Legal

Darnella Frazier -- the teenager who recorded George Floyd's death under Derek Chauvin's knee -- has just earned a special citation in this year's Pulitzer Prize.

Pulitzer Prize co-chair Mindy Marqués said during Friday's announcement that the Floyd story, in particular, highlighted not only the essential role of journalists, but the increasing importance of ordinary citizens.

She added, "We want to note that the board has awarded a special citation to Darnella Frazier, the teenage witness who filmed and posted the transformative video that jolted viewers and spurred protests against police brutality around the world."

The honor was presented after the board awarded the Minneapolis Star-Tribune with the Pulitzer -- arguably journalism's most prestigious award -- for its reporting of Floyd's death and the aftermath.

Darnella was 17 when she whipped out her phone to record the fatal arrest. After posting the video on social media, it spread like wildfire across the globe, sparking a worldwide movement against police brutality.

But, after the video went viral, Darnella said she had to move away from her home for safety. She also suffered anxiety attacks and couldn't sleep ... often times waking up shaking until her mom rocked her back to sleep.

On the 1-year anniversary of Floyd's death ... Darnella said even though it was a traumatic life-changing experience, she was still proud of herself. She added, “If it weren’t for my video, the world wouldn’t have known the truth.”

Police say they've identified the two guys who stole -- and then crashed -- Thomas Davis Sr.'s McLaren 720S supercar ... and they're just kids.

The Union County Sheriff's Office says investigators working the case believe the suspects are only 17 and 15 -- and officials are currently scrambling to take them into custody.

Despite their age, officials say both suspects "face juvenile petitions charging them with Burglary, two counts of Larceny of a Firearm, 5 counts of Breaking and Entering of a Motor Vehicle and 1 count of Motor Vehicle Theft."

As we previously reported, cops believe the guys broke into the ex-NFL star's North Carolina home early Tuesday morning, rummaged through his belongings and eventually stole the McLaren as well as two firearms.

During the getaway, cops say the men crashed the McLaren into their getaway car, rendering the McLaren inoperable.

Cops say they will not release the names of the suspects because they're juveniles ... but once in custody, the guys will "be held in a juvenile facility pending an appearance before a District Court judge."

For his part, Davis Sr. -- who retired from the NFL after the 2020 season -- said Wednesday his family is "all good" despite the disturbing situation.

Someone has beef with Jennifer Lopez and way too much time on their hands, and it's pissing off cops, who continue to get flooded with 911 calls to go to her L.A. home ... nearly 6 months after this annoyance started.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD units are still responding to the singer's house because someone keeps calling 911, but we're told this isn't your typical swatting where people report a fatal shooting or mass carnage.

We're told the 911 caller reports other complaints ... like loud music or other disturbing noise coming from the house. Our sources say each time officers get to the pad, there's no such disturbance and J Lo's security tells them everything's fine.

In one instance, we're told cops found a gardener at Jennifer's pad -- but security quickly assured them the gardener wasn't blaring music.

Our sources say cops are struggling to track down the 911 callers because the calls aren't coming from a landline -- and the bogus calls have become a huge waste of time and manpower.

TMZ broke the story ... the calls started almost immediately after J Lo performed at President Biden's inauguration, and the operating theory was the calls were politically motivated.

Kim Kardashian really needs the third time to be her charm -- she flunked the baby bar exam on her second crack at it, and even did a little bit worse.

Kim revealed the results of her test Thursday night on the series finale of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which she needs to pass before she can get a chance to sit for the regular bar exam ... to get her license to practice law.

She was on the phone with attorneys Erin Haney and Jessica Jackson -- who helped her prep for the exam -- when she got the bad news, and Kim went from excited to "totally bummed."

Kim says she failed with a score of 463, which is slightly lower than the 474 she got on her first attempt at the test. Students need a 560 to pass.

Although KK was clearly disappointed, she said she's not going to stress about it because there are more stressful things going on, and she's just gotta do better next time.

As we reported ... Kim failed the baby bar months ago, and it was later revealed she and her whole family were dealing with COVID while she was in studying crunch time.

Mama June's going after a dentist she claims promised to fix her teeth in exchange for some Instagram publicity, but allegedly pulled a bait-and-switch ... leaving her mouth in major pain.

