Louie Sanchez, 28, and Marvin Norwood, 30, the two men accused of beating Giants fan Bryan Stow at the Dodgers opening game on March 30, pled not guilty to mayhem, assault, battery and other counts in the attacking Stow. "Police have portrayed Sanchez as leading the assault on Stow, which came March 31 at the culmination of an alleged rampage in which Sanchez and Norwood are accused of lashing out randomly at rival Giants fans at the stadium," notes KTVU. more ›

Chief Judge Ware has ruled against anti-marriage ilk, throwing out the inane argument that Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling against Prop 8 was unconstitutional since he is a homosexual." Their complaints, if you recall, were that Judge Walker's ruling "should be invalidated based on the fact that he had a bias in the case, being himself a gay man who potentially wanted to be legally married." more ›

The upcoming appeals court hearing on California’s same-sex marriage ban will be televised. "The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal announced Wednesday that it had granted C-Span permission to carry the Dec. 6 proceedings in San Francisco live, " reports AP. "The decision makes it possible for millions to see firsthand the two-hour hearing set for December 6, said Yousef Robb with the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which opposes Proposition 8." The live telecast will also show future generations a harrowing and shameful moment in California history when unbridled stupidity and prejudice almost wormed its way into the state constitution. [CBS 5] more ›

Former SF Giants great Barry Bonds scored a coup today in his perjury case. SFGate reports that prosecutors cannot use Bonds' positive steroids test results in court. "because Bonds' trainer refused to testify about them." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 vote in favor of Bonds. The all-time home run king faces 10 counts of making false statements and one count of obstructing justice in grand jury testimony on Dec. 4, 2003. more ›

Cavenia Bryant and Jamillya Edgerton, the two waste-of-space human beings who videotaped themselves brutally attacking an Oakland hair salon owner, then bragged about it on-air to radio station KMEL -- were in court today. It seems the victim, according to ABC 7's Dan Noyes, "is questioning why the Alameda County District Attorney's office has decided to file only misdemeanor battery and false imprisonment charges against suspects." The ladies, awe we use that term loosely, should have seen some sort of felony assault charges. more ›

Ryan Caskey, the University of San Francisco ROTC cadet accused of raping at least four other USF students on campus, was scheduled to appear in court this morning. Caskey plead 'not guilty' to four counts of rape and "four counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury." more ›

After allegedly being beaten, sexually assaulted, threatened by a Guatemalan congressman, and chronically harassed by Guatemalan police, gay Bay Area resident Saul Martinez fled to the United States in 1992. Now, after years of living in the U.S., the Feds are trying to send him back to his country of origin. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights: more ›

While lawyers and civil rights advocates agree that Prop 8 will (most likely) be upheld when the State Supreme Court makes its decision, no one can say for sure if forced divorces will affect the 18,000+ couples who were legally married. In what could be the biggest debate in all of this is, well, "is." The wording of Prop 8 reads like this: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Kenneth Starr claimed during this month's hearing that the phrase “is recognized,” even in the present tense, would also nullify existing same-sex marriages that happened in the past. But as Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal points out, "Advocates who favor allowing the gay marriages to stand point to a California legal tradition of protecting what are called 'vested rights.' The idea is that if somebody obeyed the law in exercising a right, any new law must be extremely clear in its intent to take away that right." That is to say, if you want a law to work retroactively, said law must be clear about it; the gay marriage ban was not. (Also for comprehensive coverage about civil marriage equality in California, check out Stop8.org.) more ›

Briefly touched upon last week when the final batch of Prop 8 donor names unfurled, Utah citizens and the LDS Church spent more on getting Prop. 8 passed than previously known. According to the Salt Lake Tribune: more ›

Johannes Mehserle, the BART officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant on New Year's Day, was released from jail late this afternoon on bond. He had been at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin since Jan. 13. Another court date is set for Feb. 12. Protesters have gathered around the Oakland City courthouse. Police are on alert. Tension is in the air. We are all American Apparel. Etcetera, etcetera, and so forth. more ›

Former Bart officer Johannes Mehserle was back in court today in order to ask a judge for bail. If you recall, the 27-year-old disgraced cop pleaded not guilty to the murder of Oscar Grant. He is currently residing in the clink. Oscar Grant, as you all know by now, was shot and killed at the Fruitvale Station platform on New Year's Day as he was cuffed and pinned to the ground. Then, people rightfully freaked the fuck out, white college students feverishly fetishized the plight of black people, somebody erroneously claimed that "we are all Oscar Grant," and Cindy Sheehan presumably shed crocodile tears about horror of it all. But the good news about all of this, if any, is that Bart police have claimed that they will sharpen their sloppy police force. According to a Chronicle report, Bart botched the Grant investigation. Big time. more ›

Noted steroid aficionado, alleged perjurer, and keen deer hunter Barry Bonds scored a win today when a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed five of his 15 counts. Accused of fibbing when he denied feeling the sweet release anabolic steroids or human growth hormone. It seems that "the judge found that two counts duplicated other counts, two were based on ambiguous questions or answers and one other charge contained a typo in which prosecutors left out a key word," so they were dismissed. (Thank God Bonds didn't raep a fan.) The former Giant and holder of the Major League Baseball record for career home runs could still face up to 50 years in prison if convicted. more ›

