The Orange County district attorney’s office announced Monday it will seek the death penalty against a former Marine in the stabbing death of a mother and her son in Yorba Linda and the killings of four homeless men. Itzcoatl Ocampo, 24, of Yorba Linda, is charged with six felony counts of murder with special circumstances for multiple murders and lying in wait. He also faces sentencing enhancements connected with personal use of a deadly weapon, a knife, during the commission of a crime. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement that he consulted with a “special circumstances committee” of several prosecutors before reaching his decision in the case against the Iraq War veteran. Ocampo was arrested Jan. 13 after John Berry, a 64-year-old homeless ... Continue reading →
California's budget deficit may be $900 million larger than Gov. Jerry Brown's $15.7-billion estimate, the Legislative Analyst's Office said on Friday. The difference lies in questions over money from defunct local redevelopment agencies. Brown wants to use $1.4 billion to help plug the budget gap, but the analyst predicts there will be much less money available. The analyst's report said there's "considerable uncertainty" surrounding the amount of redevelopment money, and lawsuits could further bog down the process. Other than the concern over redevelopment money, the report said Brown's proposal appears reasonable. But an uncertain economy makes it difficult to predict how much tax revenue the state will pull in. "This makes the adoption of realistic budgetary actions -- including realistic trigger cuts -- particularly important ... Continue reading →
Join in Wednesday at noon for a live chat with Jonathan Gold. You have questions? Say, where to find hand-pulled Uzbekistan noodles? He'll be here at lunchtime to answer. Continue reading →