Legal

Harrison Ford is in the clear after the FAA investigated his improper runway crossing at a SoCal airport -- we’re told he completed a training course to close the case.

The FAA tells TMZ ... Harrison was required to take a "remedial runway incursion training course," and when he successfully completed it, the FAA closed the book on his case with no additional action.

TMZ broke the story ... Harrison had been told during the April incident to hold short on the runway at Hawthorne Airport because another plane was on the runway. Harrison, however, crossed anyway, prompting the tower operator to become alarmed.

There had been another plane a few miles behind him that was practicing touch-and-go landings. And, if you listen to the audio between Harrison and the tower, you hear the tower operator tell Harrison, "Can you hold short on runway. Traffic on the way."

It's apparent Harrison didn't hear the tower operator because he accelerated onto the runway and started crossing. The tower operator got angry at this ... saying Harrison ignored his instructions. Harrison profusely apologized, saying he heard the exact opposite -- that he was cleared to cross the runway.

That being said, there was no danger of a collision. The other plane was 3,600 feet away from Harrison when it hit the runway and, since the guy was doing touch-and-goes, he was up in the air long before reaching the other end of the runway where Ford was located.

A rep for the actor told us at the time ... "Mr. Ford crossed the airport's only runway in his aircraft after he misheard a radio instruction from ATC. He immediately acknowledged the mistake and apologized to ATC for the error."

But, as we've previously reported ... this isn't the first time Harrison's made a similar mistake. The incident at Hawthorne is reminiscent of another hiccup a few years ago at John Wayne Airport ... when Harrison mistakenly landed on the taxiway, which was dangerous. He admitted as much at the time, calling himself a "schmuck" on the radio.

Kodak Black is turning to Donald Trump for help ... he's begging the President to commute his prison sentence.

The rapper's attorneys, Bradford Cohen and Jonathan Schwartz, sent a petition to Trump, obtained by TMZ, asking the Prez to cut Kodak a break.

Kodak's camp has lots of reasons why Trump should commute his sentence ... Cohen points out Kodak was sentenced to 46 months behind bars in his federal gun case, and claims the average sentence for the same crime is 18 months.

As you know, Kodak's locked up in a maximum-security federal prison in Kentucky, but Cohen says it's not warranted ... he claims the Bureau of Prisons "erroneously" viewed Kodak as level 4 criminal history, paving the way for Kodak to be housed in a maximum-security facility. Cohen claims the judge only put Kodak at a level 2, which means he could be housed at a lower security prison.

Kodak's attorney's also argue he's being unfairly punished for assaulting a prison guard in Miami ... repeating their earlier claim that Kodak was set up and possibly drugged.

KB's legal team also claims he was punished twice for the incident with the guard in Miami ... Cohen says Kodak was only supposed to get a 6-month sentence, but instead ended up with year-long punishment, which has kept him in total lockdown since last September, resulting in no phone calls or visits from anyone but his attorneys.

Trump's also being asked to consider abuse Kodak's allegedly suffering in prison -- beatings at the hands of guards, religious suppression and mental abuse.

As we first told you ... Kodak's suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for alleged torture and denial of access to a rabbi, which his attorney's claim is a violation of his constitutional rights.

Kodak's also hoping his good deeds go a long way toward swaying Trump ... Cohen cites the hundreds of thousands of dollars he's donated to charities over the years, including playing Santa, gift cards at Christmas, donations to underprivileged youth, helping folks in his neighborhood and paying for children's education.

It seems like a long shot, but there's this ... Cohen may have an in with Trump.

Jerry Harris is no longer giving mat talks to paying customers ... his extremely popular Cameo page has been put on pause following his arrest for child pornography.

The star of Netflix's uber-popular cheerleading show "Cheer" used to charge folks up to $150-a-pop for personalized videos, usually in the form of the mat talks that made him a fan favorite on the show, but now one of his cash cows is out to pasture.

