Legal

The bus driver in Lil Wayne's 2015 bus shooting thinks Birdman and Young Thug struck secret deals with prosecutors ... and now he's demanding to know why they've never been indicted.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Alvin Lewis says he finds it unusual Cobb County, Georgia prosecutors would describe Birdman and YT as co-conspirators in the alleged shooter's indictment, but not bring any charges against them.

Lewis claims there's overwhelming evidence of complicity between Jimmy Winfrey, the alleged shooter, and Birdman and Young Thug -- from phone call records and recorded confessions, to promises of payment.

The driver claims he suffered spinal cord, rotator cuff and psychological injuries in April 2015 when Weezy's bus was shot up in Atlanta. According to the docs, Lewis says prosecutors have kept him informed about Winfrey's case, but he's rebuffed whenever he asked about Birdman and Young Thug.

Winfrey is currently being retried, because the Georgia Supreme Court overturned his 2015 conviction.

Lewis is asking the judge to force the Cobb County D.A.'s Office to turn over any information related to deals that might have been struck between prosecutors and Birdman or Young Thug.

Yung Berg allegedly pistol-whipped a woman after having sex with her, and now she's been granted court-ordered protection from him ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs ... Talia Tilley claims Yung Berg pistol-whipped her face, pointed the gun at her mouth and threatened to kill her ... after they had sex earlier this month at his place.

Tilley filed for a temporary restraining order against Berg and on Friday morning, a judge signed off on it.

Talia also submitted gruesome images she says show her injuries suffered in the alleged beatdown. She says she broke her nose, suffered 2 black eyes and cuts to her face.

In the docs, Talia says Yung Berg invited her to his crib around 3 AM March 14 and they had sex before things turned violent. She says they went to sleep after intercourse, but then he woke her up a few hours later because her phone kept ringing. She says YB accused her of trying to rob him and then got physical, slapping her and then breaking her nose with the bottom of what appeared to be a pistol.

She alleges Yung Berg beat her with the butt of the gun until she gave up her phone and passcode. She claims she was held hostage in the home for hours, and says when YB and his security guard finally let her leave ... they kept her ID and social security card.

Lamar Jackson says Amazon is selling clothes that are straight-up rip-offs of his nicknames and persona ... and now, the NFL MVP is suing the corporate giant over it all.

Jackson -- according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports -- says Amazon is selling T-shirts and hoodies that he claims the company shouldn't be allowed to sell.

The Baltimore Ravens QB says he's seen Lamarvelous shirts, Action Jackson tees and Not Bad For A Running Back hoodies -- among other items -- that all "pirate" his brand and "use his name, likeness, image and persona for commercial gain without permission."

Of course, throughout his electric 2019 season in Baltimore ... Jackson embraced those nicknames and phrases -- and even sold clothes of his own with those monikers on them.

But, Jackson says the alleged knock-off items are killing his ability to make profits off the nicknames and images ... claiming in the suit Amazon is confusing the public into thinking he's somehow involved with the knockoffs.

Lamar says the sale of the knockoff items on Amazon have caused him irreparable harm ... and now he wants the company to pay up for hurting the value of his personal brand.

Rob Kardashian's pushing back on Blac Chyna's insinuation he's a bad parent because Dream got burned in his care ... he says she's the bad parent.

Here's the deal ... Blac Chyna got the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services to investigate Rob after Dream suffered multiple burns at his home, and she claims Rob initially denied the second burn happened under his watch.

Now, Rob is firing back and blaming his former nanny while also chiding BC for trying to smear his name.

Rob's attorney, Marty Singer, tells TMZ ... Dream's health and well-being is Rob's top priority, and even though Dream did in fact get burned in two incidents with the nanny at Rob's home last month, Rob's confident DCFS won't find any safety issues at the home.

RK's legal team tells us the nanny is leaving his employment, and they say Rob treated Dream's incidents appropriately and told BC what happened.

Rob's attorney tells us it's "unfortunate that Chyna feels the need to publicly miscommunicate the situation and has once again wasted valuable public resources by calling first responders in a desperate attempt to smear Rob’s name in response to his ongoing lawsuit against her for full custody of their daughter."

And, get this ... Rob's attorneys say he has grave concerns about Dream's safety in Blac Chyna's care, and they say third parties have sent DCFS to BC's home for her treatment of Dream.

Dream's come back from her mother's house with many unexplained injuries -- rashes, cuts, bruises and a dislocated arm -- at least according to Rob.

Rob's also blasting BC for claiming to be concerned about Dream's safety when she was busy posting a video showing Dream on her older's back while they were bouncing on a trampoline.

As you know ... Rob and Chyna have joint legal and physical custody of Dream, but their both gunning for primary custody.

Lori Loughlin and other defendants in the college admissions case want a judge to throw out the cases and send prosecutors packing ... because Lori and the others say the U.S. Attorney's Office is guilty ... guilty of gross and shocking misconduct.

Lori, and others who have not copped a plea, laid out why it would be unfair to continue on the with the case. For starters, defense lawyers say authorities browbeat the ringleader in the case -- Rick Singer. Singer initially told prosecutors the money he received from Lori and others were donations made payable to the university, but FBI agents wanted him to call the money bribes. Singer said they were not bribes -- rather donations -- and that's when he says an agent started screaming at him ... ordering him to lie and say they were bribes.

And, Singer says, FBI agents told him to lie on recorded calls to obtain incriminating evidence against the parents.

There's a lot more. Prosecutors withheld this evidence for more than a year, this according to the legal docs, even though they were ordered to produce it.

