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☆ Paul Pelosi’s Attacker Found Guilty on Federal Charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Footage released by a San Francisco Court on Friday shows the home attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House Speaker. The alleged intruder, David DePape, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. Photo: San Francisco Superior CourtDavid DePape was found guilty in an attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband last year that deepened fears of political violence. DePape, 43, was charged in federal court last year with attempted kidnapping of a federal officer or employee and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official. A jury found him guilty Thursday on both counts, the Justice Department said.

Persons: Paul Pelosi, David DePape, Nancy Pelosi’s Organizations: San Francisco, San Francisco Superior, Justice Department

☆ At unicorn startup Carta, a culture of absolute fealty to an erratic and vindictive CEO, employees say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Both men remained valued employees at Carta, with the sales representative even getting promoted just weeks after the alleged "helicopter penis" incident, according to former employees. CEO Henry Ward cofounded Carta, originally called eShares, in 2012 as a service for startups to digitize their paper stock certificates. Today Carta helps startups track their investors, employees manage their equity awards, and venture capitalists administer their funds. The lawsuit says that 10 days after Rogers filed her complaint, Ward "began treating Ms. Rogers in an aggressive and demeaning manner during several meetings." Many of the employees who have spoken out publicly about Carta and Ward have found themselves embroiled in expensive legal battles.

Persons: Lisa Whittaker, Whittaker, Jerry Talton, David Kim, Andrea Lamari, Kim, Henry Ward, Andreessen Horowitz, Ward, Henry, Alex Kurland, Carta, Peter Thiel, Simon Cowell, Talton's, Suzanne Elovic, Elovic, Lamari, Jeff Perry, Perry, salespeople, JT Goodman, Goodman, Goodman didn't, Jeff Perrry, Allie Rogers, Rogers, Rodgers, Rachel Mayes, Ward doesn't, Mayes, Jeff, Jeff Perry countersued, Orrick Herrington, Sutcliffe, Kleiner Perkins, Ellen Pao, Amanda Sheets, Sheets, Pushback, Lindauer, Whitaker, Whittaker wasn't, Barbara Byrne, Byrne, Talton, Joe Osnoss, Osnoss, Heidi Johnson, Johnson Organizations: Carta, UBS, Gold Club, Lightspeed, California Civil Rights Department, Meritech, YouTube, Win, York Stock Exchange, San, San Francisco Superior, San Francisco Superior Court, Barclays, Lehman Brothers, Montana Human Rights Bureau Locations: San Francisco, Brazil, Silicon Valley, California, Palo, Iranian, Lindauer, Silver, Montana

Grimes is seeking physical custody of her and Elon Musk's three kids, according to court documents. AdvertisementAdvertisementGrimes is suing Elon Musk and asking for physical custody of the three children they share, according to court records obtained by Insider. Grimes, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, is seeking physical custody of her and Musk's kids — 3-year-old X and 1-year-olds Exa and Tau — as well as joint legal custody. Grimes' lawsuit also requests that Musk's suit be thrown out. Differentiating legal custody and physical custody allows parents to share decision-making and rights of access to the kids without an equal custody split, Davis said.

Persons: Grimes, Elon Musk's, Musk, —, Elon Musk, Claire Boucher, Tau —, Neama, Holly Davis, Kirker Davis, Davis, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, We're, Shivon Zilis, Walter Isaacson, Zilis Organizations: Service, San Francisco Superior Court, San Francisco, West, SpaceX Locations: California, Los Angeles, Texas, Turkey, New York

Grimes sued Elon Musk last month for physical custody of the former couple's three children. AdvertisementAdvertisementGrimes and Elon Musk's three children are not allowed to leave California after Grimes sued Musk last month for physical custody of the kids, according to court records obtained by Insider. Lawyers for Musk and Grimes declined to comment, and Musk didn't respond to a request for comment. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn his petition, Musk accused Grimes of moving to California "in an apparent attempt to circumvent jurisdiction" of Texas courts. It's not clear where Musk and Grimes' kids are currently living.

Persons: Grimes, Elon Musk, —, Elon Musk's, Musk, Claire Boucher, Neama, Holly Davis, Davis, Clive Mason, X, he'd, Musk's Organizations: Service, San, San Francisco Superior Court, Tau, West, Trial, Musk, Getty, Forbes, Twitter Locations: California, San Francisco, Texas, Grimes, Musk's Texas, Los Angeles, Austin , Texas, Austin, Turkey, New York

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders into housing and medical care — potentially without their consent — kicked off in seven California counties, including San Francisco, on Monday. San Francisco officials said in a statement that about 10% of more than 2,500 beds are open for new people. The National Alliance on Mental Illness in California, a grassroots organization supporting people with a mental illness and their families, pushed for the new mental health program. San Francisco, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Glenn counties launched the new program Monday. The rest of the state has until December 2024 to establish mental health courts.

Persons: —, Gavin Newsom, it's, ”, Michael Begert, Mark Ghaly, Tal Klement, Judge Begert, Veronica Kelley, Samuel Jain, Jessica Cruz Organizations: FRANCISCO, Democratic, CARE, Lawmakers, San Francisco, CARE ”, WHO, California, Human Services Agency, Disability Rights, National Alliance, Mental, Glenn, Los Locations: California, San Francisco, Orange County, Francisco , Orange, San Diego, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles

X, formerly known as Twitter, sued Atlas Exploration in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday in a complaint alleging breach of contract. X has faced an array of legal actions over unpaid rent and other invoices following Musk's $44 billion buyout last October. In one case, the owner of X's main office at 1355 Market Street in San Francisco sued X for more than $3.1 million in unpaid rent. Britain's Crown Estate, which manages the property portfolio belonging to the monarchy, in January filed claims against X over alleged unpaid rent on its London headquarters. The case is X Corp v Atlas Exploration Inc, San Francisco Superior Court, No.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Elon, X, Atlas, Kevin Hill, Hill, Jonathan Hawk, Mike Scarcella, Leigh Jones, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, Elon Musk's X Corp, San, Twitter, Atlas Exploration, San Francisco Superior Court, Inc, X, X Corp, Exploration Inc, San Francisco Superior, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, San Francisco, San Francisco's, Britain's, London

☆ Amazon.com faces an array of US consumer, state antitrust lawsuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In the California case, Judge Ethan Schulman in San Francisco Superior Court in March ruled against Amazon's bid to dismiss the lawsuit. CONSUMERS' PRICE INFLATION CLAIMSAmazon faces a pair of consumer lawsuits in Seattle federal court. The consumer plaintiffs, Chun wrote, "allege the type of conduct that antitrust law is intended to prevent." E-BOOKSIn Manhattan federal court, a prospective class action from consumers accuses Amazon of artificially inflating the price of retail trade e-books on the site. U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods has not yet ruled on objections from Amazon and the plaintiffs to Figueredo's report and recommendation.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, Rob Bonta, Ethan Schulman, Amazon's, Schulman, Richard Jones, Jones, John Chun, —, Chun, Ricardo Martinez, Valerie Figueredo, Gregory Woods, Mike Scarcella, Chris Sanders, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Amazon.com, Big Tech, FTC, GENERAL, District of Columbia, Walmart, Costco, Amazon, San Francisco Superior Court, District, U.S, Thomson Locations: Bretigny, Paris, France, CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, GENERAL California, District, Washington ,, California, Columbia, San Francisco, Seattle, U.S, Maryland, Manhattan, Washington

☆ McDonald's sued for 'severe burns' from spilled hot coffee — again
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Alex Portée | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A San Francisco McDonald's is being sued after a woman in her 80s allegedly sustained "severe burns" from a scalding cup of coffee and was refused help by store employees. Childress alleges that the incident caused her to suffer severe burns, scarring, emotional distress, as well as hospital and medical expenses. Peter Ou, the owner and operator of the San Francisco franchise in question, responded to TODAY.com's request for comment via email. According to NBC News, in 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck sustained third-degree burns when a hot coffee from a New Mexico-based McDonald's spilled onto her lap. In a statement to local outlet SFGate, her lawyer, Dylan Hackett, said the coffee cup had not been "properly" covered and the coffee itself was "scalding."