Instead of being able to pay for messages from Jerry, his Cameo page is now just his bio and a button that says, "Notify me when Jerry Harris is available."

As you know, Jerry's got serious legal issues at the moment ... he was arrested last week in Illinois and hit with a charge of production of child pornography. He's also being sued for sex abuse of minors.

It's unclear if and when Jerry's Cameo page will return, or if it will be deleted from the site ... we reached out to Cameo, but the company would not offer comment.

Rev. Al Sharpton is disgusted like many over the grand jury indictment in Breonna Taylor's case ... but he wants people to take their rage out by voting instead of turning violent.

We got Sharpton Wednesday in NYC, and he was still fuming after the grand jury did NOT indict any of the officers for shooting and killing Breonna. He's not giving up the fight to get justice for Breonna, though, and explains why he thinks a Joe Biden victory over President Trump could help.

Watch the video ... Reverend Al lays out a theory involving Attorney General William Barr, and the Justice Department's investigation into Breonna's killing. He suggests there's only one way to get a thorough investigation.

As a result, Sharpton's imploring people to hit the polls instead of resorting to violence in the streets. Louisville declared a State of Emergency ahead of the indictment announcement, bracing for potential rioting. Sharpton says rioting won't get the message across to leaders like the President, Kentucky's Senator Mitch McConnell and its AG Daniel Cameron ... only poll results will.

As we reported, now-fired cop Brett Hankison was the only officer charged -- with wanton endangerment -- but he was NOT charged for shooting Breonna. Instead, he was charged with shooting into Breonna's neighbor's apartment. The other 2 officers who did fire shots in Breonna's apartment, killing her, were NOT charged.

Many in the NBA world are livid at the lack of charges handed down in the Breonna Taylor case ... with Donovan Mitchell, Boogie Cousins and more sounding off about the announcement.

One officer -- Brett Hankison -- was charged with wanton endangerment on Wednesday for shooting into a neighboring apartment during the March incident ... while no charges were presented in connection to Taylor's death, nor were the other two officers charged with any crimes.

Mitchell -- who played at the University of Louisville for 2 seasons -- showed support for his former home in a tweet minutes ago ... saying, "I don’t have many words right now.... but all I can say is I’m praying for the city of Louisville right now!!! 😔😔"

Fellow ex-Cardinal Montrezl Harrell also spoke about the announcement ... saying, "I lived in the VILLE for three years of my life and it became another home to me, but wow what’s happen? These are the charges you actually come up with? 😔🤦🏿‍♂️."

"Nothing to say but WOW SPEECHLESS!"

The NBA community has been outspoken about bringing justice to Taylor's death ... and even hosted a meeting with Breonna's family to discuss a plan to honor her throughout the season.

DeMarcus Cousins also spoke on Wednesday's announcement, saying, "Slap on the wrist for MURDER, but 10 yrs for tearing down a punk ass statue!"

WNBA superstar Skylar Diggins had a simple response, tweeting out one word -- "Bulls**t!"

Longtime vet Jamal Crawford went on a passionate rant ... saying, "They're trying to say they are wrong in every way except, in admitting the MURDER OF BREONNA TAYLOR!"

"In every way, they try and remind us Black lives don't matter.. We will ALWAYS matter!!!!!"

Story developing ...

Former NY Giants Pro Bowl kicker Aldrick Rosas was sentenced to 3 years of probation in his wild June hit-and-run case ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A court official tells us Rosas appeared before a judge Wednesday after cutting a deal with prosecutors ... in which he pleaded no contest to three charges, including misdemeanor reckless driving and misdemeanor hit-and-run.

In exchange, we're told Rosas received the probation and a 30-day suspended jail sentence.

We're also told Rosas was ordered to pay fines and fees ... and is now not allowed to drive with ANY measurable amount of alcohol in his system while he's on probation.

Rosas' attorney, Michael Thomas Erpino, tells us the 25-year-old football player is "thrilled" with the resolution ... and is now gunning to get back in the NFL.

