Legal

Luigi Mangione says Uncle Sam wants to kill him as a political stunt ... and his defense is calling on a judge to stop the feds from pursuing the death penalty if he's convicted.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Luigi's attorneys claim the federal case against him is political, arbitrary, capricious and breaks from established death penalty protocol.

Luigi's defense also rips a social media post from Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department ... claiming the post makes it look like Luigi's already been found guilty.

Beyoncé coming face-to-face with a drugged-up guy wearing a penis mask must've been a crazy-ass fever dream -- the Diddy accuser who claimed Bey and Jay-Z saw him at a "freak off" has changed his mind.

Manzaro Joseph, who sued Diddy earlier this month, just filed an amended lawsuit -- and while he's still going after Diddy in court, he's very noticeably dropped the Carters from his narrative.

In the new docs, Joseph makes ZERO mention of Jay or Beyoncé -- and as far as we can tell, that's the only change he's made to the lawsuit. TMZ broke the story ... Joseph originally claimed the couple saw him in one helluva state during a 2015 birthday party in Miami for Diddy's son, King Combs.

There seems to be a rash of female educators accused of having sex with their underage students across the U.S. -- and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

In the latest case, Dr. Keiva Lark -- the assistant principal of Lake Marion Creek Middle School in Polk County, Florida -- was charged Thursday with lewd/lascivious conduct and lewd offense against a student by an authority figure.

According to police ... the 13-year-old student was sent to Lark's office after tossing crumpled-up paper across a classroom during an exam.

Joe Tacopina is blasting the judge in Wendy Williams' conservatorship case for telling the TV star her career is over ... calling the statements "outrageous" -- and adding Wendy's going to have a massive comeback when the conservator battle is over.

We spoke with Tacopina -- who is serving as Wendy's personal attorney -- on "TMZ Live" Friday ... and, he says these statements by the judge shouldn't have been made in court or in front of Wendy ... especially since the judge who said it isn't in the entertainment industry.

Tacopina doesn't know why the judge would make such statements about Wendy's career in an unrelated court hearing ... and, he adds that from his numerous conversations with Wendy, he knows she's as coherent and lucid as she ever has been.

Harvey Weinstein's health is failing ... with the disgraced movie producer rapidly gaining weight and suffering from severe tongue inflammation in New York City's notorious Rikers Island prison.

Juda Engelmayer -- a rep for Weinstein -- tells TMZ ... Harvey's health is "rapidly deteriorating in custody," exacerbated by the terrible conditions at Rikers.

We're told Weinstein has gained more than 25 pounds since being transferred back from Bellevue Hospital several months ago ... 19 of those pounds in the last month alone.

Things are getting weird and intense in the Wendy Williams guardianship war ... multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, during a hearing this week, the judge told Wendy, she has no hope of restarting her career.

It's pretty outrageous ... Wendy showed up in court Thursday and appeared before Judge Lisa Sokoloff. Our sources tell TMZ, the judge railed on Wendy's niece, Alex Finnie, accusing her of leaking information to the media and threatening her with sanctions for future conduct.

The judge wasn't finished. We're told she attacked Wendy's family, essentially saying they were no good.

Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in a Netflix series about the infamous Menendez murders, is showing support for the Menendez Brothers ... because he's in the house for a court hearing for their resentencing petition.

The "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" star was spotted Friday on his way into a courthouse in Van Nuys, in L.A. ... walking in arm-in-arm with his boyfriend.

At one point, Cooper -- wearing shades and a gray sweater -- stopped to talk to Erik's wife, Tammi Menendez, and Erik's adopted daughter, Talia Menendez.

Wendy Williams is being forced to choose her friends very carefully ... at least if she wants to be allowed to leave her assisted living facility.

Wendy was all smiles Thursday night in NYC, as she was granted permission to go out to dinner with her niece Alex Finnie, Don Lemon, and his husband Tim Malone. The foursome hit up Italian eatery Il Cantinori in Greenwich village, and it's no wonder Wendy looked so happy -- because just 24 hours earlier, the guardianship refused to let her leave the facility.

TMZ broke the story ... Wendy was less than an hour from a Wednesday night dinner reservation when her guardian blocked her from leaving. While Wendy wasn't told why she couldn't go, it's looking clearer now.

On Wednesday, she was going out to eat with her niece ... and also powerhouse attorney Joe Tacopina -- he's now Wendy's personal lawyer, and intends to push hard to end the guardianship.