Persons: Francisco McDonald's, Mable Childress, Childress, Peter Ou, McDonald's, Stella Liebeck, Dylan Hackett, Hackett, SFGate, … Nobody Organizations: NBC News, San Francisco Superior, San Francisco Locations: Francisco, San Francisco, New Mexico

☆ California sues Chevron, Exxon, Shell, others for public deception on climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The state of California on Friday filed one of the most significant cases against major oil companies for their role in perpetuating climate change. The oil companies named as defendants are BP , Chevron , ConocoPhillips , Exxon Mobil , and Shell . The state is seeking an abatement fund paid for by the defendants that will finance recovery efforts for the future damage of human-caused climate change. It also asks that the oil companies and their trade group pay a share of the damages from extreme weather disasters worsened by climate change. Shell, based in the U.K., maintained that its position on climate change "has been a matter of public record for decades."

Persons: Rob Bonta, Korey Silverman, Columbia University's, Silverman, Newsom, API's, Ryan Meyers, Roati Organizations: Exxon, American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Columbia, Climate Change, California Gov Locations: San Francisco , California, California, San Francisco, Chevron, Texas

☆ Dianne Feinstein initially said she gave her daughter 'no permission to do anything' before calling a reporter back to clarify that she had given her daughter power of attorney
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Feinstein affirmed statements about her daughter's power of attorney while speaking with a reporter. But earlier in the day, she told the reporter her daughter had "no permission to do anything." In August, it was reported that Sen. Dianne Feinstein had given power of attorney to her daughter, former San Francisco Superior Court judge Katherine Feinstein. Then, in a phone call the same day, she attempted to clarify her earlier statements about Katherine Feinstein's role in aiding her legal issues. It has nothing to do with the Senate or, frankly, anything else," the senator told The Chronicle.

Persons: Feinstein, Sen, Dianne Feinstein, Katherine Feinstein, Katherine Feinstein's, I've, Richard Blum Organizations: Service, California Democrat, Capitol, San Francisco Superior, San Francisco Chronicle, Chronicle, Senate Locations: Wall, Silicon, California, Washington

☆ Wells Fargo, a juicy target, sparks lead counsel fight among shareholder firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Meanwhile, yet another plaintiffs' firm, Robbins, is deep into a similar derivative suit against Wells Fargo board members in San Francisco Superior Court. But it’s worth noting that in 2022, Wells Fargo won the dismissal of a previous shareholder derivative suit accusing the board of regulatory compliance failures. Kessler said its complaint, which includes "detailed" and "substantial" references to Wells Fargo internal documents, was more likely to withstand a dismissal motion from the bank. Scott + Scott told Tigar that it had the most up-to-date documents from Wells Fargo because it brought a Section 220 demand after the $3.7 billion CFPB agreement. I would not be surprised to see a rival derivative suit filed in Delaware Chancery Court by one of the shareholder firms spurned by Tigar.

Persons: Cromwell, Wells Fargo, Wells, Robbins Geller Rudman, Dowd, Kessler Topaz Meltzer, Scott, Scott –, They're, Jon Tigar, Robbins, Wells Fargo’s, Kessler Topaz, Kessler, Robbins Geller, Tigar, Robbins Geller didn’t, Randall Baron, board's, Andrew Cheng, Read Organizations: Sullivan, U.S . Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S . Office, Currency, OCC, Wells, U.S, District, San Francisco Superior Court, Tigar, Wells Fargo, San Francisco, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Oakland, Wells Fargo, San Francisco, Wells, San, California, Delaware Chancery

☆ Lending startup Captain raised $107 million in the boom times. Now it's up for sale amid layoffs and a capital drought.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Melia Russell | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Captain, a startup that aimed to quicken home repairs after natural disasters, is winding down. The Louisville-based company had previously raised $107 million across venture and debt equity. CartaMany early-stage startups such as Captain, which had raised $107 million across equity and debt capital, have struggled to raise new funding as a drought in venture capital spreads through Silicon Valley. Liabilities pile upThe company relies on debt financing to pay contractors upfront for materials, supplies, and labor costs. In his email, Gray said prospective buyers were aware of the outstanding liabilities and the sale price would be used to satisfy those liabilities, "with wages being the most paramount," he said.