The reality star's legal team has fired off a letter to a dentist in Beverly Hills. In the document, obtained by TMZ, June says she made a deal with the dentist to fly into town to get her chompers fixed ... and all she'd have to do for payment is tag him and promote his work on social media.

June's rep, Gina Rodriguez, tells us June arrived on Monday for her appointment and booked accommodations for 12 days per the dentist's suggested timeline for the procedure to fix her top and bottom teeth.

According to the letter, the Doc removed her temporary dental implants from a previous procedure but then, "after placing her in a vulnerable (and painful) position," told her he would not complete the process unless she agreed to do media appearances to endorse his services.

June's team says this was never discussed at any point before the removal of her temporary implants, and now she's scrambling to find a new dentist to complete the work because her mouth is exposed ... and she's in a great deal of pain.

June's attorney, Jeffrey R. Klein, is demanding the dentist either complete the work as agreed upon -- or pay her $35k to cover the costs of her travel and getting the work done by another dentist. If he does neither, they say their next move could be a lawsuit.

We've reached out to the dentist ... no word back so far.

Dr. Dre is officially a very eligible bachelor ... because a judge just restored his single status, legally speaking.

The judge just signed off on the music mogul's request to become officially divorced from Nicole Young. That's not the end of the story. Both Dre and Nicole will now battle it out over the validity of the prenup, which will determine their property settlement.

Nicole wants the prenup declared invalid, and also claims Dre agreed he would not enforce it. Dre says that never happened and the prenup is ironclad.

We broke the story ... Dre asked the court for single status back in March, saying his split from Nicole had reached the point of no return.

As we've told you ... the contentious split has dragged on through abuse claims, diss tracks and allegations of mistresses and love children.

A 6-year-old boy was nearly killed when his neighbor allegedly opened fire as the kid picked up his bike from the sidewalk -- and the man's already sprung from jail after posting a shockingly low bond.

The incident went down over the weekend in Ypsilanti, Michigan -- about 35 miles outside Detroit -- where the boy, Coby, is lucky to be alive after the neighbor allegedly chased him with a sledgehammer, and then fired a gun, hitting him in the arm.

The neighbor, Ryan Le-Nguyen, was reportedly pissed Coby and a friend had left their bikes in front of his home's sidewalk. The boy's father, Arnold Daniel, told FOX2 when the boys returned to get the bikes ... Le-Nguyen went after Coby with the hammer.

Coby told FOX2, "He tried hitting me with a sledgehammer but that's not going to work because I'm too fast. (Then he) got a gun and BOOM shot me right here."

As you can see from the video ... the kids, understandably, panicked and fled when they heard the gunshot. You can hear Coby wailing in agony while another kid's screaming "Coby got shot!!!"

Coby's father said the bullet went through his son's arm, but doctors told him had it been an inch in either direction it likely would have killed Coby.

Le-Nguyen, who's reportedly beefed with the family over bicycles in the past, was arrested and charged with assault with intent to murder. He posted a $10k bond on Tuesday ... prompting Coby's angry father to ask how the bond could be so low after Le-Nguyen allegedly tried to kill his son.

Even prosecutors say they requested a $100k bond, but were shocked the judge gave Le-Nguyen $10k cash bond. Prosecutors have since filed an emergency motion to cancel the bond.

As for Coby ... he's home and thankfully expected to make a full recovery.

El Chapo's wife is following his footsteps to a federal prison ... she's pled guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Emma Coronel Aispuro appeared in federal district court Thursday in Washington D.C. and pled guilty to 3 charges, including money laundering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.

According to the judge, Emma could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison -- just like Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- and the drug trafficking charge alone carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars. So she's looking at hard time.

As we reported ... El Chapo's wife was busted at Dulles International Airport back in February and the feds charged her with conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos or more of cocaine, 1 kilo of heroin, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 1,000 kilos or more of marijuana for importation into the U.S.

El Chapo, meanwhile, is rotting in prison as part of his life sentence ... so he may never see his esposa again.

Safaree's got more bones to pick with Erica Mena as they fight over child custody in their divorce ... he wants to be present when their new baby's born, and he's running to court hoping to make it happen.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, the 'Love & Hip Hop' star says his estranged wife is due to give birth in July, and he's afraid she won't let him be with her for the delivery.

