California Office of the Attorney General

Californians Don't Hate Each Other as Much as They Used To

Well, this might help explain last year's mass exodus to Texas.The California Attorney General's Office released some uplifting stats that show Californians have less hostility -- or at least they're not acting on it -- than in previous years. The AG welcomed the numbers which show an over ... More >>

Attorney General Warns of Scams as Immigrant Youth Apply for Deportation Relief

As undocumented youngsters across America line up today to try to legally avoid deportation, state officials warm them to watch out for potential scams that could put their applications to remain in the United States in jeopardy. California Attorney General released a vague warning today, saying oft ... More >>

The Bay Citizen to End Relationship With New York Times

Among the many, many changes happening over at the fledgling Bay Citizen, the news outlet announced this week it will sever its special relationship with the New York Times on April 29. The news isn't so surprising after the paper announced it would merge with the Center for Investigative Reporting, ... More >>

Assemblyman Wants to Ban Violent Fans from Sporting Events

​Here's something that will give sports spectators something to really cheer about. A SoCal assemblyman is essentially asking for a statewide restraining order on violent sports fans, barring them from events so that the rest of us can watch our teams play without worrying about getting killed. As ... More >>

Law Enforcement to Round Up Homeless Sex Offenders Tonight

Homeless Sex Offenders: smart on crime? ​California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced trick-or-treaters will be safer since cops will keep homeless sex offender parolees indoors tonight in San Francisco. That announcement comes even while Harris' office is defending Jessica's Law -- the bal ... More >>

Gross Profit: Money Given to Clipboard Kids Rarely Makes It to Nonprofits

Hate Crimes Against Latinos Rise 47 Percent in California

​The year 2010 saw a marked uptick in hate crimes against Latinos statewide, according to newly released statistics from the California Attorney General's office.Attorney General Kamala Harris' annual report on hate crimes -- incidents in which victims are targeted because of their ethnicity, sexu ... More >>

Veteran Con Man Back to Swindling Elderly Veterans

Con Man Paul Noe's Scheme to Make Money Off Elderly Veterans

Our federal tax dollars are going where?​This week's Matt Smith column describes how con man Paul Noe II is back to his old practice of persuading seniors to enter into financial transactions they don't fully understand, ones that stretch what the law allows, and which stand to benefit Noe and his ... More >>

Identity Thief Used Facebook to Steal Women's Nude Photos; Victims Claim 'Virtual Rape'

​A 23-year-old computer hacker in the Sacramento Valley burg of Citrus Heights has pleaded guilty to seven felony charges stemming from an ingenious scheme to hack into women's email accounts -- with the help of information available on Facebook -- and gain access to their nude photos.In a ploy th ... More >>

High-tech Thieves Jury Rigged Gas Pumps to Steal Customers' Identities

​A pair of MacGyver-esque identity thieves has pleaded guilty to implanting devices in gas pumps that stole customers' checking-account information, a scheme that state officials say brought in $90,000.The California Attorney General's office announced today that the men -- David Karapetyan and Zh ... More >>

SFPD crime lab's DNA evidence could be tainted by concealed mistakes

DA Kamala Harris Says She Never Saw Report Criticizing Crime Lab

Kamala Harris​SFPD Chief Also Denies Awareness of Critique Written by Prosecutor and DNA ExpertDistrict Attorney Kamala Harris and San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón both said today they have never seen and were not aware of a report in which a renowned prosecutor says he criticized the sup ... More >>

A Timeline of Problems at the SFPD DNA Lab

​Through reporting over the past month, SF Weekly has uncovered multiple instances of scientifically and ethically questionable conduct by DNA analysts at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. Our findings focus on two lapses in particular: the destruction of records of a potential ... More >>

Teresa Caffese, Chief Attorney at Public Defender's Office, to Step Down

Teresa Caffese​The highest ranking non-elected official at the San Francisco Public Defender's office is departing at the end of this year to start her own law practice.Teresa Caffese, who has worked at the Public Defender's office for 23 years, will be leaving at the end of this month. As chief a ... More >>

