Legal

One of the alleged Capitol rioters was apparently a big fan of Hitler, or at least Hitler's facial hair ... so claim prosecutors, who say he grew a 'stache in the guy's image.

Timothy Hale-Cusanelli is a former U.S. Army reservist and Naval contractor who reportedly had security clearance not too long ago at a military base in New Jersey.

In a legal filing opposing his release pending trial, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors say they conducted interviews with Hale-Cusanelli's colleagues ... with many saying he fashioned a short mustache like Adolf's, and mimicked his 'do too.

There's a selfie of Hale-Cusanelli prosecutors offered up as well -- and yeah, it sure looks pretty Nazi-like.

There's more though ... the government says Hale-Cusanelli would go around asking guys on the base if they were Jewish, and allegedly said things like "Hitler should have finished the job" and other nasty comments about Jewish people, like wanting to eat them (Jews) for breakfast, lunch and dinner ... and using salt from their tears as seasoning.

He wants to be released as he awaits trial -- where he's slated to face a slew of charges for crimes in a Capitol building -- but the feds are pushing back ... arguing he's a risk to the community and pointing to him allegedly spewing Nazi ideology leading up to Jan. 6.

The feds acknowledge Hale-Cusanelli being an alleged racist/anti-Semite in and of itself doesn't warrant his detainment, but do say his extreme ideology led to his actions -- and does make him dangerous to the community.

Breonna Taylor was killed one year ago today, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump marked the day with a cry for justice.

Crump tweeted, "1 year ago, Breonna Taylor was tragically killed in her own home, igniting a movement for racial justice and necessary change, which has prompted many cities and states to BAN no-knock warrants. 365 days have passed but the fight for justice for Breonna Taylor continues!!"

He called the killing a case of "sleeping while black," decrying the tragedy where Breonna was sprayed with 6 bullets from cops who executed the no-knock warrant in the middle of the night.

Breonna's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was in the apartment with Breonna, filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the City of Louisville. Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Walker, who shot at one of the officers. Walker insisted the cops never announced themselves and thought they were home intruders. Cops say they did announce.

The FBI said Saturday it was reaffirming its commitment to continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Arna Kimiai -- the woman who filmed herself driving 122 MPH last summer and who coughed on and attacked an Uber driver last week -- has another vehicular mess on her plate ... she's being sued over a 2019 car crash.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... a woman filed a civil suit against Arna last month, alleging Kimiai made an unsafe turn and struck her vehicle in L.A.

The woman's accusing Arna of negligent driving and "failing to keep a proper lookout for other vehicles," claiming she suffered severe injuries and is dealing with pain and suffering to this day as a result of the wreck.

She's suing Arna for damages, medical expenses and loss of earnings.

As we've reported ... Kimiai's also facing possible criminal charges over the recent altercation with a Bay-area Uber driver, who recorded the incident showing Kimiai and her friend assaulting him.

Kimiai coughed on the guy and ripped his mask off, and she's expected to turn herself in to police for the incident. She was also banned by Uber and Lyft.

Famous Dex claims he was held up at gunpoint ... telling cops robbers made off with his expensive timepiece and a fat stack of cash.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the rapper told police he met up with a friend Wednesday night in the San Fernando Valley and borrowed a $50,000 watch for a video shoot. Dex claims he was followed after leaving with the watch.

Our sources say Dex told cops when he stopped his car a few men pulled guns on him. Dex claims the gunmen took the watch, plus thousands of dollars in cash, and then took off.

Dex is known to carry lots of cash ... when we ran into him a couple years ago in Atlanta, he dropped a ton of money on a hotel lobby floor.

Elizabeth Holmes won't be standing trial in July -- instead, she'll be giving birth, so prosecutors are hitting the pause button on criminal proceedings.

According to new legal docs, prosecutors and her defense team agreed to postpone Holmes' trial after the Theranos founder revealed she's pregnant and due in July. That's also when her trial was slated to begin.

Both sides now say they want jury selection to begin on August 31, but the judge still needs to sign off on that.

Elizabeth, of course, was the subject of the HBO doc 'The Inventor' -- who can forget that voice -- which chronicled her meteoric rise and fall with her company that was once valued at more than $9 billion.

Remember ... she's accused of making false claims about discovering a new way to revolutionize blood testing. She's been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors out of hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars and deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors with the bogus tests.

Elizabeth has pled not guilty. It looks like she'll get a month and change to settle into motherhood before she has to face the judge and jury.

The City of Minneapolis has reached a $27 million settlement with George Floyd's family after being sued for his death last year ... and it comes just weeks before Derek Chauvin's trial.

Floyd's family filed the wrongful death lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin and the 3 other officers involved in the May 25 incident resulting in George's death. The City Council unanimously approved the settlement on Friday.

As we reported ... the family's suit alleged the city and the ex-police officers violated Floyd's rights, specifically calling out the neck restraint techniques used during his arrest.