In the docs, Safaree makes it clear he wants to witness his child's birth, but firmly believes the only way he can assure that happens is for the court to step in and force Erica to allow it.

Obviously, he's afraid she'll freeze him out, if given the chance.

As we first told you ... Erica filed for divorce last month after less than 2 years of marriage, and she's gunning for primary custody of the kids, but Safaree's already filed docs to challenge her on that.

Jeff Lowe's legal troubles are piling up, and in more than one state ... TMZ has learned.

On the heels of the 'Tiger King' star getting busted for DUI in Oklahoma, Jeff's now a wanted man in Las Vegas ... this according to the clerk at the Las Vegas Municipal Court, who tells us there are 4 bench warrants out for his arrest.

The warrants stem from a 2017 case in which he was charged with 3 counts of not having a proper license or permit for wild animals, and one count of doing business without a license. He was convicted in 2018 of illegally using animals to make money in the Las Vegas valley, but agreed to stay out of trouble to avoid jail time.

According to the clerk ... the bench warrants were issued because Lowe was due in court Wednesday for a hearing, but he no-showed.

We're told Lowe has to post $20,500 to deal with the warrants and get a new court date.

We broke the story ... Jeff and his wife, Lauren, were arrested this weekend for DUI, as cops say they were both intoxicated and driving at different times before they got busted.

In the weeks prior to that ... Lowe had dozens of his big cats confiscated from his Oklahoma zoo. The feds said the seizure was part of an ongoing probe for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act.

Suspended Virginia Tech linebacker Isi Etute told cops he beat the hell out of a 40-year-old after the man had catfished him ... this according to prosecutors.

Officials made the stunning revelation in a Virginia courtroom Wednesday ... explaining Etute broke it all down for cops during their murder investigation days ago.

Prosecutors say Etute told the cops he had matched with a person named "Angie" on Tinder believing she was a woman -- and had met up with her for oral sex on April 10.

Officials say Etute then told cops he and "Angie" set up another date on May 31, but when he discovered there that she was actually a man -- the football player attacked.

Prosecutors say Etute told cops he punched the victim several times in the face and also stomped on him.

Prosecutors say Etute added that he did not call cops after the attack, despite hearing "bubbling and gurgling" as he left the apartment.

The man was found dead two days later ... with officials saying he had missing teeth and broken bones in his face and skull.

But, Etute's attorney, Jimmy Turk, appeared to defend the football player's alleged actions ... saying in court, "Nobody deserves to die, but I don’t mind saying, don’t pretend you are something that you are not."

"Don’t target or lure anyone under that perception. That’s just wrong."

Etute -- who's been charged with 2nd-degree murder -- was granted bail at the hearing and is due back in court in September.

Silento's not getting out of jail, at least not for now ... a judge just denied his request to be let out on bond in his murder case.

The "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" rapper had a bond hearing Wednesday in DeKalb County, GA where the judge ruled Silento's history of mental health issues -- coupled with a history of not taking his meds -- made him too risky to be let out on bond while his case is pending.

The judge also cited concerns raised by the prosecutor about Silento's history of being in denial of his mental health issues, specifically noting that the rapper once left a mental health facility in California. The judge also mentioned there was no telling what could happen if Silento decides NOT to take his meds ... noting this would put the community at serious risk.

Prosecutors said even his grandparents argued in strong opposition to the bond.

Silento's legal team tried painting a more favorable picture ... calling him a local treasure who was once on the Governor's Blue Ribbon panel urging kids to stay away from drugs and alcohol. His team says Silento's problem stems from his bipolar disorder, and other mental health issues he's battled for years.

But, the judge didn't go for it ... and ordered Silento to remain behind bars.

A Philly cop inadvertently busted himself pulling an illegal move ... at least that's the claim of a man who recorded his own arrest, only to see that video deleted -- allegedly by the arresting officer -- and now a lawsuit's coming.

According to the police report ... a Philly cop identified as Officer Burnett says he noticed a pickup truck idling for 10-15 minutes at a gas station back in March, so police ran the plates and it came back to Jacob Giddings.

Cops say Giddings had an active warrant for assault, so Officer Burnett asked him to step out of the vehicle, and when he "started to resist" ...  Burnett used force to pull him out.

