Harvey Weinstein's sentencing | Harland Braun's opening | The Shade Room's defamation deal
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It’s been a robust week on the legal beat, from opening statements in former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan’s federal corruption trial to sentencing in disgraced Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein’s rape case.
I wrote a few articles along the way, beginning with this piece on what happened when process servers arrived at rapper Drake’s Beverly Hills mansion with a subpoena from a three-defendant murder case in Broward County, Florida.
Tuesday was my first time watching storied criminal defense lawyer Harland Braun in action. He immediately claimed a spot in my trial record book: I have never seen so many sustained objections in an opening statement. Read all about it:
Then came another article about a saga I’ve covered for several news outlets regarding the Central District of California’s 14-month ban on jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic and a six-year-old federal criminal drug case against a physician in Newport Beach, California.
Next was this rundown on a defamation lawsuit against the social media-based gossip powerhouse The Shade Room, which is based in Los Angeles. The defamatory act is egregious and also hilarious.
Last but absolutely not least we had Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing on Thursday in Los Angeles. It was a long morning, with argument over his motion for new trial, which Judge Lisa B. Lench rejected, followed by an emotional statement from Jane Doe 1.
The hearing was punctuated by attorney Gloria Allred asking Lench to delay sentencing while the appellate court considers a writ she filed asking that her clients be allowed to testify, even though the jury did not convict Weinstein of anything related to them. Lench quickly rejected the request.
Read my full article on the sentencing for Los Angeles Magazine here.
I also detailed the day in a YouTube video.
Speaking of YouTube videos…
I recently sat down with Brennan Furber from my old college paper at the University of Oregon, the Oregon Daily Emerald, for a fireside-like Zoom chat about journalism. It was a great discussion.
Coming soon…
I’ve got a few things to catch up on, including the legal epic that is MGA Entertainment v. Clifford “T.I.” Harris a.k.a OMG Dolls v. OMG Girlz. I remarked to another reporter at Weinstein’s sentencing how demanding it is to follow that case. There are a few new filings I will be reporting on soon, including T.I’s lawyers’ reply to the request for sanctions for calling MGA counsel’s trial tactics “racist” in a post-mistrial filing. Also, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed its response to former Dodger baseball player Yasiel Puig’s racism claims. I’m also going to be in U.S. District Judge John Walter’s courtroom Friday morning for Ray Chan’s trial because I hear the next witness is George Esparza, the former assistant of convicted felon and disgraced ex-Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar.
Not coming soon…
Tory Lanez’s sentencing for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. The jailed rapper will be in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but it will be to get a new sentencing date to allow his lawyers more time to prepare their motion for new trial.
I will of course be pulling Meghann Thee Reporter duty at the hearing. Follow me on Twitter for updates, though I suspect the hearing will be brief. (The time spent sitting around waiting for Judge David Herriford to start the hearing likely will be much longer than the actual hearing.)
Thank you for reading Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff’s weekly round up. I am experimenting with this weekly newsletter as a way to share my work for Los Angeles Magazine and my social media reporting, all in one place. I also am experimenting with more frequent postings as a way of moving away from Twitter, but I am not emailing everything so check the homepage for news. I will be back next Friday. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter.