SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SURFACES IN HOMELESS DEATH CASE: FULLERTON (AP) — An attorney for a popular bar says his client did nothing wrong by making a police call that set in motion a fatal confrontation between several Fullerton officers and a mentally ill homeless man.
The Orange County Register reports Friday (that an attorney for SlideBar showed new surveillance video undermining a bouncer's claims that his manager told police Kelly Thomas was breaking into cars to get him taken away.
Thomas, who had schizophrenia, died after a violent altercation with police in July 2011.
Three officers face charges in his death.
Former bouncer Michael Reeves filed a $4 million lawsuit against his former employer last June, claiming he was fired for telling authorities his manager lied to draw a police response.
SlideBar says Reeves was fired for being confrontational.
FINANCIAL AID UNCLAIMED BY LOW-INCOME STUDENTS: OAKLAND (AP) — Millions of dollars in financial aid is being unclaimed by California low-income students qualified for college.
The Oakland-based nonprofit Education Trust-West report released Thursday says only about half of the state's high school seniors applied for federal and state financial aid last year.
The report says millions of dollars in aid are left on the table.
It says too many California students don't get the opportunity to attend college because their families believe they can't afford the tuition.
The Los Angeles Times says the report suggests lawmakers and educators increase communication to districts, schools and students about the availability of aid.
DEPUTY SHOOTS KIDNAPPING SUSPECT IN SONOMA COUNTY: GUERNEVILLE, (AP) — Sonoma County Sheriff's officials say a deputy shot and killed a kidnapping suspect after he led them on a chase with his victim in the car.
The shooting occurred around 11:22 p.m. Thursday in the Guerneville area. Sheriff's dispatchers had been alerted to the apparent kidnapping about 30 minutes earlier.
They say a friend of the female victim received text messages from her about the kidnapping and relayed those messages to police.
Deputies spotted the suspect's vehicle, but he allegedly fled when they tried to stop him.
Sheriff's officials say the suspect, who has not been identified, was able to evade spike strips twice before crashing. Deputies then helped the alleged kidnapping victim escape unharmed.
A deputy shot the suspect while trying to arrest him. Authorities have not said what prompted the shooting.
STOCKTON MAN ACCUSED OF RAPING, KILLING GRANDMA: STOCKTON (AP) — A paroled sex offender in Stockton has been charged with the rape, robbery and murder of his 76-year-old grandmother.
Jerome DeAvila, 39, was arrested Tuesday after Rachael Russell's body was found in a wheelbarrow in the backyard of her Stockton home.
San Joaquin County prosecutors have charged DeAvila with robbery, forcible rape and first-degree murder.
Judge Seth Hoyt on Thursday read DeAvila the charges, appointed a public defender and ordered the defendant to remain in custody without bail.
But the criminal proceedings were temporarily suspended after the defense asked doctors to determine whether DeAvila is competent enough to stand trial.
Prosecutors say DeAvila is a registered sex offender who has been in and out of jail on parole violations multiple times over the past year.
YOUTH PASTOR ARRESTED FOR RAPING TEENS: CARPINTERIA (AP) — A youth pastor has been arrested for raping teenage girls he met at a California central coast church.
Santa Barbara County sheriff's investigators say 28-year-old Louis Joseph Bristol was booked on Wednesday for multiple counts of rape, child molestation and selling marijuana to minors.
The Ventura County Star says bail for the Carpinteria Community Church high school pastor is set at $2 million.
Detectives say Bristol raped two underage girls in vacant rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, where he worked as an assistant manager.
They also say Bristol gave and sold marijuana to the teens and to teenagers in the youth group,
BEACH RESTRICTIONS BEGIN TO PROTECT SHOREBIRD: VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (AP) — It's time for California central coast beachgoers to move over for the plovers.
Restrictions are in place for the next seven months at Vandenberg Air Force Base beaches, where the threatened Western snowy plover nests in the sand to lay eggs and raise young.
Restrictions, which started being imposed 20 years ago, began Friday and continue until October.
Only a half-mile of Surf Beach, the closest shoreline available to Lompoc Valley residents, is open to the public. Small stretches of Wall and Minuteman beaches allow military beachgoers.
The Santa Maria Times says the beaches have a set number of allowed trespassing violations before the Air Force must close it for the remainder of the season. Those limits are 50 for Surf and 10 each for Minuteman and Wall beaches.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS HELD IN HIP REPLACEMENT SUIT: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawyers for a man suing Johnson & Johnson over a recalled hip implant say the company played "Russian roulette" with patient safety.
The Los Angeles Times says closing arguments were held Thursday in the Los Angeles lawsuit, which claims fraud and negligence. Jury deliberations are to begin Friday.
A former prison guard claims he suffered metal poisoning from a hip implant that was pulled from the market two years ago.
On Thursday, attorneys for Leon Kransky argued that the company knew the device was defective and urged jurors to award him some $185 million in damages.
But a lawyer for the company denied wrongdoing and said Kransky's problems weren't caused by the implant.
The LA lawsuit is the first of thousands of similar U.S. cases to reach trial.
EX-LAPD DISPATCHER SENTENCED IN CHILD PORN CASE: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles police 911 operator has been sentenced to six years in prison for receiving child pornography.
Brandon Simpson was sentenced Thursday in federal court. U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt said the child porn that was found in this case, which included images of infants being sexually assaulted, were beyond repugnant.
The 28-year-old Simpson was arrested in September 2011 and later pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted in his plea agreement that he had more than 600 images of child pornography. Among them were images depicting bondage of very small children.
Simpson was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2012.
