocumented student who can’t receive any type of compensation and having a dream of attending school but not being able to accomplish that because because non-resident tuition is double.”

About $280 million of the $860 million the tuition increases are expected to generate over the first five years would fund financial aid for students with the most need, the CSU report said.

The remainder of the funds would be used to expand the work of the CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025 — which aims to increase graduation rates for first-time and transfer students — alongside pay raises for the CSU workforce, academic facility and infrastructure upgrades, plans to boost enrollment, and other operational costs.

The CSU Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the proposal in September. More information about the potential tuition is available online at calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/tuition-increase.

​ Orange County Register 

Norco family whose son was killed on 91 Freeway sues Uber, saying driver left him there

• July 12, 2023

The family of a Corona man who was hit by a car and killed says he was left behind on the 91 Freeway when his Uber ride pulled over to let out another passenger who had to throw up. Now the family is suing the ride-hailing company, alleging the driver’s negligence led to his death.

The crash that killed 21-year-old Cory Hunter occurred just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, May 21. At the time, the California Highway Patrol only identified Hunter as a pedestrian who somehow had made it to the fast lane of the 91 near the Serfas Club Drive exit in Norco.

Hunter died at the scene after an oncoming Toyota Corolla hit him, the CHP said. But his family said the CHP report left out that Hunter was only on the freeway after his ride left without him.

“They said that he was just walking on the freeway,” said his mother, Rhonda Hunter, of Norco. “He could have been homeless. He could have been a guy on drugs. My son never did drugs.

“People thought maybe he committed suicide,” she said. “He did not — he was left there.”

According to Hunter’s family, their attorney and the attorney of the Uber driver, the group of five friends were out drinking the night before in Downtown Fullerton when they agreed to take an Uber ride home. They piled into the van that arrived for them and were headed back to Riverside County when one of them said he was sick.

The driver pulled over to the right-hand shoulder some distance away from the Serfas Drive exit. Hunter was seated in the van’s middle row; he got out to allow the sickened passenger to exit. Within seconds, the rest of the passengers also got out.

The friends who were with Hunter and the driver, according to their attorneys and the lawsuit, all agreed that somehow in the minutes after they pulled over, Hunter disappeared.

His friends called out for him repeatedly, but they heard nothing, said Peter Corrales, the family’s attorney. A short time later, they got back in the van and left.

“There’s only three ways he could have gone,” Corrales said. “Forward toward the (Serfas Club Drive) exit, backwards down the shoulder, or across the freeway.

“Maybe nobody saw him leave. Everyone said they could not find him. But they never heard anything — no screeching tires, nothing like that. It’s still a mystery where he went and why they would leave him there.”

According to court documents, one of the friends there that night said the Uber driver started driving away, but eventually looped back on the 91 to continue looking for Hunter. They still could not find him.

It’s still not clear how Hunter ended up in the fast lane. The Corolla driver who hit him stopped and attempted to help, calling 911, according to the CHP. She is not being investigated for a crime.

Rhonda Hunter and her two other children question how the ride-share driver could have left with one of his passengers still likely somewhere on the freeway. Uber did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit or to questions about what training its drivers receive to handle emergency situations.

Theida Salazar, an attorney for the Uber driver, said his client was concerned when he and Hunter’s friends could not find him after pulling over.

“Once he got the word (about Hunter’s death), he was floored,” Salazar said. “My client is a compassionate person: He’s a father, he’s a brother. He’s someone that is very conscientious when it comes to the welfare of others.”

CHP did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, filed June 3, demands compensatory damages for Hunter’s death from Uber, the driver and the woman who hit him. Rhonda Hunter also said she wanted to see Uber change its policies to ensure something like this never happens again.

“He was doing the right thing,” Rhonda Hunter said of her son. “He was doing what he was supposed to do, and he got left on the freeway. Nobody even called police … he was with five of his really, really good friends. It’s just a hard situation to even grasp.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Jury decides will found in Aretha Franklin’s couch is valid

• July 11, 2023

By Ed White | Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. — A document handwritten by singer Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said Tuesday, a critical turn in a dispute that has turned her sons against each other.