Watch your manners in courtroom, people. Same goes for you, honorable judges. See, Superior Court Judge James McBride was publicly reprimanded for his courtroom behavior on Tuesday. With cases going back to 2006, the Commission on Judicial Performance claims that McBride committed numerous offenses, breaking rules requiring judges to be "patient, dignified and courteous" to attorneys and their clients. But what we're all dying to know is this: What did he do? SF law types are encouraged to dish in the comments. Because we assumed sassy, impatient, undignified and discourteous judges landed their own daytime TV shows. Please advise. more ›

Al last! Battered and bruised but still standing former San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew will have his day in court. But, like, for reals this time. On November 10, Jew will head to federal court to battle "two counts of bribery, two counts of mail fraud and one count of extortion" for trying to bully San Francisco Quickly owners out of $84,000 in exchange for city permits. What's more, the trial is expected to last a whopping three weeks. Ah, delicious, savory fodder. Stay tuned. more ›

Looking to get a few bucks out of the city for the Christmas Day tiger attack that claimed the life of their (alleged) friend Carlos Sousa Jr., Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal have filed claims against the city. Finally. And our sources sent SFIst a copy of the claim! (We'll try to get that up for you shortly.) more ›

After a local jury found SF Weekly guilty of illegal predatory pricing and awarded the local alt weekly a cool $6.39 million (the verdict subject to "treble damages," which bring the total award to $15.6 million), SFBG Executive Editor Tim Redmond tells the harrowing tale of the five-week trial in his own words: more ›

With regard to the SFBG vs. SF Weekly (VVM) lawsuit -- you know, the one where the Guardian sued the Weekly and its parent company for predatory pricing practices? where the Guardian's Publisher, Bruce Brugmann, claimed that the competition was so unreasonable that it could force the Guardian out of business? -- our sources confirm that: more ›

Bad news cancer fighters, arthritic sufferers, and those of you who worked so hard at getting your medical marijuana ID card under false pretenses: employees who partake in the kind medical bud at home can be fired for testing positive for the drug at work. Which? Wow. more ›

Two brothers and a friend (ages 16, 15, and 13) were convicted in juvenile court today of first-degree murder. While neither of the three rapscallions was the actual shooter, they were found guilty "because they aided and abetted in an attempted robbery that led to the death of Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan in Washington Park after a night of trick-or-treating." Oh snap. And all three of them could receive the maximum sentence: stuck in juvie until age 25. more ›

Hey, remember yesterday, when everyone at SFist chimed in on the "what to do when a homeless kid's dog bites your friend on the leg" question? We got quite a few interesting answers, and one suggestion that we get in touch with the good folks at San Francisco Animal Control to see what they suggest doing in those circumstances. Deb Campbell was kind enough to answer a few of our questions: What would Animal... more ›

Stepping out of his black Chevy Tahoe SUV, smashingly dressed, and fully aware that the media would bombard him beforehand, former glory Barry Bonds acted like a punk today after arriving at the U.S District Courthouse to make his plea this morning. Oh, and that plea of fibbing under oath to a federal grand jury regarding his steroids use? Not guilty. Ta-da. Basically, he came, said that he didn't do it, had a bond... more ›

Well, well, well. Well. It turns out that after a recount and by a mere three votes, according to the scroll across the screen on during the People's Court, the new Vallejo Mayor is actually Osby Davis. The Folsom Street Fair-phobic Gary Cloutier, it seems, doesn't get the title. According to the CBS5 site,"[f]ollowing a recount, former Solano County supervisor Osby Davis has defeated Vice Mayor Gary Cloutier in the Vallejo mayoral race." Daivs... more ›

-- In the 3600 block of Waterbury Court way down in San Jose last night, a double shooting left one man critically injured and another man dead. According to CBS 5, "no arrests have been made and no description of the suspect or suspects was immediately available." more ›

We swear, this guy is one step away from strapping road flares to his chest. Now, it's increasingly difficult for us to explain the conceptual art that is Michael Savage's work. Its genius lies in its demented complexity. But according to Bay City News (via CBS 5), Savage recently "sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in federal court in San Francisco Monday over the group's use of his words on its Web site." Apparently,... more ›

The man accused of assaulting and kidnapping Elie Wiesel -- attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes, to be exact -- changed his not guilty plea to one of insanity today. Earlier this year, if you recall, Eric Hunt, 23, stalked and dragged the Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor from an elevator at the Argent Hotel (recently re-branded Westin San Francisco Market Street, even though it's totally located on... more ›

Demian Bulwa at the Chronicle reports on some depressing info found in the search warrant affidavits filed in court by police in the Halloween murder of Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan. The teenagers who supposedly gunned down "Iko" bragged about shooting her soon after they fled the scene on an AC Transit bus back to Oakland. According to the story: As the youths rode an AC Transit bus back to Oakland afterward, one of the suspects... more ›

Today's Chron Bay Area section takes a break from covering the plight of lungless salamanders in Korea ( is this in the Bay Area section? Yes, yes, we know, it's because Cal researchers are researching them -- we're asking the question in a more philosophical sense.) to report that: oh no! Ed Jew's state criminal trial has been postponed again, to at least April 08. more ›

Regarding his Fazio-free residency case, Ed Jew's attorney Stuart Hanlon came to court minus one Mr. Jew today. According the SF Examiner, Hanlon told reporters that "Mr. Jew is not here today...he’s confident. He's working in his flower shop. He’s confident, I’m confident...[b]ut I need more time to get ready." This begs the questions, does he also have confidence in sunshine? Does he have confidence in rain? Also, Ed's working at his flower shop... more ›

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and veggies in South Central. On the entertainment front, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are suing Showtime over the show titled Californication and Rami Kashou of Project Runway chatted with LAist about his Palestinian heritage and, of course, designing beauty. more ›