Exclusive: Prosecutor Says DA Is Sitting on His Report Critical of Crime Lab

Rockne Harmon​DA's Office Denies Memo's Existence, But Prosecutor and DNA Expert Says He Wrote It in MarchOne of the nation's foremost DNA experts says he wrote an in-house report for the San Francisco District Attorney's office criticizing the DNA unit of the San Francisco Police Department Crime ... More >>

Kamala Harris Appears Set to Cinch Victory in Attorney General Race

Looking ahead to bigger things​Pardon us, gentle reader, for the intolerable hedge in the above headline. Lacking the statistical prowess of some other observers, we're still going to play it safe -- yet it appears that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris is on the verge of victory in th ... More >>

Dianne Feinstein Was Against Kamala Harris' 'Strong Track Record' Before She Was For It

An unlikely ally?​In an effort to combat the mudslide of Republican money pouring into California to fund attack ads on San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris in the California Attorney General's race, the Harris campaign today released a "statement" from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein."Kamala ... More >>

GOP to Hammer Harris on Death Penalty with $1 million in TV Ads as Election Nears

Close observers of the 2010 California Attorney General's race probably saw this one coming. With less than two weeks remaining until election day on Nov. 2, Republican activists are going to spend about $1 million blanketing the airwaves with commercials attacking San Francisco District Attorney Ka ... More >>

City Attorney Dennis Herrera to S.F. Employees: No Campaigning on City Time

Whatever you do, don't say "I gave at the office..."​Dennis Herrera, who not long ago announced plans to move his operations down the hall from the city attorney's office to that of San Francisco mayor, has issued a warning to city workers feeling particularly enthusiastic about his or anyone else ... More >>

Violent Video Game Law Court Found Unconstitutional Has 72 Percent Approval: Poll

Ah, but is it Constitutional? ​According to a recent Zogby poll, 72 percent of Americans support a California law preventing the sale of ultra-violent videogames to children. And yet, the validity of that law isn't for Americans randomly picking up the phone to decide, but the nine justices of the ... More >>

Kamala Harris' Alleged Stalker Pens Epic 44-Page 'Press Release'

​It came in a manilla envelope with three American flag stamps, entitled "Important Pre-Election Press Release." Return address: David Bavineau (ecstatic), County Jail 4, 850 Bryant St. Over at SF Weekly, we tore the thick envelope open with no small amount of anticipation. Bavineau, as some may r ... More >>

Kamala Harris Calls AG Opponent Chris Kelly Liar, 'Rookie' in Latest Attack Ad

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has launched a new television ad attacking former Facebook executive Chris Kelly, her foremost adversary in the Democratic primary for the California Attorney General's race.In this latest bout of mud-slinging between Harris and Kelly, the D.A.'s campaig ... More >>

Kamala Harris' Failure to Report Cops' Criminal Backgrounds Now Fodder in AG Race

"I'm here to attack the issues, not another candidate."​San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' failure to disclose the criminal backgrounds of cops testifying in cases her office prosecuted "calls into question ... whether she has the judgment necessary to be California's next attorney gen ... More >>

Drug-Skimming Crime Lab Tech Deborah Madden Now Attorney General's Problem

The party at the SFPD drug lab may soon be over​The California Attorney General's office will handle any criminal charges filed against former San Francisco crime-lab technician Deborah Madden for her alleged role in tampering with narcotics evidence, District Attorney Kamala Harris announced toda ... More >>

Pelosi Endorses Kamala Harris in Attorney General Race

Kamala Harris​House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw her support behind San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris in the California Attorney General's race today, the latest in a string of prominent endorsements for the Democratic front-runner.The announcement comes on the heels of new polling that ... More >>

Hayward Votes Tonight on Citywide Marijuana Dispensary Kibosh

​Although California's Attorney General and judges have recently been loosening the legal reins on medical marijuana users, the debate over whether dispensaries have a place in our cities remains a hot-button issue around the state. This is particularly true in Los Angeles, but also in Hayward -- ... More >>

You Want Fresh Faces? Our Suggestions for the 2010 GOP Slate.