It’s a victory for Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Queen of Soul’s home in suburban Detroit.

The jury deliberated less than an hour after a brief trial that started Monday. After the verdict was read, Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren stepped forward from the first row to hug Kecalf and Edward.

“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”

Aretha Franklin did not leave behind a formal, typewritten will when she died five years ago at age 76. But both documents, with scribbles and hard-to-decipher passages, suddenly emerged in 2019 when a niece scoured the home for records.

In closing arguments, lawyers for two of Franklin’s sons said there’s nothing legally significant about finding the handwritten papers in a notebook in her couch. It’s “inconsequential. … You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” Charles McKelvie said before the jury began deliberations.

Kecalf and Edward have teamed up against brother Ted White II, who favored the 2010 will. White’s attorney, Kurt Olson, noted the 2010 will was under lock and key. He said it’s much more significant than papers found in a couch.

Franklin’s estate managers have been paying bills, settling millions in tax debts and generating income through music royalties and other intellectual property. The will dispute, however, has been unfinished business.

There are differences between the 2010 and 2014 versions, though they both appear to indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share income from music and copyrights.

But under the 2014 will, Kecalf Franklin and grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million when she died but is worth much more today.

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The older will said Kecalf, 53, and Edward Franklin, 64, “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to benefit from the estate. That provision is not in the 2014 version.

White, who played guitar with Aretha Franklin, testified against the 2014 will, saying his mother typically would get important documents done “conventionally and legally” and with assistance from an attorney.

Franklin was a global star for decades, known especially for hits like “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Respect.”

​ Orange County Register 

Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released after 53 years

• July 11, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten walked out of a California prison Tuesday after serving more than 50 years of a life sentence for her participation in two infamous murders.

Van Houten “was released to parole supervision,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.

She left the California Institution for Women in Corona, east of Los Angeles, in the early morning hours and was driven to transitional housing, her attorney Nancy Tetreault said.

“She’s still trying to get used to the idea that this real,” Tetreault told The Associated Press.

Days earlier Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole. He said it was unlikely the state Supreme Court would consider an appeal.

She is expected to spend about a year at a halfway house, learning basic skills such as how to drive a car, go to the grocery store and get a debit card, according to her attorney.

“She has to learn to use to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash,” Tetreault said. “It’s a very different world than when she went in.”

Van Houten, who will likely be on parole for about three years, hopes to get a job as soon as possible, Tetreault said. She earned a bachelors and a masters degree while in prison and worked as a tutor for other incarcerated people.

Van Houten, now in her 70s, received a life sentence for helping Manson’s followers carry out the August 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary.

The LaBiancas were killed in their home, and their blood was smeared on the walls afterward. Van Houten later described holding Rosemary LaBianca down with a pillowcase over her head as others stabbed her, before she stabbed the woman more than a dozen times as well.

The slayings happened the day after Manson followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. Van Houten, who was 19 at the time, did not participate in the Tate killings.

Van Houten was found suitable for parole after a July 2020 hearing, but her release was blocked by Newsom, who maintained she was still a threat to society. She filed an appeal with a trial court, which rejected it. She then turned to the appellate courts.

The Second District Court of Appeal in May reversed an earlier decision by Newsom, who rejected parole for Van Houten in 2020. She had been recommended for parole five times since 2016. All of those recommendations were rejected by either Newsom or former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Newsom was disappointed by the appeals court decision, his office said.

“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact,” the governor’s office said in a July 7 statement.

Manson died in prison in 2017 of natural causes at age 83 after nearly half a century behind bars.

Leslie Van Houten and Charles Manson

Manson follower Van Houten moves a step closer to freedom
Newsom again rejects parole for Manson family member Leslie Van Houten
Manson follower Leslie Van Houten gets parole recommendation for 5th time
Mass murderer Charles Manson dead at 83
How did 3 young women become involved in the Manson Family murders, asks new film

​ Orange County Register