Legal

An LAPD cop who was caught on video giving a man a beating earlier this year is now going to court ... he's been charged with assault by the District Attorney.

Los Angeles County D.A. Jackie Lacey announced the charge Tuesday against Officer Frank Hernandez -- who video shows pummeled a man with his fists this past April out in Boyle Heights.  As we reported, the officer was responding to a call for trespass. Hernandez now faces one count of felony assault under color of authority.

At the time, Hernandez and his partner encountered the guy after seeing him on a lot he allegedly wasn't supposed to be on -- but after refusing to leave the area entirely on the officers' orders, things got heated ... and eventually, they came to blows.

According to the D.A., Hernandez is accused of repeatedly punching the man over a dozen times over the head, neck and body. The D.A. calls it "a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer. In this case, we believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable."

Travis Scott's "Highest in the Room" has a catchy guitar melody that appears throughout -- but one producer claims Travis and his team lifted it.

The guy's name is Benjamin Lasnier, who says he's a Danish music producer who's made beats for lots of people, especially rappers like Trippe Redd, Desiigner, Don Toliver and if he's right ... you can add Travis Scott to his resume.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Lasnier says he wrote and recorded the guitar refrain featured in Trav's hit song, 'Highest,' back in early 2019 ... which he then started shopping around to different producers, engineers and even artists themselves.

He says he also posted this guitar recording on his IG stories 3 different times -- although it's unclear if he still has them up or not for reference. Either way, Lasnier says he put it out there to more than 700k followers.

Welp, around springtime ... Lasnier claims he got in touch with a guy who works with Travis named Jamie Lepr -- who goes by Jimmy Cash on IG, and apparently solicits beats. Lasnier says he sent Lepr a beat pack, which included the guitar melody in question -- and with no formal deal struck between them ... Lasnier claims he eventually heard a slightly tweaked version of his melody on Trav's new song in late 2019. He says a strikingly similar arpeggio appears around 24 times, which he says makes it the meat of the song.

Of course, Lasnier says he never explicitly authorized Lepr to use the music -- and now wants his cut of the loot for what the song has gone on to make -- which is a lot, BTW. He claims "Highest in the Room" has generated north of $20 million for everyone involved in making it -- it's even had crazy success on the charts ... reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

If you know, you know it's one of Travis Scott's most popular songs to date, without question. Now, Lasnier's asking a judge to give him an accounting of the profits, damages, and a running royalty share too.

We've reached out to Travis' team ... so far, no word back.

One of the accused ex-cops in George Floyd's murder case needs financial assistance, and believe it or not, he's hoping the public will lend a hand as he tries to mount his legal defense ... which is that he claims he tried to do the right thing.

The family of Thomas Lane is soliciting donations via a website they've set up. His bail's been set at a million bucks ... and if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

Lane, along with the 2 other ex-officers beside Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder, and aiding and abetting 2nd-degree manslaughter.

Through their website -- which reads more like a resume -- Lane's family tries pleading his case, arguing Lane did everything he had the power and authority to do to save George's life on May 25. They point out Lane suggested rolling him on his side ... which they -- and prosecutors -- say Chauvin refused to do.

However, Lane was also involved in pinning George on the ground. The vast majority of America, and several law enforcement veterans, think he and his comrades should have removed Chauvin.

Anyway, the family says Lane called for the ambulance prior to George losing consciousness, and when it arrived Lane "did not hesitate to jump into the Ambulance where he started performing CPR to try and save George Floyd’s life."

They say chain of command is the only thing that stopped him from doing more. Lane's defense attorney offered that same explanation last week during arraignment.

On top of that, they note he was brand new on the job ... just 4 days on the streets.

The attorney for one of the cops charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of George Floyd made a shocking, ridiculous claim -- that the civilian bystanders who watched Floyd die should have intervened. But, that argument will backfire in spectacular fashion.

Earl Gray, the lawyer for fired officer and current defendant Thomas Lane, told Chris Cuomo on CNN Monday night ... if the bystanders were so outraged they should have stepped in. Cuomo was indignant ... the notion bystanders would intervene against four armed police officers is outrageous.