Persons: Demetrius Gray, Gray, Captain, Red Swan, Pete Flint, Flint, PATRICK T, FALLON, Talent, Melia Russell, Rob Price Organizations: quicken, Carta, TechCrunch, GGV, fintech, Munich Re, San Francisco Superior Court Locations: The Louisville, Silicon Valley, Carta, Louisville , Kentucky, NFX, CoVenture, Munich, Maui

Twitter’s parent company sued a leading corporate law firm on Friday for what it said were unjust payments related to Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media company last year. A $90 million payment that Twitter made to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a top mergers and acquisitions firm, amounted to “unjust enrichment” and should be paid back, according to the lawsuit, which the parent company, X Corp., filed in San Francisco Superior Court. The lawsuit said Wachtell Lipton took “funds from the company cash register while the keys were being handed over” to Mr. Musk, who owns X Corp.Twitter’s previous management hired Wachtell Lipton after Mr. Musk tried to terminate his agreement to acquire the company last year. He was unsuccessful, and the purchase closed in October.

Persons: Elon, Wachtell, Lipton, Katz, Wachtell Lipton, Musk Organizations: Elon Musk’s, Rosen, X Corp, San, San Francisco Superior Court Locations: San Francisco, ”

☆ Former exec at TikTok's parent company says Communist Party members had a 'god credential' that let them access Americans' data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Zen Soo | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Yintao Yu said Communist Party members accessed data on US users as well as protesters in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous region in China with its own government. Some American lawmakers have expressed concern that TikTok's ties to ByteDance means the data it holds is subject to Chinese law. It was also available in Hong Kong until TikTok pulled out of the market in 2020 following the imposition of a sweeping national security law. Anyone who tries to open TikTok from within Hong Kong will see a message that reads "We regret to inform you that we have discontinued operating TikTok in Hong Kong."

Persons: Yintao Yu, ByteDance, —, Yu, Charles Jung, Jung, Shou Zi Chew, Chew, TikTok Organizations: Communist Party, ByteDance, San Francisco Superior, British, Hong, Flipagram, Oracle, Chinese Communist Party, Communist Locations: Hong Kong, HONG KONG, U.S, China, Beijing

☆ An explosive new lawsuit claims TikTok's owner built a 'backdoor' the CCP could exploit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Dan Whateley | Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ByteDance allowed a Chinese Communist Party unit to censor content and access data, a new lawsuit alleges. ByteDance built a "backdoor channel" to enable CCP access to US user data, the suit alleges. An explosive new lawsuit claims TikTok owner ByteDance built a "backdoor channel" in its code that allowed Chinese Communist Party members access to user data hosted in the US. Yu is a former engineering lead for ByteDance in the US who worked at the company between 2017 and 2018. The complaint alleges the "Committee continued to have access" to US user data even after ByteDance walled off access for individual engineers in China.

☆ Ex-ByteDance Executive Accuses Company of ‘Lawlessness’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Thomas Fuller | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former executive at ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has accused the technology giant of a “culture of lawlessness,” including stealing content from rival platforms Snapchat and Instagram in its early years, and called the company a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party.”The claims were part of a wrongful dismissal suit filed on Friday by Yintao Yu, who was the head of engineering for ByteDance’s U.S. operations from August 2017 to November 2018. The complaint, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, says Mr. Yu was fired because he raised concerns about a “worldwide scheme” to steal and profit from other companies’ intellectual property. Among the most striking claims in Mr. Yu’s lawsuit is that ByteDance’s offices in Beijing had a special unit of Chinese Communist Party members sometimes referred to as the Committee, which monitored the company’s apps, “guided how the company advanced core Communist values” and possessed a “death switch” that could turn off the Chinese apps entirely. “The Committee maintained supreme access to all the company data, even data stored in the United States,” the complaint said.

