Judge refuses to free murder defendant, 86, from mental hospital

Over the objections of Los Angeles County mental health officials, a judge Thursday ordered an 86-year-old murder defendant to remain in the government's care and not be released to a family member.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Norman Shapiro said that Nattie Kennebrew, who in 2009 allegedly shot and killed a handyman and tried to kill the manager at the Hollywood apartment building where he lived, must remain at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino and that the county must pay for his care.

Report warned Boston Marathon was vulnerable to terrorism

WASHINGTON — Five days before two bombs tore through crowds at the Boston Marathon, an intelligence report identified the finish line as an "area of increased vulnerability" and warned Boston police that homegrown extremists could use "small-scale bombings" to attack spectators and runners at the event.

The 18-page report, similar to others sent to police and first responders before major events in the Boston area, was written by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which is funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security and helps disseminate intelligence information to local police and first responders.

Girl plotted murders of mother and stepfather, D.A. argues

A teenage girl plotted the murder of her parents and helped her boyfriend execute the killings, giving him a hand signal when her mother was heading to bed and helping him ambush her stepfather with a baseball bat, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kristin Trutanich urged the Compton jury not to feel sympathy for the girl, who testified that she suffered years of abuse at the hands of the victims and watched helplessly as a controlling boyfriend carried out the October 2011 killings in the family’s mobile home.

California sues JPMorgan over debt collection tactics

In a lawsuit that echoes the worst abuses of the foreclosure crisis, the state's top law enforcement official is suing the nation's largest bank, accusing it of using aggressive and illegal tactics to collect credit card debt from thousands of California consumers.

Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris on Thursday accused JPMorgan Chase & Co. of operating a "debt collection mill" that flooded courts with more than 100,000 lawsuits to obtain speedy judgments before consumers could fight back. Much as banks did during the housing crisis, JPMorgan used so-called robo-signing to churn out documents without reviewing them, Harris said.

Immigration bill survives first day of debate in Senate committee

WASHINGTON — After eight hours of debate, the bipartisan Senate immigration bill emerged mostly intact Thursday, despite Republican-led efforts to make substantial alterations in the first of what is certain to be many long committee meetings to work through the 844-page proposal.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee spent most of the day on a question that has baffled immigration reformers: how to determine when the border with Mexico would be declared secure. The answer is crucial, because only then would the legalization process start for the estimated 11 million people in this country illegally.

School janitor guilty of hiding video camera in girls' restroom

A janitor at a Santa Ana elementary school was convicted Thursday of hiding a video camera in a girl's restroom stall at the school, prosecutors said.

Angel Rojas, 25, was found guilty by a jury of one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for secretly filming and for child annoyance. He faces a maximum sentence of one year and six months in jail, a $6,000 fine and having to register as a lifetime sex offender, according to a statement from the Orange County district attorney's office.

Global criminal ring drains $45 million from ATMs in hours

A worldwide gang of criminals stole a total of $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then draining cash machines around the globe, federal prosecutors said.

How were they able to do it? Outmoded U.S. card technology may be partly to blame, the officials said.

Ronald Reagan and the fall of UC

Once upon a time, the University of California was a sacred trust, the top tier of a model educational system that helped lift the state to unprecedented prosperity. It was jealously protected from outside political interference.

Now UC is more often described in profane terms. The state's entire higher education system has been under assault for decades — free access is long gone; investment per student has shrunk; some rankings have slipped. The passage of Proposition 30 last year will help repair some of the damage, but UC's stature has been diminished and with it the dream of a truly excellent education for every qualified native son and daughter.

Kobe Bryant says mom not told she could sell basketball memorabilia

The Kobe Bryant memorabilia story has taken another turn: The Lakers star claims he never gave his mother permission to sell some of his basketball mementos.

Bryant's lawyers have asked New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions to terminate plans to sell items from Bryant's high school days and early Lakers career.

Lindsey Graham blames immigration woes on south-of-the-border 'hell holes'

The GOP’s effort to woo Latinos may have suffered a minor setback Thursday, thanks to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Republicans have been trying to improve their standing with the fastest-growing voting bloc ever since last year's election, when Latinos overwhelmingly cast their ballots for President Obama.

Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, decided that Thursday’s “mark-up” of a bipartisan immigration reform bill was a good moment to review the differences between the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border and on the U.S.-Canada border. His conclusion: Canada is nice. Mexico isn't.

Camp ranger to seek Christopher Dorner reward in court

 A camp ranger who unsuccessfully sought a $1-million reward in the Christopher Dorner case is asking a judge to temporarily block the release of any funds, according to court records.

Richard Heltebrake, who contends that he deserves the reward, will ask a judge in Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown L.A. on Friday to grant a temporary restraining order to stop authorities from disbursing the reward money.

Oakland police chief takes medical retirement

Embattled Chief Howard Jordan announces his departure hours before consultants, including ex-L.A. Chief William Bratton, were to offer crime-reduction plan for the city.

OAKLAND — The embattled Oakland police chief abruptly announced a medical retirement Wednesday, hours before a team of consultants — working for former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton — was scheduled to lay out a crime-reduction plan for the state's most violent city.

L.A. police union backs Greuel candidacy with another $850,000

Police Protective League, which represents roughly 10,000 officers, has put more than $1.43 million into her mayoral bid. She and rival Eric Garcetti trade barbs.

The Los Angeles Police Department's rank-and-file union dropped another $850,000 into the effort to elect mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel, the biggest single contribution over the two-year campaign, according to reports filed Wednesday.

Crime alerts for Mid-Wilshire, Westlake and 17 other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly in 19 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of the latest week of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

13 neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Mid-Wilshire (A) was the most unusual, recording 13 reports compared with a weekly average of 2.6 over the last three months.

Westlake (N) topped the list of six neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 50 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 32.0 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for April 27–May 3, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

Violent crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Mid-Wilshire	2.6	13
East Hollywood	7.0	17
Mid-City	3.8	8
Woodland Hills	1.7	5
Valley Glen	2.4	6
Studio City	0.6	4
Harbor City	1.0	3
Arlington Heights	1.7	4
Harvard Heights	2.7	5
Van Nuys	6.1	11
Canoga Park	3.7	6
Cypress Park	1.0	4
Silver Lake	1.1	3

Property crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Westlake	32.0	50
Exposition Park	17.4	25
Atwater Village	3.9	8
Fairfax	12.7	21
Sunland	4.7	9
Beverly Grove	19.2	30

Man wanted for allegedly killing wife and kids may be heavily armed

The truck of a man suspected of gunning down his wife and two daughters in their Northern California home was found about 200 miles away, authorities said Thursday.

Humboldt County sheriff’s officials had received 911 calls that Shane Franklyn Miller, 45, was driving the truck near the town of Petrolia, about 40 miles south of Eureka, said Lt. Dave Kent.