Think about it though ... what Gray is conceding is that there was clear excessive force -- otherwise, why would he advocate for civilian intervention? If there is clear excessive force -- which there was -- then his client would have a greater duty than any civilian to stop it. To yank Derek Chauvin off George Floyd ... and that's precisely the reason Thomas Lane was charged.

Reese Witherspoon is taking some legal heat for a dress giveaway to teachers during the early days of the pandemic, and the lawsuit reads like the ultimate case of no good deed goes unpunished.

Three women are putting together a class-action lawsuit against Reese and her Draper James clothing company for their highly-publicized offer on Instagram in early April, which stated ... "Dear Teachers: We want to say thank you. During quarantine we see you working harder than every to educate our children. To show our gratitude, Draper James would like to give teachers a free dress."

According to the suit, the offer required participants to provide their personal information to the fashion line -- including contact information and sensitive education employment ID info -- within 3 days, and then all "winners" who accepted the offer would be notified by April 7.

Now, we should say the IG post clearly stated the offer was valid "while supplies last." However, the plaintiffs say the offer didn't make it clear Draper James only had 250 dresses to give away.

So instead, according to the lawsuit, the nearly 1 million teachers who provided their personal info were entered into a lottery with a slim chance of winning ... when they all believed they were getting free dresses.

The women suing point out that the total cost of the 250 dresses to be given away would only come out to an "estimated paltry $12,500 in actual cost" to Reese and her company ... "at a time when other individuals of [Reese] Witherspoon's renown were offering millions of dollars to COVID-19 victims."

Translation: Yes, you were charitable, but we wanted you to be WAY more charitable. Wow.

The lawsuit alleges Reese and her company also benefited from the publicity of the giveaway -- including shout-outs on "Today" and "Good Morning America."

Draper James' attorney Theane Evangelis tells TMZ ... "This lawsuit is an unjust attempt to exploit Draper James' good intentions to honor the teacher community by gifting hundreds of free dresses. The fact that supplies were limited, such that a free dress could not be provided to every teacher who responded, was disclosed and is no basis for a lawsuit."

She continues, "Draper James looks forward to defending this case, to continuing its efforts to acknowledge the extraordinary contributions made by teachers during this time of need, and to being vindicated in court."

Josh Groban's been getting sexually harassed and now threatened with a pop-in at his new home by a woman he says he canceled a date with nearly a decade ago ... so he claims in new legal docs.

The swooning singer just got a temporary restraining order against the obsessed female fan, who he claims has been incessantly sending him texts, emails and direct messages since 2011 ... along with contacting his family members and his current girlfriend in recent years.

Some of the alleged messages -- from as recently as May -- are very sexual and graphic in nature, including one saying ... "I came at approximately 7:09 PM this evening with the thought of your d**k between my t**s and your warmness against my ribcage." It gets even more graphic, but we'll spare ya ... this isn't Penthouse Forum.

Another DM to Josh last month allegedly referred to his relationship with his GF. It said, "You wanna try honoring the home we're going to have children in by not f**king other women in it."

Also, on May 26, the woman allegedly sent DMs to Josh claiming she went to his house with the intention of dropping off gifts. One said, "Put on a little bit of makeup in case I got caught, also wore pants with a hole in the crotch for the same reasons."

Josh says he met the woman through a mutual Facebook friend in 2011, and they began flirting and made plans to meet in person ... but he called it off because he was sick. He claims immediately following the missed meeting she wouldn't give up and kept pestering him, so he told her they could never meet.

Groban claims until this year, she's limited her efforts to public places where he's staying or performing, and he's had to have his security intercept her at various locations and have her removed.

According to the docs ... Josh claims things intensified big time in February 2020, especially after she found out online that he bought a new home in L.A. and told him she knew where he lives. This resulted in sending her a cease and desist letter to lay off ... to no avail.

He claims she even sent a package to his home in early May that consisted of a small skull, a flower, and a book with handwritten notes in it that were sexual in nature and made it clear she would never stop.

The ex-Minneapolis cop charged with murdering George Floyd went before the judge Monday ... where his bail was set at 7 figures.

Derek Chauvin appeared in Hennepin County District Court, via video teleconference from jail, and the judge set his bail at $1.25 million.

Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and a white t-shirt, Chauvin stated his name and address and answered questions from the judge ... at which point he revealed he still has guns at his home.

The judge said Chauvin could post a lower bail amount of $1 million if he agreed to additional bail conditions, including no police or law enforcement work, no firearms and no contact with Floyd's family.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric J. Nelson, also filed legal docs asking the prosecution to hand over any evidence they're using in the case against him, including anything that could be exculpatory.

As you know ... Chauvin was arrested four days after Floyd's death, and initially charged by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

But, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is now leading the investigation and prosecution, filed an additional count of second-degree murder against Chauvin. He's facing 40 years behind bars -- the maximum penalty for second-degree murder.

As we reported ... the three other former officers involved in Floyd's death -- J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao -- are each charged with one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and one count of abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin's former colleagues made their first court appearance last week, and attorneys for Lane and Kueng tried to shift the blame to Chauvin.

Carl Crawford's ex-fiancee, Evelyn Lozada, is coming to the former Dodger's defense after he was arrested for domestic violence ... saying he never did anything menacing to her.

The reality TV personality -- who was once engaged to Carl and has a son with him -- spoke out in a personal video about insinuations she, too, was a victim of domestic violence during her time with Carl. She makes it very clear nothing like that ever happened between them.

We should note ... Evelyn says she isn't here to discredit the alleged victim or her truth -- she actually advocates for DV victims, in general. Evelyn says she's simply clarifying Carl never physically abused her and that, as far as her experience, what's being described just isn't the guy she knows.

She gets pretty emotional as she eventually gets to the issue of having to successfully co-parent, while also trying to clear up what's being said about her son's father.

TMZ broke the story ... Carl's been accused of attacking an ex of his, allegedly grabbing her by the throat at gunpoint -- something his attorneys vehemently deny happened. Still, he was arrested for it, and now the process will play out in court.

Customers inside a Target store were sent running for their lives after a man intentionally drove his car into the retail giant, planted fake explosives and live streamed himself in the act.

It all went down in Hammond, Louisiana Friday where cops say Walter Allbritton III used his SUV to plow through the front doors of the store before crashing into a register. A man recording the crash immediately ran through the Target warning other customers to run and get out.

Allbritton went live on Facebook to record the crash and allegedly dropped a fake explosive device in the store once his vehicle stopped.

The incident triggered a massive police response and after arresting Allbritton, cops allegedly found fake explosive devices at multiple other scenes around the area.

He's been hit with a ton of charges including terrorism, attempted aggravated arson, aggravated assault with a vehicle and manufacturing and possession of a delayed action incendiary device.

Carole Baskin's day of reckoning is coming after a sheriff determined the will of her ex-husband, Don Lewis, was a forgery -- at least that's what Don's daughter is hoping.

Donna Pettis tells TMZ ... the recent bombshell from Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister -- who claims he's certain Baskin forged Don's will to make it so she'd inherit his fortune if he went missing -- only confirms what she and her sisters already suspected way back in 1997.

Donna says the will was determined to be a fake by a professional back then, but Carole had her own analyst claimed the opposite and got the judge to sign off ... and Donna says her family didn't have the money or resources to fight her on it at the time.

She says since then, 4 other experts have evaluated the will and reached the same conclusion -- forgery -- but, because of the statute of limitations, there's nothing they can do. Or, is there?

Donna tells us she's been meeting with several lawyers in hopes of landing one willing to take on the high-profile case and finally get some justice for her dad.

She says she and her sisters are considering hiring 2 attorneys -- a criminal and a civil -- in order to get the ball rolling, but they're still weighing options.

The bottom line is ... Donna and her family plan to go after Baskin in whatever legal manner still possible, and they also want more action taken in investigating Lewis' death. He was declared legally dead in 2002.

Donna's not accusing Carole of killing her father, but she DOES think Carole knows more than she's ever let on and plans to get it out of her ... in a courtroom.

Kodak Black could be spending the last year of his sentence at a halfway house ... but first, he's gonna need a few dominoes to fall perfectly.