As we previously reported ... Rosas was cut from the Giants in July -- just a few weeks after he was arrested on June 15.

Rosas was accused of driving at speeds of 100 MPH ... and then slamming his SUV into a pickup truck before fleeing the scene on foot.

Cops say when they eventually found Rosas for questioning about the incident ... his hands, legs and bare feet were covered in blood.

Rosas initially pled not guilty to his charges ... but his attorney told us Wednesday the kicker "definitely worked his ass off" to close out the case with prosecutors.

Hankison has been booked and reportedly already released from the Shelby Co. Detention Center after paying his $15k bail.

The grand jury has indicted just one officer, Brett Hankison, on charges of wanton endangerment. Hankison was not charged for the shooting of Breonna Taylor ... he was charged with shooting into a neighboring apartment. The other 2 officers who fired shots the night Breonna Taylor was killed were not charged. In other words, no one was charged for killing Breonna.

Hankison has been indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree -- for firing recklessly and without due regard for life. His bail has been set at $15,000. Wanton endangerment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years if convicted.

The indictment has already sparked anger. Rev. Al Sharpton called it "grossly insufficient."

AG Daniel Cameron called Breonna's death a "gut-wrenching" tragedy but said his job is to follow the law. He said for civil rights violations, the federal government can charge officers who cross the line. But, civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt told us on "TMZ Live" a few minutes ago ... he believes the fix was in between Cameron and Trump, and Trump is not going to tolerate federal charges.

Merritt noted the medical examiner ruled Breonna's death a homicide, yet that seemed lost on the grand jury. Merritt mentioned an old legal joke -- that grand juries would indict a ham sandwich -- meaning prosecutors have an easy time securing criminal charges. The question ... did the AG press for a homicide indictment? We don't know, because the proceedings are secret.

A few key takeaways from Cameron's comments -- he says the 3 officers who executed the warrant had no prior knowledge of how it was obtained or the background of the case up 'til then. Cameron says they were brought in as extra personnel, and were briefed with basics. He also makes clear ... it was NOT a no-knock warrant, as has been widely reported.

Cameron assured the public -- the officers claimed they did knock and announce themselves, and says that was backed up by a civilian witness who was in one of the neighboring apartments. A journalist asked Cameron if one witness coming forward to say they heard the police announcing themselves was enough when no other neighbors could confirm it.

Cameron skirted that question and said it was clearly enough for the grand jury. There's more ... he goes on to say that after officers received no response at the door, they entered. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was the first one in, and apparently saw Breonna and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, standing at the end of the hall. He claims Walker was in a shooting stance with a gun in hand, and that he fired at Mattingly first, who was struck in the thigh.

Cameron says Mattingly returned fire -- shooting six times -- while another officer behind him, Myles Cosgrove, also returned fire ... unloading 16 rounds. As for Hankison, Cameron says he fired 10 rounds from outside, which went everywhere ... including into another unit.

Cameron says Breonna was struck 6 times, and that the forensic reports indicate the one fatal bullet that killed her likely came from Cosgrove's weapon. He stressed that there wasn't conclusive evidence that Hankison's bullets hit her -- it was just Mattingly and Cosgrove's, and because of that ... Cameron said his office couldn't look into any criminality around her death, as he says the 2 officers inside were authorized and justified in their use of force, under Kentucky law.

Cameron also noted that justice is not easy and not meant to appease what the public wants -- under the letter of law, it can only answer to the facts. He also pled with Kentucky residents not to allow outside influences and voices to tell them out to feel about this.

Of course, Breonna's family's own legal team -- led by Ben Crump -- feel very differently about the results here. Crump said the fact that Hankison was charged for wanton endangerment of OTHER people besides Breonna is "outrageous and offensive."