Former Texas Longhorns star Isaiah Bond -- one of the top receiver prospects in the upcoming NFL draft -- turned himself in to police on Thursday over a warrant for sexual assault, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

A spokesperson for the Frisco Police Department told us the 21-year-old surrendered in the morning and was released a short time later after posting bond.

Further details surrounding the case were not made immediately available -- though Bond said in a statement Thursday afternoon the allegations against him are "patently false."

Rep. Darrell Issa is defending President Trump using the Justice Department to investigate his political foes ... and he says Trump's no worse than Joe Biden.

The Congressman from California joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him about Trump directing the DOJ to look into a couple officials from his first term who ultimately became Trump critics.

Rep. Issa says Trump weaponizing the DOJ to go after political enemies isn't all that different from what Biden did with the DOJ in investigating Trump when Biden was in the White House.

Soulja Boy will have to break open a few of his penny banks ... a jury just found him liable in the sexual assault lawsuit filed by his ex-personal assistant!!!

A judge read the verdict on Thursday in a Los Angeles courtroom, and spelled out that the "Crank Dat" rapper would be responsible for coughing up the dough for millions of dollars in damages ... and the jury is still considering punitive damages.

The rap star was found liable for assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The tables have turned -- years after "Black-ish" creator Kenya Barris filed a restraining order against his own sister ... she has filed her own against him.

Colette Barris filed new legal docs through her attorney, Ariel Mitchell, in Los Angeles on Tuesday ... asking a judge to block Kenya from directly or indirectly contacting their 83-year-old mother, Ernestine Barris, about the ongoing legal issue between the siblings.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Colette claims Kenya is attempting to influence Ernestine to testify falsely against her in court, and is "manipulating and intimidating" her over her "refusal to provide false testimony" and desire to remain neutral in the dispute between her son and daughter.

8:19 AM PT -- Andrew Tate's attorney Joseph McBride tells TMZ ... "NEVER HAPPENED. These allegations are great content for a scene in Gangs of London, but are otherwise pure fiction when applied to real life."

The legalities keep stacking up against Andrew Tate -- four women in the UK are suing him now, and one claims he pointed a gun right at her face.

The women claim in legal docs Tate assaulted, raped, and controlled them between 2013 and 2015 in the British towns of Luton and Hitchin -- according to multiple reports from the BBC, The Independent, and The Telegraph.

Two of the women allege they dated Tate in 2013 and 2014, and the other two say they worked for his webcam biz -- with 3 of them reportedly going to cops years ago before officials apparently dropped the case in 2019, per The Independent.

Actor and comedian Russell Brand won't be addressing the halls of higher learning this week after all ... a college in Florida has decided to reschedule a speaking engagement after confirming his attendance earlier this week -- all this in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him.

Brand -- who's facing charges in London of sexual assault by four women, as well as a lawsuit and an investigation in NYC on similar charges -- was set to take part in a panel discussion at the New College of Florida this weekend about free speech and censorship.

A spokesman for the college tells TMZ the decision to reschedule "follows changes in event logistics," listing the unavailability of the venue where the event was planned to be held, and citing ticket availability issues.

Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino -- the man who the L.A. County D.A. alleges killed 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez -- deserves the death penalty, one U.S congressman says ... and, he blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for making that impossible.

We spoke with U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) Wednesday about this case ... and, he tells us the moratorium on the death penalty instituted by Gov. Newsom in 2019 has had disastrous consequences.

Among them, Kiley says, the people of California voted to keep the death penalty legal ... and, the governor stepped in to override the rule, making criminals less afraid of committing major crimes. California Proposition 62 -- which would've repealed the death penalty -- failed back in 2016.

So much for Wendy Williams' guardian insisting Wendy is allowed to leave the confines of her assisted living facility to visit with family, because the guardian just torpedoed a night out with Wendy's niece ... according to sources with direct knowledge.

Wendy planned a night out with her niece, Alex Finnie and her new personal lawyer, famed attorney Joe Tacopina. They were going to have dinner at a New York City restaurant ... that is, until Wendy's guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, put the kibosh on Wendy leaving the 5th floor of the facility, which Wendy calls "a luxury prison."

Interesting ... since the lawyer for Morrissey recently sent TMZ a letter, insisting Wendy was not being kept from her family and she could see them whenever she wanted. Well, it seems clear that's not the case.