1936 Mercedes-Benz could fetch $16M
PEBBLE BEACH (AP) — A 1936 Mercedes-Benz found in a Connecticut barn could fetch a record $16 million-plus at a Pebble Beach auction this weekend.
The rare Mercedes 540K Special Roadster could break the $16.4 million record for any car sold at auction when it goes on the block after the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
The 17-foot-long car is believed to be among only 12 left in the world.
The Mercedes was owned by German Baroness Gisela von Krieger, whose family brought it to the United States after World War II.
When Gisela von Krieger died in 1989, lawyers sorting out her estate found the car hidden in a Connecticut barn, where it had been untouched for three decades.
CA high court tosses juvenile's 110-year sentence
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state Supreme Court has overturned a juvenile gang member's 110-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
The state's high court on Thursday said the sentence amounted to an unconstitutional life sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 said all life sentences without a chance for parole meted out to juveniles convicted of non-homicide crimes were cruel and unusual punishment.
The unanimous court ordered Rodrigo Caballero to be resentenced for trying to kill three rival gang members in Los Angeles County. The court said he has to be given an opportunity to apply for parole.
Caballero would have had to wait 100 years before he was eligible to apply for parole.
Caballero was 16 in 2007 when he opened fire on the three people, wounding one in the back.
Accused serial killer Naso wants new legal adviser
SAN RAFAEL. (AP) — Accused serial killer Joseph Naso says he has fired his legal adviser and wants Marin County to pay for a new one.
The 78-year-old murder suspect appeared in court Wednesday.
The retired commercial photographer who lived in Reno, Nev., before his arrest has pleaded not guilty to murdering four Northern California prostitutes with matching first and last initials.
Naso has been representing himself in preparation for his November trial, but has hired attorneys to provide legal advice: first Michael Marowitz and then Bill Fazio. He told Judge Andrew Sweet Wednesday he fired Fazio after four months and now wants a court-appointed adviser at county expense.
Sweet says Naso would eventually have to repay the county because his assets total more than $1 million.
Appeals court reinstates nursing homes lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit claiming the owner of 16 Alameda County nursing homes fails to meet California nurse-staffing standards.
A group of patients filed suit claiming Covenant Care nursing homes had violated staffing standards at least 35 percent of the time over a four-year period.
A Superior Court judge had agreed with Covenant Care lawyers that only state regulators had the authority to enforce a requirement that skilled nursing homes provide 3.2 hours of care per day to each patient.
The case was dismissed.
But the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco reinstated the lawsuit on Wednesday, saying patients can sue nursing home operators for failing to meet the California standards.