Kodak's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... the rapper is now eligible to spend the last year of his sentence in a halfway house, meaning, he could be out of prison by 2021. Thing is, he first needs to complete a court-ordered 500-hour drug treatment program before getting the green light for the halfway house.

And, therein lies the problem. Cohen tells us the maximum-security program where Kodak's currently behind bars does NOT offer the program. But, there's a glimmer of hope after Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle decided to drop the state's gun case against Kodak Black after speaking with Cohen. With the state dropping 3 felony counts of possession of a firearm by an individual under 24, Cohen says Kodak can now be moved to a lower-security prison where they do offer the drug treatment program.

As for why the state dropped the charges ... a rep for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office tells TMZ, Fernandez Rundle "felt that the [state] charges were a duplicate of the federal charges for which [Kodak Black] had already been convicted and is currently serving his sentence."

The Kardashians are blasting Blac Chyna for what they see as a desperate attempt to take advantage of the country's renewed focus on racism for her own gain.

Here's the deal ... Chyna is accusing NBCUniversal and the Kardashian/Jenner family of racism on the heels of Gabrielle Union filing a discrimination complaint against the Peacock. BC's new attorney claims racism is the real reason "Rob & Chyna" never got a second season on E!, which NBCUniversal owns.

As you know ... Chyna is locked in a legal war with the entire Kardashian fam, filing a lawsuit way back in October 2017 claiming they went behind her back to NBCU and got her reality show with Rob canceled. Now she says racism is part of it too.

Kardashian-Jenner family attorney Marty Singer tells TMZ ... "This is a 2 year old lawsuit in which Chyna has changed her defense more times than we can count. Sadly, unsurprising to anyone, she has stooped to a new low, changing her defense to try to leverage the emotions and pain of the moment, insulting the pain and suffering of real victims of racial injustice and systemic racism."

Translation ... they smell Chyna's desperation in playing the racism card.

Singer adds ... "We take these allegations very seriously and once again, there is no Rob & Chyna show if there is no Rob & Chyna."

Our sources also tell us ... it was impossible to continue with a show about the couple, because BC had a restraining order against Rob and their relationship was over.

And what's more ... in previously filed docs, Rob's sisters came to his defense, offering witness statements to Chyna's alleged abuse ... and showing just how volatile the relationship was. According to the old docs, there were also witnesses who allegedly saw Chyna brandish a gun and drink heavily.

Chyna's attorney, Lynne Ciani, claims Kris secretly accused BC of beating Rob in December 2016 and went to NBCUniversal with her accusation. Ciani claims no one at the network ever informed Chyna of the allegations and says the situation would've been handled differently if BC was white.

Marcell Ozuna's wife was arrested for misdemeanor battery, TMZ Sports has confirmed -- after allegedly cracking the MLB star in the face with a soap dish.

Here's what we know ... Genesis Ozuna -- who has children with the 29-year-old baseball player -- was booked into a Miami-Dade jail on May 29.

According to Andy Slater, the arrest came on the heels of a two-week police investigation into an alleged attack on the Atlanta Braves outfielder.

Ozuna suffered a "small laceration" on his face after his wife hit him with a soap dish, Slater says. Slater also says Ozuna personally drove to a nearby station to file a police report following the alleged attack.

Court records show Genesis has already pleaded not guilty to the charge. Initially, Genesis was ordered to stay away from Marcell, but records show there's been a motion to modify that order.

Marcell hasn't publicly commented on the alleged incident with his wife ... and, in fact, he posted a picture of a "Marcell and Genesis" jewelry piece to his social media page Friday.

Marcell captioned the pic with "Tu y yo para que la lleves en tu pecho siempre" ... which loosely translates to "You & I -- so you can always carry it in your heart."

Marcell -- who just inked a 1-year, $18 MILLION deal with the Braves -- is one of the better outfielders in the league ... hitting .272 with 148 home runs in his 7-year career.

Three of the four former Minneapolis cops charged in George Floyd's alleged murder just went in front of a judge for the first time since their arrest.

J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao appeared Thursday in Hennepin County District Court, and the judge set their bail at $1 million for each.