Video of Floyd's arrest shows Chauvin kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

After the settlement was announced, George's sister, Bridgett Floyd, said, "Our family suffered an irreplaceable loss May 25 when George’s life was senselessly taken by a Minneapolis police officer. While we will never get our beloved George back, we will continue to work tirelessly to make this world a better, and safer, place for all."

She added, "Going forward, my work as Founder of the George Floyd Memorial Foundation will be a priority both in George’s birthplace of Fayetteville, North Carolina and around the country."

Amazon's allegedly been retracting job offers from people who use marijuana ... and now Jeff Bezos' company is getting sued.

There's a new class-action lawsuit against Amazon in New York, where one guy says he was offered a job at one of the company's facilities only to be told he wouldn't be hired after testing positive for weed ... and he says more than 100 people can tell a similar story.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, Michael Thomas claims he was offered a job sorting packages at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse contingent on passing a drug test. He says when the result came back positive for cannabis, Amazon told him he wouldn't be hired.

Thomas claims under New York law, an employer can't require drug testing for marijuana except for certain types of jobs. The guy says the job description made no mention of operating machinery or heavy equipment, so he insists Amazon had no right to require the weed test.

He claims a lot of people are in the same boat ... and he's going after Amazon for damages and an injunction blocking the company from continuing the practice.

Sebastian Telfair's sister just fessed up in court and admitted to threatening to kill the ex-NBA star's estranged wife -- and now, she's facing up to 5 years in prison over it all.

Octavia Telfair had been arrested in May 2019 after federal investigators said she spewed vile threats toward Samantha Telfair.

Prosecutors claimed after Samantha had testified against Sebastian in his gun case ... Octavia felt it was all treacherous, called Samantha repeatedly and left terrifying threats.

Samantha told investigators that Octavia had told her she would "kill my kids and cut my face." Investigators also said Octavia threatened to kill Samantha, her aunt and her siblings as well.

Octavia was initially charged with transmission of threats to injure ... and at a hearing Friday morning, TMZ Sports has confirmed she pleaded guilty to the charge.

"Yes, it was an argument with my sister-in-law, verbal argument," Octavia said on a video conference call with the court. "Yes, I admit it."

Octavia now faces up to 5 years in prison ... though the guilty plea will likely mean she'll spend far less time than that behind bars -- perhaps even no time at all depending on how the judge sees things.

Octavia is due back in court in July for a sentencing hearing.

Sebastian Telfair -- who famously appeared on Sports Illustrated's cover as a high schooler -- played for several teams in the NBA from 2004 to 2015.

He was a Trail Blazer's 1st-round pick in the '04 NBA Draft.

After his NBA career, Telfair was convicted of possessing an illegal firearm stemming from a June 2017 incident where he was caught with an arsenal of weapons during a traffic stop.

Officials say Telfair had 3 pistols, a semi-automatic rifle, a ton of ammo and a bulletproof vest ... as well as some weed.

He was sentenced to 3.5 years behind bars -- but was released in Sept. 2019 on $500,00 bail after only doing a few days in prison.

Dr. Dre's wife just got shut down by the judge in her divorce case ... after claiming she fears for her safety because he refers to her in his new track as a "greedy bitch."

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Nicole Young requested an emergency domestic violence restraining order ... citing the song released last month, in which Dre calls her a "bitch and a perjurer."

Nicole says this is nothing new, but claims with the new track "he has upped the ante and is now outright threatening me to keep my mouth shut or else."

According to the docs filed by attorney Samantha Spector ... Nicole feels this latest alleged threat -- along with her past allegations of spousal abuse -- justify an emergency restraining order, but the judge begged to differ and denied her request because of "insufficient evidence."

As for Dre's response to her allegations, filed by Laura Wasser, he says he's only seen or spoken to Nicole one time since she filed for divorce in June 2020 .... and that was when she visited him at the hospital in January, following his brain aneurysm.

Dre says he's had no contact with her otherwise, and categorically denies all of her abuse claims.

He adds since she made her allegations in August, he "realized he had no idea who the woman he was married to was and he wanted nothing to do with her."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might have bid farewell to their royal titles, but one woman in the U.S. is still fighting to cash in on the "Sussex Royal" name anyway ... and she says she's doing it for the Queen!!!

As we first reported ... there was a rush here in the States shortly after the "Megxit" news last year to trademark the term, something the Duke and Duchess of Sussex filed for, but eventually withdrew a bid to do in the UK only.

Since then, however, it looks like everyone in America who was pursuing the "Sussex Royal" trademark has abandoned their filing ... except Carrie Devorah, who filed for use of the phrase to sell bedding products, specifically for kids.

Carrie tells TMZ ... she filed her trademark paperwork in January 2020 because she figured Queen Elizabeth would not allow Harry and Meghan to capitalize off their titles, but she didn't think there'd be anything stopping her.

Carrie says she thinks the Sussex Royal name is beautiful and she likes its cultural connection to the Royal Family, and -- being that she was born in Canada -- she insists she wants it to pay homage to the Queen.

She's facing an uphill battle locking the trademark down though, because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office already rejected her application because it found the phrase falsely suggested a connection with Harry and Meghan.