He also made a pretty good point ... that if Hankison was charged for endangering others while firing recklessly, how is it possible he wasn't charged for endangering Breonna herself? While the AG did not specifically touch on that, presumably ... Hankison, too, was found to be justified, at least in part, when he fired from the outside in.

Crump emphasized that point by writing, "How ironic and typical that the only charges brought in this case were for shots fired into the apartment of a white neighbor, while no charges were brought for shots fired into the Black neighbor's apartment or into Breonna's residence."

He goes on to call the decision an utter travesty of justice, but goes on to hold out hope that the pending federal investigation into possible civil rights violations might bring about some actual closure the family and the Black community is looking for.

It's been a long road up to this point, which Cameron also touched on ... saying he and his team wanted to turn over every stone and conduct their investigation from scratch.

Comedian Bryan Callen claims his rape accuser's husband is waging a war to destroy his livelihood as an actor and stand-up comedian through intimidation ... so he claims in a new lawsuit.

Callen -- best known for roles in "The Hangover" and "The Goldbergs" -- is suing Gabriel Tigerman, the husband of Kathryn Fiore Tigerman, who recently publicly accused Callen of raping her back in 1999. Callen claims since the accusations came to light, Gabriel's been on the warpath to destroy his career through threats, harassment and intimidation of anyone who dares to hire him.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Callen claims Gabriel contacted his reps at talent agency CAA and asked whether they still represented Callen in light of the allegations ... suggesting doing so would send a "message to victims that this behavior is okay." Callen says the email went on to say, "Do you and CAA still represent this serial sexual predator? I hope the answer is no."

What's more ... Callen claims Gabriel went as far as contacting comedy clubs and attempted to get them to drop him. He claims some comedy clubs have cut ties with him after Gabriel reached out to them.

The Jacob Blake investigation is nearing its end, but before it crosses the finish line, a neutral third party has been looped in -- a former cop -- something a Blake family member is none too pleased about.

Jacob's uncle, Justin Blake, tells TMZ ... he feels the news about DOJ investigators bringing in former the Madison, WI police chief as a consultant in the probe is an open-palmed slap in the face.

Fact is ... he believes the so-called impartial second set of eyes announced this week, Noble Wray, can't be impartial. Justin believes he simply can't help but be biased against Jacob.

Wray is a retired chief who was on the force in Madison for years, a Wisconsin native ... and even has experience in legal consulting on the biggest stage. He served as a police reform specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice. But, Justin doesn't think Wray's accomplishments matter, because he says it's simply impossible for ANY law enforcement officer -- especially a former police chief -- to objectively reach conclusions about police brutality.

Justin favors putting a judge or even a politician in place of Wray.

ICYMI ... Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul and Kenosha County D.A. Michael Gravely said Monday they were going to have Wray -- who's African-American -- give a thorough review of the feds' DCI unit's findings in the case, offer up his analysis ... and then kick all of that back to Graveley's office for consideration on possible charges against Rusten Sheskey, and maybe others.

The process has dragged on for a month now -- the timeline the AG first gave to the public initially -- and now, it might be even longer before a final decision is made. The fact it's taken this long also irks Justin, who tells us he's been wanting more consistent updates.

Carole Baskin is participating in jokes about Don Lewis' mysterious disappearance while she's on 'DWTS' ... at least according to Don's family, and now they're taking her to court.

Don's daughters Gale, Lynda and Donna, plus his former assistant, Anne McQueen are suing Carole for defamation, and they say Don's disappearance is no laughing matter.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Anne claims Carole was complicit with jokes about Don's death on "Dancing with the Stars," when judges brought up TikTok videos inspired by her storyline in 'Tiger King.'

You've probably seen the dance and lyrics, set to Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage" ... "Carole Baskin killed her husband, whacked him. Can't convince me that it didn't happen. Fed him to tigers, they snackin'. What's happening?"