Attorneys for Kueng and Lane tried to shift the blame to Derek Chauvin, noting the 2 officers were rookies and Chauvin was a 19-year veteran. Lane's attorney said his client asked if they should roll Floyd on his side, but claims Chauvin said no. Instead, he kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

The attorney asked the judge, "What was [Lane] supposed to do ... go up to Mr. Chauvin, grab him and throw him off?" He also said that Lane and Kueng had to refer to Chauvin as "sir" ... presumably in deference to his seniority. Lane's attorney also said Lane performed CPR on Floyd inside the ambulance.

The judge said all 3 could post a lower bail amount of $750k each if they agreed to additional bail conditions. A future court date for all three former officers was set for June 29.

As we reported ... Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison charged Kueng, Lane and Thao Wednesday with one count each of aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder and aiding and abetting 2nd-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin was arrested last week and initially charged by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office with 3rd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter.

But, the Minnesota AG, who is now heading the investigation and prosecution, filed an additional count of 2nd-degree murder against Chauvin, who is now facing 40 years in prison -- the maximum penalty for 2nd-degree murder.

Chauvin is yet to go before a judge ... and his first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

Gabrielle Union is filing a new legal complaint, claiming she was fired from 'AGT' over her refusal to stay silent in the face of a toxic culture of racism, sexism and misogyny.

The actress filed docs Thursday with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, calling out Universal Television, Fremantle Productions, Simon Cowell and his production company. In the docs, she says she was canned because she took issue with "racist jokes, racist performances, sexual orientation discrimination, and excessive focus on female judges’ appearances, including race-related comments."

According to the complaint, obtained by TMZ, Gabrielle says the network is a "snake-pit of racial offenses" where racism and misogyny get a pass.

She's also ripping NBCUniversal for what she claims is a silent and unapologetic response to the Jimmy Fallon 'SNL' blackface controversy ... and says she took major issue with an 'AGT' contestant who performed with "blackface hands" -- gloves that changed the appearance of his hands from white to black -- and claims Simon signed off on it happening.

Gabrielle is also questioning the network's decision to hire Julianne Hough, who had been criticized in the past for wearing blackface on Halloween.

In her complaint, Gabrielle says she raised about 60 issues with higher-ups when she served as a judge on 'AGT' -- including racially insensitive acts, racist and misogynistic remarks and other instances of race and gender discrimination.

Gabrielle claims things got off on the wrong foot from her first day, when she took issue with Simon flouting CA law by smoking cigarettes indoors.

In the docs, Gabrielle says NBC picked at her appearance, claiming producers said her hair was "too wild" and needed to be "toned down" ... Gabrielle calls it part of a "larger animus directed towards women" and claims Simon and Howie Mandel were never asked to change their looks.

Gabrielle also says NBC tried to make her wear a cardigan for a photo shoot, claiming it was for a 1950s period piece ... but she thought the request was blatantly racist.

Jay Leno is also drawing Gabrielle's ire ... she says she had a huge problem with the comedian joking about Simon's dogs looking like the menu at a Korean restaurant.

The complaint matches the very public claims Gabrielle made last year about her time at 'AGT.' The difference here is she's now upped the stakes by filing a formal complaint -- and in the process, challenging NBC's investigation into her firing.

Just last week, NBC said an external legal review found Gabrielle's claims of racism and misogyny had "no bearing" on the decision to let her go. Although she says she was fired, NBC says her contract was simply not renewed.

That external review essentially cleared Simon and the network of wrongdoing, but Gabby's clearly not buying that assessment of what happened.

Her new complaint also accuses the network and producers of discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, unequal pay, emotional distress and more.

Jake Paul's taking a legal hit after he was spotted on scene of an AZ mall as it was being looted over the weekend in the midst of the George Floyd protests ... he's been charged.

The Scottsdale Police Department announced Thursday the YouTube star has been charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly, both misdemeanor charges. Cops say they "received hundreds of tips and videos identifying Jake Paul as a participant in the riot."

Cops went on to say, "Our investigation has revealed that Paul was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by the police. Paul also unlawfully entered and remained inside of the mall when it was closed."

As we reported ... Jake was at Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona and video showed him and others causing a ruckus at the mall. The video shows people looting ... stealing tennis shoes and pretty much everything that isn't nailed down.