Carrie has a few weeks left to respond to the USPTO's rejection, and tells us she plans to do so by arguing that Harry and Meghan didn't bother filing for the trademark in the U.S. ... and also didn't file in the bedding category like she did.

Sorry, Rep. Matt Gaetz, but your cohorts in Congress don't plan to put Britney Spears or conservatorships on a front burner -- there are just bigger issues, affecting millions of people, to tackle.

That's the gist from a spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee anyway, who tells TMZ ... the committee is currently working "to advance critical legislation to protect and strengthen civil rights and civil liberties for all Americans."

We're told this includes holding hearings on enforcement of controlled substances, upholding standards of conduct for Congressional members, and reviving competition related to a free and diverse press ... and that's just this week.

So, sources close to the situation tell us there has been NO discussion whatsoever about the Britney-inspired hearing requested by Gaetz and Rep. Jim Jordan to discuss conservatorships and guardianships.

We're told that doesn't mean it won't happen down the road -- as it's been acknowledged that House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has received their request -- but it seems the timing's just not right at this moment.

A doctor in Tom Girardi's conservatorship case says he's suffering from Alzheimer's ... and his dementia impairs his ability to understand court hearings.

In documents obtained by TMZ, Tom's doctor says dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's is affecting Tom's memory, concentration, recall, recognition, communication, logic and understanding.

He's also dealing with emotional distress because of the dementia -- his doctor says Tom's feeling angry, anxious, fearful, panicked and helpless.

As we've reported ... 'RHOBH' star Erika Jayne's estranged husband is already dealing with a bunch of legal issues, including a judge freezing certain assets, multiple lawsuits and a divorce.

A judge wants prosecutors to look into allegations Tom misappropriated at least $2 million in client money intended to compensate the families of victims of Lion Air's Boeing 737 Max crash.

Melvin Gordon pleaded guilty to a reckless driving charge Wednesday -- stemming from a DUI arrest back in October, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The 27-year-old running back was initially arrested for drunk driving and speeding during an Oct. 13 incident in Denver.

But prosecutors have formally dropped the two DUI charges against Gordon, who ultimately pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving.

A rep for Gordon tells TMZ Sports the DUI charges were dropped due to "a lack of evidence."

A Denver County court official tells us Gordon appeared before a judge via a video conference call on Wednesday to close out the case.

Per the official, Gordon agreed to pay a $478.50 fine and to complete 12 hours of community service.

The Denver Broncos running back was facing jail time after investigators had initially said he was driving drunk and speeding late at night on Oct. 13, 2020.

In police documents, cops claimed Gordon was clocked doing 71 MPH in a 35 MPH zone ... and reeked of booze during ensuing questioning.

Cops also said Melvin had slurred speech, watery eyes and trouble maintaining his balance.

Jamie Spears and his legal team say Reps. Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan have it all wrong when it comes to Britney Spears' conservatorship -- telling us it only works to protect Britney -- and saying anything otherwise is flat out wrong.

Jamie's attorney, Vivian Thoreen, says since the beginning, the conservatorship has been a system of checks and balances with annual accountings, reviews and expert opinions. Not only that, Thoreen tells us Britney and her own legal team have been a part of the decisions involving the conservatorship over the years.

She continues by laying out the structure of the conservatorship, saying, "Britney’s Conservatorship of the Estate was co-managed by a private professional fiduciary and her father until early 2019. At that time, Britney requested in court papers that her father be the sole conservator of her estate. Her Conservatorship of the Person is not managed by her father but by a private professional fiduciary"

Gaetz and Jordan called Jamie's motives "questionable" in a letter obtained by TMZ Tuesday. Thoreen clearly takes issue with that too, telling us, "Jamie Spears has diligently and professionally carried out his duties as one of Britney’s conservators, and his love for his daughter and dedication to protecting her is clearly apparent to the court."

Not only that ... Thoreen points out the fact that in 13 years Britney and her legal team have NEVER filed a petition to end the conservatorship.

As we reported, Gaetz and Jordan sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler asking for a hearing to discuss conservatorships and guardianships ... using Britney's case as a prime example.

Tekashi 6ix9ine says he banked $20 million since his release from prison last April, and his massive hit "GOOBA," his first cash cow, was a highly irregular ripoff ... this according to a new lawsuit.

BEATDEMONS, a TX-based producer group, is suing Tekashi, claiming "GOOBA" is a mirror image of its song, "Regular."

According to the suit, the similarities are eerie -- from the melody, to form, to structure and function. In other words, they say "GOOBA" is a "Regular" steal.

BEATDEMONS claims "Regular" was released in 2018 and a video of the song scored 152,000 views. So they're saying Tekashi or his people must have heard the song and got so inspired they crossed the line and ripped BEATDEMONS off.

The stakes are high, because "GOOBA" was a massive hit ... it has 700M views on YouTube and charted #1 on Billboard's Streaming Charts. The song also went platinum.

BEATDEMONS wants the profits from "GOOBA," which amount to a king's ransom.