In the docs, Don's former assistant says Carole should have spoken out against the jokes ... and she also says Carole should have put her foot down when a 'DWTS' judge said she "didn't quite kill the paso double, it was kind of sedated." Anne takes umbrage with the use of "kill" and "sedated."

Don's family is not only accusing Carole of being complicit with the Don quips on 'DWTS,' but also going along with the joke in an interview with "Good Morning America" when she promised to "really kill it next week" ... according to the suit.

Don's family attorney, John Phillips, says Carole and Anne went down this road back in 1998, when Carole settled a libel and slander from Anne for $50,000. The problem, they claim, is that Carole is now repeating some of those false statements on 'DWTS,' and while reading her journals on social media.

We reached out to Carole, who's always maintained her innocence in Don's case ... but so far, no word back.

If the "Toy Story 4" character Duke Caboom reminded you of Evel Knievel, you're not alone -- the folks in charge of his image and likeness thought so too ... and now they're suing.

A company called K&K Promotions just filed suit against Disney, Pixar and whole a bunch of their subsidiaries ... claiming the stuntman driver toy that Keanu Reeves voiced in the latest 'Toy Story' flick is a clear and obvious rip-off of the legendary American motorcycle daredevil.

More importantly, K&K claims they own all the rights to Evel Knievel's likeness, persona, and brand and says the Mouse House did NOT get any type of approval to base one of their characters after Evel.

If you've seen the movie ... this one's easy to spot as far as the similarities go -- and it would appear critics and other junket interviewers thought so too, according to the lawsuit.

Per the docs, obtained by TMZ, K&K say that Evel's style, influence and even a nod to his famous stunt cycle toy from the '70s is clearly sprinkled throughout the film -- of course, Duke himself is dubbed as the greatest Canadian stuntman, and he even comes with an energizer to wind up and release his bike ... much like the Evel toy from back in the day. They attached photos ... it's a thing.

K&K even allege Disney instructed its 'T4' cast and other people involved in the production to go out of their way to avoid using Evel's name during interviews, as well as other trademarked items. For example, they claim Tony Hale was doing mental gymnastics in an interview about why they called his character Forky, when he looks more like a Spork.

According to K&K, it's because Disney was worried about running afoul of existing trademarks for the term "spork" ... and tried getting around using it, but still kinda used it in the end -- sorta like K&K claims they did with Evel.

Of course, there's also the merchandise aspect -- K&K say Disney cranked out a ton of products from "Toy Story 4," including Duke Caboom toys, and made lots of cash from it.

Dr. Dre's estranged wife had the gall to dip into a well-funded cookie jar not just once, but TWICE ... at least according to Dre's biz partner, who's now accusing her of grand theft.

Attorneys for Larry Chatman -- who co-founded Record One studio with Dre in 2015 -- just fired off another letter to Nicole Young ... accusing her withdrawing an extra $30,000-plus from the business account, despite no longer being legally authorized.

We already told you about the $353k Larry claims Nicole embezzled from the account in late August. The company accused Nicole of criminal conduct in draining the account and fired off a letter to that effect. After receiving the letter, Chatman says Nicole siphoned another $31,457, two days AFTER she was given the boot and removed in any official capacity.

In Larry and his attorneys' eyes ... that amounts to grand theft ... on top of the alleged $353k embezzlement from earlier.

And, yes, they're threatening legal action.

Nicole's attorney called their first accusation a "low-grade PR stunt" meant to embarrass his client and take the spotlight away from a recent lawsuit she filed against Dre himself ... in which she accused him of hiding assets she feels entitled to in the divorce.

Nicole's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, tells TMZ, "This is a clear attempt to smear Nicole's name.  As people are well aware, banks do not give out money to people who are not authorized to receive it."

This has become an epically-nasty divorce. Nicole claims Dre tore up the prenup she signed right before getting married. He calls BS on that. She also wants nearly $2 mil a month in temporary spousal support while the divorce winds its way through the legal system.

