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Meghann Cuniff

7 Dec, 6 tweets, 3 min read

@latimes

ICYMI: I looked at Orange County’s homeless situation for @latimes/@TheDailyPilot’s Sunday Times OC, specifically Santa Ana’s current lawsuit over jail releases.

My reporting introduced me to Vaskin Koshkerian of the volunteer group Micah’s Way. With his RV stationed outside the jail most nights, he tries to help newly released inmates navigate the outside world. That’s put him on the front lines of the legal saga. lat.ms/37Dqct4

@BobBlumenfield

The OC situation is getting heightened attention right now with Judge Carter’s work in Los Angeles. In the debate over @BobBlumenfield’s anti-camping ordinance, @MikeBoninLA cites Carter’s OC work as a model for what LA could do i.e. move people into housing with no arrests.

@boreskes

I didn’t get into this in the article because @boreskes and co. cover the LA homeless saga so well, but Bonin praises the regional approach in OC and says LA needs one, too, instead of a district-by-district approach that shifts homeless people around. HOWEVER...

...OC doesn’t exactly have a regional approach. Cities are grouped into “service provider areas” (much like council districts!), and they’re not supposed to cross into the other areas. Also, there isn’t just one singular OC settlement: There are eight involving 17 cities.

Part of Santa Ana’s beef involves the county transporting homeless people into other areas in violation of settlements. Not exactly the harmonious “no arrests, no territorial fighting” situation that some in LA say it is! Anyway, read the article here: lat.ms/37Dqct4

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More from @meghanncuniff

Meghann Cuniff

@meghanncuniff

7 Dec

@PIMCO

Alright we are back in OC Superior for day what is it, five? of the @PIMCO founder Bill Gross restraining order hearing. You can watch online here: We're back tomorrow at 1:30, then all day Thursday.

Back on the stand is Efrain Alba, Gross' property manager. His full-time job is to take care of Gross' mansion in Laguna Beach. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Sounds like a good gig! Apparently we're also going to hear today from Rob Giem, Gross' realtor.

Mask patrol: "Mr. Gross, I'm gong to ask you to please place your mask back over your nose and mouth," Judge Knill just now.

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Meghann Cuniff

@meghanncuniff

7 Dec

@PIMCO

INBOX: Looks like @PIMCO founder Bill Gross knows the restraining order hearing hasn’t been going all that well for him. He just issued “an open letter from Bill Gross” that calls for an end to his legal case and donations of legal fees to food banks etc prnewswire.com/news-releases/…

Gross acknowledges his taste in a “theme song to a 1960s sitcom.” “I want nothing more than to be a good neighbor, even if it means revising my choice in music.” But will he turn his music down? Doesn’t say!

One way to sum this up: A billionaire (with a B!) is putting forth the bold idea of donating some bucks to pandemic-related charities if the neighbor he’s accused of harassing drops his court case.

Read 8 tweets

Meghann Cuniff

@meghanncuniff

19 Oct

I’m here at the OC federal building, and it turns out Michael Avenatti will *not* be here in person for the 9 am pre-trial hearing. “We decided to play it safe,” his lawyer Dean Steward told me in the hallway just now, referring to covid19. #housearrest

Court clerk observes: “I think the government needs to invest in a barber.”
“Until we get to the orange tier, I’m not cutting,” Prosecutor Brett Sagel says.
Sagel asks Steward about Avenatti, and Steward says he’ll be on the phone.

Sagel is arguing against severance first. At issue is NFL settlement theft. Selna tentatively is allowing it to be mentioned in the client theft counts, but Sagel says it’s intertwined with the bankruptcy fraud, too, because Avenatti hid it from bankruptcy court.

Read 37 tweets

Meghann Cuniff

@meghanncuniff

18 Oct

Six months into his covid-related home confinement, Michael Avenatti is set to be in federal court in OC Monday for a pre-trial hearing in his 36-count criminal case. Judge Selna typically issues tentative rulings before his motion hearings, and Avenatti's case is no exception.

@USAO_LosAngeles

Selna issued his tentative tonight, ruling on everything from severing the counts to @USAO_LosAngeles's bid to tell jurors of misconduct not included in the indictment such as perjury in judgment debtor exams and embezzling client money from a settlement with @NFL.

It's a mixed bag for Avenatti and prosecutors. Selna unsurprisingly granted motion to sever the counts, which means two trials, one for client theft charges and another for the tax and bankruptcy fraud charges. (Unless Avenatti takes a plea deal, which is still totally possible.)

Read 7 tweets

Meghann Cuniff

@meghanncuniff

13 Oct

This could be a pandemic first: a federal judge here in Orange County is dismissing a criminal indictment because the Central District of California won’t hold a jury trial due to coronavirus concerns.

Federal prosecutors earlier dismissed on their own accord an immigration case to avoid this legal debate. But this case is different: It’s a major OxyContin distribution indictment against a Newport Beach physician linked to patient deaths.