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Celebrities on Trial

From O.J. Simpson to Johnny Depp, these celebrities found themselves in the courtroom spotlight as well.

Shia LaBeouf charged with misdemeanor battery, petty theft

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shia LaBeouf has been charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft. Prosecutors allege that the 34-year-old actor fought with a man named Tyler Murphy and took his hat, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday from the Los Angeles city attorney. The charges were filed on […] More

October 2, 2020

Seagram’s heir sentenced to prison in branded sex slave case
Seagram’s heir sentenced to prison in branded sex slave case

By TOM HAYS Asscociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune was sentenced Wednesday to an 81-month prison term and immediately thrown behind bars for her role as an unwavering benefactor of Keith Raniere, the disgraced self-improvement guru convicted of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his […] More

September 30, 2020

Heiress faces sentencing in upstate New York sex slave case
Heiress faces sentencing in upstate New York sex slave case

NEW YORK (AP) — A wealthy benefactor of Keith Raniere, the disgraced leader of a self-improvement group in upstate New York convicted of turning women into sex slaves branded with his initials, is facing sentencing in the federal conspiracy case. Seagram’s liquor fortune heiress Clare Bronfman is due to appear on Wednesday in federal court […] More

September 30, 2020

Vanessa Bryant sues LA sheriff over helicopter crash photos
Vanessa Bryant sues LA sheriff over helicopter crash photos

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vanessa Bryant, the widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff claiming deputies shared unauthorized photos of the crash that killed her husband, their 13-year-old daughter and seven others. After the Jan. 26 crash, reports surfaced that graphic […] More

September 23, 2020

Actor Masterson’s lawyer denies and denounces rape charges
Actor Masterson’s lawyer denies and denounces rape charges

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, charged with raping three women, made his first appearance Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom, where his attorney declared his innocence and denounced the charges against him as “politicized.”   Masterson, 44, who has been free on bail since […] More

September 21, 2020

‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris arrested on child porn charges
‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris arrested on child porn charges

By DON BABWIN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Jerry Harris, the star of the Netflix documentary series “Cheer,” was arrested Thursday and charged with producing child pornography, three days after twin boys filed a lawsuit alleging he sent them sexually explicit photos of himself and cornered one of them in a bathroom and begged for […] More

September 17, 2020

‘Melrose Place’ actress headed back to prison for 2010 crash
‘Melrose Place’ actress headed back to prison for 2010 crash

By DAVID PORTER Associated Press A former “Melrose Place” actress who has already served a prison sentence for a fatal 2010 drunken driving crash in New Jersey is headed back behind bars after a judge agreed with prosecutors Thursday that her initial sentence was too lenient.   Saying Amy Locane still refuses to fully acknowledge […] More

September 17, 2020

Giants’ Baker sued over alleged May robbery in Florida
Giants’ Baker sued over alleged May robbery in Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Three people filed a lawsuit Monday against New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker, claiming that he robbed them at gunpoint during a May cookout in Florida, court records show. The civil lawsuit filed in Broward County court seeks $100,000 in damages. Baker was formally charged Aug. 7 with four counts […] More

September 16, 2020

Anthony Rapp sues Kevin Spacey on sex assault allegation
Anthony Rapp sues Kevin Spacey on sex assault allegation

NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Anthony Rapp and another man filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against actor Kevin Spacey, accusing him of sexual assaults in the 1980s when they were teens. Rapp, who starred in “Rent” on Broadway and in “Star Trek: Discovery” on TV, had first spoken out against the Oscar-winning Spacey in 2017, […] More

September 9, 2020

Joe Exotic formally requests pardon, maintains innocence
Joe Exotic formally requests pardon, maintains innocence

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma zookeeper sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws has formally requested a pardon. Attorneys for Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic,” filed his application Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Justice. In it, attorneys for Maldonado-Passage, 57, say […] More

September 9, 2020

Attorneys present revised Weinstein bankruptcy plan to judge
Attorneys present revised Weinstein bankruptcy plan to judge