On Wednesday, the latest in a batch of Republican political neophytes expressed his desire for high-ranking political office in California. Damon Dunn, the former Stanford and NFL receiver and current Orange County real-estate mogul, said he plans to run for Secretary of State.But as the San Francis ... More >>

S.F. taxpayers may be struck with the legal tab for a failed Ingleside murder case

Time Bomb

Weather Underground leaders claimed their bombings were devised to avoid bloodshed. But FBI agents suspect the radical '70s group killed an S.F. cop in the name of revolution.

Law Catching up to 'Son of Super Swindler' Just as Infamous Dad Gets Out of Prison

​Paul Noe II, the apparent mastermind of a scheme the California Attorney General says was designed to bilk thousands of defaulted homeowners out of their remaining savings, appears even closer to having to suffer for his deeds. "He's such an ass. I would love to see these people jailed, because t ... More >>

S.F. to Office Depot: How Much Were Those Paperclips Again?

Has Office Depot taken the city for a ride? ​Let's hope the city saved its receipts. According to San Francisco's Director of the Office of Contract Administration, Naomi Kelly, the vast majority of the city's office supplies are purchased  from Office Depot -- that would be the same Office D ... More >>

Supes' Resolution Links Arrest of Alleged Cop-Killers to Iraq Torture Scandals

Sgt. John V. YoungIf leftist supervisors sought to show the world that their sympathy for a group of alleged cop-killers in San Francisco was more than a zany political stunt, they have done themselves no favors with a new resolution that links the men's arrest to the Bush Administration, Gua ... More >>

Baring Equality

The cases of a young defendant and a repeat offender attorney show power and privilege tip the scales

Innocence Arrested

Albert Johnson was exonerated for a crime he didn't commit, but not before spending over a decade in prison. Why guiltless people get jailed -- and how to stop it.

San Mateo Confidential

How a lesbian love triangle involving two police officers and a former kickboxing champion led to a drawn-out privacy lawsuit against the San Mateo County DA who had allegedly outed the kickboxer to her ex-husband, a probation officer who then decided to

The Fix Is In

At least that's what Janet Campbell claimed about construction bids at UCSF, where she soon found herself out of a job

Law and Borders

Prosecutors, judges, governors, a sex offender, and a woman with a penchant for poor judgement entangle California and Texas in an epic child custody war with two sure losers -- aged 7 and 9.

Now, the Emphatic Colonic News

Chevron to Turks: Bay is pristine! GOP to pot doctor: Good job! Tenants to landlords: You're illegal! Potheads to supervisors: Like, wow -- a sanctuary!

Paying the Price

Major oil companies are gobbling up independent gas station operators, all in the name of greed

A Walk in the Dark

The rest of the country is re-appraising the death penalty; California sues to keep a minister from comforting those facing execution

Ca$h for Genes

After billionaire pedophile Larry Hillblom died, illegitimate children began stepping forward to demand part of his estate. It took cutting-edge genetic sleuths to prove that they were, indeed, to the mogul born.

The Great Bank Thievery

The city and state say the Bank of America stole hundreds of millions -- even billions -- of dollars from the government. But didn't San Francisco finance officials know what was going on? And shouldn't B of A executives be under criminal investigation?

Megan's Law Goes to Class

Schools plan to tell parents where sex offenders live; is it caution or hysteria?

Unspun

The Grid

Letters

The Family Jewels

In life, Paul Kalmanovitz controlled every business decision related to his $500million brewery/real estate dynasty.He even made detailed plans forthe governance of his estateafter he died. So why is the Kalmanovitz fortune the center of two vituperative