Singer told agents his clients "typically do not know that [former USC official Donna] Heinel is involved until the time of their first payment." In other words, the clients thought it was legit.

And, the defense says the government recorded various conversations between Singer and various parents, but they claim this "was a sham carefully engineered by government agents in an effort to entrap defendants and "nail" them "at all costs."

In Loughlin's case, according to the docs, she made it clear she did not know the payments were bribes. In a recorded conversation, she says, "Yeah, no, no I -- I had questions about USC. I was like, 'Well, maybe the way they got in you're not supposed to get in like that. I don't know, like can you,' but Moss [her husband] was like, 'No you can make a donation.  It's ok,' like I don't know. Uh, yeah, I don't know. But it's all on the up-and-up."

Short story ... the defense says the government has lied, fabricated incriminating evidence and intentionally withheld evidence it was supposed to turn over that tended to show these were not bribes.

Joe Exotic -- the eccentric, wild and captivating convict tiger breeder featured in the wildly popular Netflix docuseries 'Tiger King' -- is suing from prison ... claiming a huge conspiracy behind him being locked up, and it led to the death of his mom.

If you've seen the show, you know Joe -- real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage -- is one of the biggest names in the big cat business. If you haven't seen it ... SPOILERS AHEAD.

Anyway, Exotic ran a popular zoo in Oklahoma until he was found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot in 2019, but according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... he claims he was falsely arrested and imprisoned, and the victim of malicious prosecution and discrimination.

But, let's back up, because firstly ... Joe's suing the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Federal Wildlife Service for placing the "generic tiger" on the endangered species list. Exotic claims this was done for the sole purpose of targeting businesses like his, and essentially ... putting him out of business.

As he puts it, this equates to "stealing my property and promoting an animal rights agenda."

Joe also alleges he was "discriminated against because he is the only person charged with this statute because [he] is an openly gay male with the largest collection of generic tigers and crossbreeds."

According to the suit, he wants $78,840,000 for the loss of his personal property and 18 years' worth of his work with tigers for this.

As for his criminal conviction, he's going after a handful of people involved in the case -- including his former business partner, Jeff Lowe, for allegedly lying to the feds and planting evidence against him.

He accuses another former colleague of being an informant and claims the sum of all this contributed to the passing of his mother, Shirley.

Joe's seeking an additional $15 million for this.

A woman claims the Dodgers are at fault for serious injuries she suffered in a Bird scooter crash at their stadium last year ... and now, she's suing the MLB team over it all.

Samantha McGowen says she and her boyfriend hit up the Dodgers-Rockies game on Sept. 20, 2019, in Los Angeles ... when they left their box seats in the 7th inning to head home (typical L.A. fan early exit).

The problem? McGowen says when she grabbed a Bird scooter to jet over to the ride-sharing area of the stadium's parking lot ... she crashed over a root/cement uprising on the ground.

McGowen says she was injured BADLY in the fall ... claiming she fractured both sides of her jaw, ruptured her jaw joint, cracked 6 teeth and also broke her leg.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, she says there wasn't good lighting around the root ... and the hazard yellow lines the team had painted on the uprising were faded.

She says she's suffered severe emotional distress and constant pain since the accident ... and now wants the team to pay up.

McGowen is suing for damages ... asking for an undisclosed amount.

An NBA photog claims LeBron James stole his picture and posted it on social media without permission ... and now, the guy is PISSED, suing the Lakers superstar looking for payment.

The photographer's name is Steven Mitchell ... and he says back on Dec. 13, 2019, he shot a SICK photo of LBJ dunking on Meyers Leonard in a Lakers vs. Heat game in Miami.

The problem? Mitchell says he noticed LeBron took the image shortly after the game and threw it up on his Instagram and Facebook pages without Mitchell's consent.

Some photogs don't mind the publicity ... and Bron was clearly appreciative of the art, captioning the pic, "What.A.Time.To.Be.Alive and I’m LIVING with Pure Joy! Thank you 🏀."

But, Mitchell clearly wasn't happy LeBron didn't reach out first ... and now, he's suing the NBA legend.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Mitchell is asking for any cash LeBron might have made off the post. Alternatively, Mitchell's seeking up to $150k for each time Bron used the pic.

Dope pic, though.

We reached out to Bron's camp for comment -- so far, no word back.

"Mr. Robot" star Grace Gummer is waving the white flag on her marriage -- she's just filed for divorce.

Meryl Streep's daughter filed docs Monday in L.A. Superior Court to end things with her husband, Tay Strathairn ... according to court records.

Grace and Tay, a keyboardist, did not have any children together ... which should make the divorce way less complicated. It's not clear what led to the split.

The estranged couple first met as kids way back in 1993 on the set of their parents' film, "The River Wild." Meryl and David Strathairn starred in the flick as husband and wife.

Kobe Bryant's daughters have just been appointed new guardians to represent their interests in their father's trust ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to new legal docs ... Erika Williams has been appointed guardian ad litem for Natalia and Bianka Bryant, and James Summers is repping for Kobe's youngest daughter, Capri.

Vanessa Bryant and Kobe's former agent Rob Pelinka, who are the co-trustees of Kobe's trust, have been instructed to pay any expenses for Erika and James' roles as guardians, using money from the trust ... according to the docs.

As we first reported ... Vanessa filed docs Friday asking a judge to appoint the guardian ad litem for Bianka and Natalia, plus another one for Capri. Vanessa said she wanted to get her legal affairs in order ASAP because of uncertainty surrounding the court system due to coronavirus pandemic and potential government shutdowns.