Courtroom

Ryan Carter Budget cuts in the state-funded Los Angeles Superior Court system might mean "lights out" for a courtroom that serves Burbank and Glendale. Cuts voted on last week by a committee of judges responding to a $57-million budget deficit mean the juvenile traffic court serving this area is on the block to be shuffled from Glendale Superior Court, where it also serves Burbank residents, to Pasadena Superior Court. The court, which was supervised by an attorney known as a traffic referee, heard challenges to juvenile speeding violations and misdemeanor cases such as vandalism and disturbing the peace.

Chromium 6 contamination is a scary prospect, but in the absence of any official retort, it’s easy to let imagination take hold. Until the allegations of contamination levied in a recent spate of lawsuits against the Walt Disney Co. are vetted in a courtroom, it’s best to leave the “imagineering” to the studios. Certainly, allegations that Disney has been dumping water tainted with cancer-causing chromium 6 and other toxic chemicals at its Imagineering studios are serious, but it’s important to remember that lawsuits can evolve or devolve at a rapid pace on the long road to the courtroom.

DOWNTOWN — The case against a 58-year-old Camarillo woman charged with assaulting a federal security agent who tried to take her ailing mother’s applesauce and other snacks at Bob Hope Airport last year was moved to a Pasadena courtroom Monday. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Applegate on Monday said he was ready to move ahead with the trial of Nadine Kay Hays, who was charged with misdemeanor battery after the reported tussle with the Transportation Security Administration last April.

Jackson Bell A Burbank man arrested this week on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend is scheduled to be arraigned today in a Burbank courtroom, police said. Ray Pascual, 38, was arrested in Hollywood on Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree murder after police discovered the body of Courtney Quintin, 37, at an apartment in the 400 block of East San Jose Avenue earlier that day. The two lived together at the apartment, police said. Police, responding to a report of domestic violence at the residence, forced their way into the apartment and found Quintin's body.

Josh Goldstein CIVIC CENTER -- Peering down from his bench, Burbank Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lubell's job, sometimes, is to teach a lesson to someone who has broken the law. But Lubell also teaches a different sort of lesson in the courtroom. While not part of his mandated daily duties, Lubell believes introducing students to the courts and the legal system before they get into trouble is one of the most important lessons he can be a part of. "I want to take the fear factor away from someone who wears a black robe," Lubell said.

A Burbank man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he stabbed his estranged girlfriend and left her in a Studio City park, officials said. Stephen Joanou Jr., 26, is charged with killing 32-year-old Rosamond resident Patrina Sabella, who was discovered dead about 2:20 a.m. on March 20 at the South Weddington Park on the 10600 block of Valleyheart Drive, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Division were responding to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon at the park that night when they found Sabella suffering from multiple stab wounds in the baseball fields, according to police.

LOS ANGELES — A month after opening statements, when prosecutors said Juan Manuel Alvarez purposefully caused a 2005 train wreck that killed 11 people, Alvarez took the stand Tuesday, telling jurors he had no intention of killing anyone other than himself when he parked his Jeep Cherokee on the train tracks. “I was going to kill myself,” Alvarez said, dressed in a green shirt, beige pants and tie before he calmly told the nine-woman, three-man jury of his intentions, which went awry the morning of Jan. 26, 2005.

The first of several lawsuits filed against Burbank by current and former police officials went to trial this week, with the attorney for an ex-deputy police chief calling what took place in the department one of the most “egregious” cases of mistreatment he's ever seen. In his lawsuit against the city, William Taylor alleges that he was demoted and eventually fired because he informed city officials and former Police Chief Tim Stehr about concerns of discrimination and sexual harassment, and because he pressed for an outside investigation into a burglary that allegedly took place in police headquarters.

The Burbank City Council this week cleared the way for Walmart to open a new store near the Empire Center, leaving opponents with few options other than legal action to stop the world's largest retailer from moving in. On Tuesday, more than 100 people - bolstered by the support of labor unions - rallied outside City Hall and then crammed into the council chambers to protest the planned Walmart. The show of opposition failed to sway city officials, who say zoning codes allow the Walmart to open so there's little they can do. Opponents have been trying to force Walmart to conduct an economic impact review and the city to carry out major improvements to road infrastructure around the former Great Indoors site before approving the building plans.