Vanessa Bryant is suing the L.A. County Sheriff and his department, claiming they caused her severe emotional distress ... when deputies allegedly took personal cellphone photos of the bodies of Kobe and Gigi Bryant at the scene of the helicopter crash that took their lives.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, "no fewer than 8 sheriff's deputies at the crash site, pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification."

The lawsuit goes onto allege the photos were the subject of conversation within the sheriff's dept ... with deputies showing their colleagues the pictures that had no investigative purpose.

The lawsuit notes how the photos were exposed ... when a deputy was at a bar and showed the photos to a woman he was trying to impress. The bartender heard the conversation, blew the whistle and called the sheriff's department.

Vanessa says in the suit ... that's when Sheriff Villanueva tried to cover it all up by going to the Sheriff's substation that responded to the crash and telling deputies if they deleted the photos they would not face discipline. The suit claims the purpose of his talk was destruction of evidence.  The lawsuit claims Villanueva did not tell the families about the photos and they only learned of it in the media when the story broke that deputies took the photos.

The lawsuit claims the Sheriff never gave the family straight answers and now Vanessa is in constant fear the photos will leak ... "Ms. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages.

We reached out to the Sheriff's Dept. ... so far, no word back.

Cardi B and her sister are getting sued after labeling a group of beachgoers as "racist MAGA supporters" ... this according to a lawsuit.

Peter Caliendo, Pauline Caliendo and Manuel Alarcon are suing the rapper, her sister, Hennessy Carolina, and Hennessy's GF, Michelle Diaz, claiming they defamed them by labeling them as racist during a squabble at the Hamptons earlier this month.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the plaintiffs claim they were enjoying their time at Smith Point beach with their families when Hennessy approached them with rage ... spitting, insulting and threatening them just because one of them was wearing a MAGA hat.

At the time, Cardi tweeted a video of the altercation ... saying her sister was getting harassed because she and her friend are an Afro-Hispanic gay couple.

The group also claims Cardi B, Hennessy and Michelle edited the video and posted it on social media to falsely paint them as racists. Cardi had posted a video later that day with audio apparently showing Hennessy explaining that someone in the group told her to go back to her country.

Hennessy's side of the story was they were targeted because they "saw us parking here and we were speaking Spanish and we're mixed."

R. Kelly's renewed plea to get sprung from jail is getting push back from Uncle Sam, who says his most recent concern -- getting attacked behind bars -- has been neutralized.

Federal prosecutors just filed a reply to R. Kelly's latest request to be released on bail after he was ambushed and beaten by a fellow Chicago MCC inmate ... a guy Kelly says could've cost him his life. The government's response? Relax, it was a one-and-done.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the attack on R. Kelly was a one-time, isolated event -- and that it can't happen again, at least not with the same guy ... because he's been moved to a new facility in Michigan.

So, in their eyes, the threat has left the building.

The feds also dispute R. Kelly's claim the attacker allegedly told a doctor on site that he needed to attack the singer for attention on his own case -- claiming the doctor denied that convo ever happened. That said, they also point out that if R. Kelly's still sour about his injuries ... he can take it up in civil court.

An autistic teen was shot by police in Utah, leaving him seriously injured ... and cops are now releasing the body cam footage of the incident.

13-year-old Linden Cameron's mother called the cops earlier this month, saying he was having a breakdown -- brought on by Asperger's syndrome -- and she needed assistance managing the situation.

On the body cam, you see one cop confront Linden on a dark sidewalk as he tells him to get on the ground. The kid doesn't obey the orders at first, and officers eventually open fire.

Eleven shots are heard on video -- it's unclear how many struck Linden, but he immediately went down and writhed in pain. He also seems to say "I don't feel good" and "Tell my mom I love her." Somehow, he survived the ordeal and was hospitalized.

Linden's mother had reportedly told cops he was easily triggered by law enforcement and that he may have had a BB gun, but she didn't think it was real. Cops allegedly told her they'd have to treat it like it was real.