☆ An explosive new lawsuit claims TikTok's owner built a 'backdoor' that allowed the CCP to access US user data
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Dan Whateley | Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Amazon must face California lawsuit claiming its prices are too high
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: An Amazon worker loads a trolley from a Prime delivery van in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Helgren(Reuters) - A California judge has rejected Amazon.com Inc’s bid to dismiss the state’s antitrust lawsuit accusing the online retailer of illegally forcing merchants to accept policies that result in artificially high prices for consumers. California sufficiently alleged that Amazon’s policies “have had the anticompetitive effect of raising prices on competing retail marketplaces as well as on third-party sellers’ own websites,” Judge Ethan Schulman in San Francisco Superior Court wrote. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Washington, D.C. is appealing a judge’s March 2022 dismissal of a similar lawsuit there.

March 31 (Reuters) - A judge has rejected Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) bid to dismiss California's antitrust lawsuit accusing the online retailer of illegally forcing merchants to accept policies that cause consumers to pay artificially high prices. California Attorney General Rob Bonta had sued Seattle-based Amazon last September. The lawsuit sought to block Amazon from enforcing policies that bar the sale of goods more cheaply elsewhere, and to pay damages and penalties. Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is appealing a judge's March 2022 dismissal of his similar lawsuit against Amazon. The case is California v Amazon.com Inc, Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, No.

☆ Tyre Nichols Death: Protests in U.S. Cities After Body-Cam Video Release
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: Footage of Paul Pelosi Attack Released Footage released by a San Francisco Court on Friday shows the home attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House Speaker. The alleged intruder, David DePape, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. Photo: San Francisco Superior Court

☆ Pelosi says it would be 'very hard' to watch body camera video of husband's brutal attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she's not sure whether she will watch soon-to-be released body camera video from an officer who responded to the brutal attack on her husband last year at their home in San Francisco. The police video is scheduled for release Friday, according to an advisory from San Francisco Superior Court following a judge's order. Asked whether she would watch the video, Pelosi, D-Calif., said she doesn’t know. Paul Pelosi and Nancy Pelosi at the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Pelosi, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the attack, said her husband's recovery is ongoing.

☆ Judge orders release of body camera footage and 911 call from Paul Pelosi attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A coalition of news organizations will gain access Thursday to all courtroom evidence from last year's attack on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband at their San Francisco home. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy on Wednesday granted a motion filed by a group of 13 news organizations, including NBC News and The New York Times, requesting the release of evidence in the case against David DePape, Paul Pelosi's alleged assailant. The evidence consists of footage from a body camera worn by an officer who responded at the Pelosis' home on Oct. 28, a 911 call Paul Pelosi made to police, portions of a police interview with DePape, and security video taken during the break-in recorded by U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C. The judge’s order comes after prosecutors had refused to release the evidence to news outlets. DePape, who allegedly demanded the whereabouts of Nancy Pelosi while in the house and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, is facing a pair of federal assault and attempted kidnapping charges in the case, in addition to related state charges.

☆ Police testify about attack on U.S. House Speaker Pelosi's husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - A San Francisco police officer testified on Wednesday that he witnessed the attack on U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband when the suspect attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer in late October. The suspect, demanding to see the House speaker, had broken into her San Francisco home and attacked her husband in an assault that had stoked fears about political violence in the United States in the days leading to the midterm elections. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy conducted the hearing on Wednesday to establish if there was enough evidence to bring the suspect to trial. After the attack, Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands. DePape threatened to take the House speaker hostage, prosecutors said.

☆ Suspect in Paul Pelosi Assault Lived in U.S. Illegally, Immigration Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Michelle Hackman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer is a Canadian citizen who has been living in the U.S. illegally since 2008, immigration officials said Thursday. David DePape, 42 years old, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and elder abuse in San Francisco Superior Court. He is being held without bail at the San Francisco County Jail.

☆ Accused Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape could be deported after release from custody, DHS says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, lodged an "immigration detainer" on 42-year-old Canadian national David DePape, DHS told CNBC in a statement. The detainer requests that the San Francisco County Jail notify ICE before DePape is done serving time so that the immigration officers can take custody of him. The Democratic House speaker was in Washington, D.C., at the time. Paul Pelosi managed to call 9-1-1, and when officers arrived, DePape struck him in the head with the hammer, authorities said. DePape arrived at the San Francisco home toting zip ties, tape, rope and at least one hammer, according to the affidavit.

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