However, Burnett's body cam was activated, and as you can see ... it captured Giddings apparently recording the incident on his phone from inside his truck. That fact is not mentioned in the police report.

Based on Burnett's body cam, it looks like Giddings lost his phone in the struggle. Later, after Giddings was in custody, the officer picked up the phone and appeared to gain access to the footage. He hits a few commands, but it's not clear from the footage what he did.

Giddings, from the police car's backseat, is heard asking Burnett if the video is still on his phone, and the cop says he doesn't know -- but Giddings believes Burnett deleted the vid.

According to the police report, cops also found marijuana on Giddings and he was arrested and charged with one count of resisting arrest and one count of drug possession. During the bust he suffered minor cuts to his wrist from the handcuffs, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Giddings has lawyered up, and his attorney, Donte Mills of Mills &. Edwards LLP, tells TMZ ... they'll be suing Philadelphia PD for excessive force and assault, tampering with evidence, false arrest and malicious prosecution.

Mills says they later recovered Giddings' arrest video from his iCloud account. We're told Giddings is still being prosecuted, and he doesn’t believe Burnett has been disciplined.

PGA champ Angel Cabrera -- who won The Masters in 2009 -- has been extradited back to his home country of Argentina ... where he's set to face charges of attacking 3 different women.

The 51-year-old golf star -- nicknamed "El Pato" -- was arrested in Brazil back in January after officials say he was considered to be a fugitive of justice after bailing on a meeting with prosecutors.

The women accusing Cabrera include 2 ex-girlfriends and his ex-wife.

As we previously reported, one of the women accused the golfer of punching her in the face, making threats and trying to run her over with his car in '16.

Another woman, Cabrera's ex-wife, Silva Rivadero, also reportedly filed two charges against the golfer ... including assault and threats.

Cabrera is already in custody in Argentina -- and his trial is reportedly slated for July.

And, get this ... Cabrera's defense isn't that he didn't attack the women, it's that the incidents weren't really that bad.

SERIOUSLY, THAT'S HIS DEFENSE!

Cabrera's attorney, Carlos Hairabedian, told TN Todo Noticias, "The accusations come from long ago ... and he was not in jail because the facts attributed to him are insignificant. They are light injuries."

WHAT?!?

Armie Hammer's checked himself into an in-patient facility in Florida to get treatment for several addiction issues ... amid several months of sexual abuse allegations against the actor.

Hammer checked himself in at a rehab facility outside of Orlando on May 31 and has been getting treatment since then. According to Vanity Fair, which first reported he was getting help, Hammer's agreed to stay as long as it takes to get healthy.

VF sources say Hammer contacted his estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers, in late May to inform her he was leaving the Cayman Islands -- where he'd been staying for months -- to seek treatment for drugs, alcohol and sex. Elizabeth and the family are reportedly supportive of his decision.

As for what led up to this -- Armie's been in a custody battle in his and Elizabeth's ongoing divorce, and he's been embroiled in a sexual assault scandal since January.

As we reported ... several women accused the actor of emotional abuse, manipulation and sexual violence on social media, leading to his exit from a Jennifer Lopez movie that started filming in February.

At the time he responded by calling the allegations "bulls**t claims" and "vicious and spurious online attacks against me" ... and so far, that's all he's said publicly about them.

Cops are searching for 2 brash, and slightly bruised, jerks who robbed a UPS driver in broad daylight -- and another driver's dash cam captured the whole incident, including the suspects' comical getaway.

The attack went down last week in San Francisco's busy downtown area, where one suspect -- wearing a face-covering -- hopped out of a car and started throwing a flurry of punches at a UPS driver named Minh.

Minh told KPIX-TV the attacker first swiped a package from his cart, and when he tried to retrieve it things turned violent. Although he tried his best to fend off the punches, he says he got hit in the face and lost 2 teeth ... in addition to suffering a black eye.

The guy who was punching Minh ended up dropping the package, and attempting to jump into his buddy's car -- but as they tried to speed away, the puncher fell HARD out of the moving vehicle!!!

That's the only awesome part of this video. Well, that and the fact the suspects' license plate is clearly visible.

No arrests made yet, but armed with this video, you'd think it's just a matter of time before cops track down these tools.