A brother and sister are in custody after they allegedly stabbed a family member's dog to death at a home in Burbank. Calling the bloody scene “pretty horrific,” Burbank police Lt. John Dilibert said Charissa Bodtcher, 23, and her brother, 18-year-old Timo Bodtcher, stabbed the older cocker spaniel mix “numerous” times with an 8-inch blade Saturday at their aunt's home in the 200 block of East Cedar Avenue. Police also arrested their mother, Maria Theresa Bodtcher, 47, after she allegedly helped them dispose of the knife near a dumpster at a shopping mall near Victory Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, Dilibert said.

The first of several lawsuits filed against Burbank by current and former police officials went to trial this week, with the attorney for an ex-deputy police chief calling what took place in the department one of the most “egregious” cases of mistreatment he's ever seen. In his lawsuit against the city, William Taylor alleges that he was demoted and eventually fired because he informed city officials and former Police Chief Tim Stehr about concerns of discrimination and sexual harassment, and because he pressed for an outside investigation into a burglary that allegedly took place in police headquarters.

DOWNTOWN — The case against a 58-year-old Camarillo woman charged with assaulting a federal security agent who tried to take her ailing mother’s applesauce and other snacks at Bob Hope Airport last year was moved to a Pasadena courtroom Monday. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Applegate on Monday said he was ready to move ahead with the trial of Nadine Kay Hays, who was charged with misdemeanor battery after the reported tussle with the Transportation Security Administration last April.

Chromium 6 contamination is a scary prospect, but in the absence of any official retort, it’s easy to let imagination take hold. Until the allegations of contamination levied in a recent spate of lawsuits against the Walt Disney Co. are vetted in a courtroom, it’s best to leave the “imagineering” to the studios. Certainly, allegations that Disney has been dumping water tainted with cancer-causing chromium 6 and other toxic chemicals at its Imagineering studios are serious, but it’s important to remember that lawsuits can evolve or devolve at a rapid pace on the long road to the courtroom.

LOS ANGELES — A month after opening statements, when prosecutors said Juan Manuel Alvarez purposefully caused a 2005 train wreck that killed 11 people, Alvarez took the stand Tuesday, telling jurors he had no intention of killing anyone other than himself when he parked his Jeep Cherokee on the train tracks. “I was going to kill myself,” Alvarez said, dressed in a green shirt, beige pants and tie before he calmly told the nine-woman, three-man jury of his intentions, which went awry the morning of Jan. 26, 2005.

Jackson Bell A Burbank man arrested this week on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend is scheduled to be arraigned today in a Burbank courtroom, police said. Ray Pascual, 38, was arrested in Hollywood on Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree murder after police discovered the body of Courtney Quintin, 37, at an apartment in the 400 block of East San Jose Avenue earlier that day. The two lived together at the apartment, police said. Police, responding to a report of domestic violence at the residence, forced their way into the apartment and found Quintin's body.

Ryan Carter Budget cuts in the state-funded Los Angeles Superior Court system might mean "lights out" for a courtroom that serves Burbank and Glendale. Cuts voted on last week by a committee of judges responding to a $57-million budget deficit mean the juvenile traffic court serving this area is on the block to be shuffled from Glendale Superior Court, where it also serves Burbank residents, to Pasadena Superior Court. The court, which was supervised by an attorney known as a traffic referee, heard challenges to juvenile speeding violations and misdemeanor cases such as vandalism and disturbing the peace.

Josh Goldstein CIVIC CENTER -- Peering down from his bench, Burbank Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lubell's job, sometimes, is to teach a lesson to someone who has broken the law. But Lubell also teaches a different sort of lesson in the courtroom. While not part of his mandated daily duties, Lubell believes introducing students to the courts and the legal system before they get into trouble is one of the most important lessons he can be a part of. "I want to take the fear factor away from someone who wears a black robe," Lubell said.