By RANDALL CHASE Associated Press DOVER, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for The Weinstein Co. presented a Delaware judge Wednesday with a revised bankruptcy plan that would provide about $35 million for creditors, including victims of sexual misconduct by disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein. The settlement amount is $11.5 million less than under a previous plan, […] More

September 3, 2020

Carol Burnett granted temporary custody of teenage grandson
Carol Burnett granted temporary custody of teenage grandson

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A court has granted Carol Burnett temporary custody of her teenage grandson as the boy’s mother struggles with substance abuse. A Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday judge granted the 87-year-old Burnett and her husband, Brian Miller, custody of her 14-year-old grandson Dylan West until Jan. 8. The move came two […] More

September 2, 2020

Attorney: R&B singer R Kelly attacked in federal detention
Attorney: R&B singer R Kelly attacked in federal detention

CHICAGO (AP) — The lawyer for R. Kelly said Thursday the R&B singer, who is awaiting trial on child pornography and other charges, was assaulted by a fellow detainee at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.   Attorney Steve Greenberg revealed in a tweet that he learned of the attack on his client Wednesday. Greenberg […] More

August 28, 2020

Judge sides with prosecutors over treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell
Judge sides with prosecutors over treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors won’t have to immediately divulge the identities of three women who say financier Jeffrey Epstein and his ex-girlfriend conspired to sexually abuse when they were teenagers, a judge said Tuesday. Defense lawyers were premature in asking that she force the government to name the accusers of Epstein and British socialite […] More

August 27, 2020

Judge removes DA from rape case against surgeon, girlfriend
Judge removes DA from rape case against surgeon, girlfriend

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has been removed from handling the criminal case against a reality TV doctor and his girlfriend accused of drugging and raping several women. The judge on Thursday took the rare step of determining that local prosecutors must be disqualified after noting that District Attorney […] More

August 21, 2020

Court: Secret videos can’t be used in Kraft massage case
Court: Secret videos can’t be used in Kraft massage case

By TERRY SPENCER and CURT ANDERSON Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when they secretly video recorded them paying for massage parlor sex acts, barring the tapes’ use at trial and dealing a potentially […] More

August 19, 2020

Britney Spears asks court to curb father’s power over her
Britney Spears asks court to curb father’s power over her

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears on Tuesday asked a court to keep her father from reasserting the broad control over her life and career that he has had for most of the past 12 years. In documents filed by her court-appointed lawyer that give a rare public airing […] More

August 18, 2020

Lawsuit: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. raped New York woman in 2013
Lawsuit: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. raped New York woman in 2013

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is accused of raping a woman twice in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013, according to a lawsuit that escalates the severity of the growing number of claims against him. The lawsuit, dated Monday but filed publicly Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, […] More

August 18, 2020

Sentencing date set for NY self-help guru in sex slave case
Sentencing date set for NY self-help guru in sex slave case

NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of a cult-like self-improvement group in upstate New York who was convicted last year on charges that he turned some of his followers into sex slaves will face sentencing on Oct. 27, a judge said Friday. In a conference call, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis told lawyers for Keith […] More

August 14, 2020

R. Kelly’s manager charged with phone threats to theater
R. Kelly’s manager charged with phone threats to theater

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — R. Kelly’s manager has been arrested on charges that he threatened a shooting at a Manhattan theater two years ago, forcing an evacuation and the cancellation of the screening of a documentary addressing allegations that the singer had sexually abused women and girls. Donnell Russell, 45, […] More

August 14, 2020

Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend balks at prison conditions
Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend balks at prison conditions

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The reaction of federal prison officials to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide last year is to blame for onerous conditions a British socialite faces in jail while awaiting trial on charges that she procured teenage girls for Epstein to abuse a quarter-century ago, her lawyers said Tuesday. Through […] More

August 11, 2020

Money offered for info on former ‘Tiger King’ star husband
Money offered for info on former ‘Tiger King’ star husband

By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The family of a Florida man who disappeared in 1997 and who appeared on the hit TV series “Tiger King,” has hired a lawyer and is offering $100,000 in exchange for information to help solve the case. Attorney John Phillips held a news conference in […] More

August 10, 2020