Legal

Stevie J has been one of the few Diddy supporters who's never wavered throughout the numerous lawsuits and charges ... and he wants the world to know the embattled Bad Boy mogul is doing just fine!!!

TMZ Hip Hop bumped into Stevie in Bev. Hills on Monday full of energy, calling for Diddy's freedom.

We thought he was on a hot lunch date -- but turns out, the woman accompanying him is his new artist, Miala Doche.

The Menendez Brothers' relatives are ripping L.A. County D.A. Nathan Hochman ... blasting his use of crime scene photos in a recent court hearing as a "grotesque spectacle" with dire consequences.

Bryan Freedman -- the attorney representing the family -- rips Hochman in a new court filing ... saying the county's top prosecutor is making a mockery of Marsy's Law, which protects the rights of crime victims.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Freedman says Hochman gratuitously and needlessly displayed crime scene photos at Friday's court hearing, which was attended by a bunch of Erik's and Lyle's relatives -- and he claims the photos caused the brothers' 85-year-old aunt, Terry Baralt, such severe emotional distress she ended up in a hospital bed.

8:23 AM PT -- Sean Kingston's attorney Zeljka Bozanic tells TMZ ... "Mr. Kingston’s bond has been posted and he is in the process of being released."

He's back to home detention, with GPS monitoring, and is required to surrender his passport.

Sean Kingston was in lockup Tuesday 'cause he couldn’t cough up the $100K cash bond tied to his federal wire fraud case.

Kingston, who got hit with a guilty verdict last month alongside his mom, Janice Turner, on all five charges, is now sitting tight at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, TMZ has learned.

Following his conviction last month, he was confined to home detention pending sentencing on the condition he could post a $100K cash bond. But now that the singer and rapper is unable to come up with the money, he's been taken into custody.

Nick Carter is being sued by a woman who says he raped her and infected her with a bunch of sexually transmitted diseases ... but he says her allegations are bogus.

The Backstreet Boys singer is being sued by a woman named Laura Penly, who claims he sexually assaulted her multiple times.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Penly claims she met Nick in 2004 when she was 19 years old and they started banging for a couple weeks ... meeting up at a Los Angeles apartment to hang out and have sex. She says she asked him to wear a condom but he refused and told her he was "clean" from STDs.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says Erik and Lyle Menendez needed to 'fess up to all their lies when talking to TMZ from prison ... but their lawyer Mark Geragos says prosecutors are focused on the wrong things.

Nathan and Mark joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" and we asked them about the upcoming resentencing hearing and the brothers' bid for freedom.

Hochman digs his heels in and argues why Erik and Lyle should remain behind bars  ... telling us the Menendez Bros missed a golden opportunity to take responsibility and apologize in their recent TMZ special.

Taylor Lorenz is inserting herself into the Luigi Mangione case -- well, hypothetically -- 'cause she’s weighing in on what her verdict would be if she had a seat on that trial jury.

The ex-Washington Post columnist swung by "TMZ Live" Monday ... and we grilled her on which route she'd go on Luigi's fate -- guilty with the death penalty, guilty with prison time, or not guilty via jury nullification. Let’s just say, it wasn’t an easy call for the outspoken journo.

Check it out ... Taylor tells us she's firmly against the death penalty, so that one’s off the table -- but when it comes to the other two options, she’s torn ... because we haven't seen the potential evidence presented yet.

Diddy says the feds have him all wrong and he's just an innocent man ... because he's pleading not guilty to a couple new charges against him.

The Bad Boy Records founder appeared in court Monday in Manhattan for his arraignment on two new charges ... one for sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and another for transportation to engage in prostitution ... a couple things he says he definitely didn't do.

Feds tacked on the charges in a recent superseding indictment ... the third one we've seen so far in the Diddy case. Diddy showed up in court today with white hair and a short beard, and pled not guilty to the superseding indictment charges.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's alleged arsonist had his mugshot publicly released Monday -- and the guy certainly appears glum.

The Dauphin County District Attorney's Office released the booking photo of Cody Balmer, who allegedly set fire to Shapiro's house while the governor, his wife, his kids and another family were inside as they celebrated Passover -- the Jewish holiday -- this past weekend. Luckily, the Shapiros and their guests made it out of the blaze alive and unscathed.

Check out the mug shot ... Balmer looks like he just lost his dog, with his droopy face and sullen eyes. Prosecutors just hit Balmer with a truckload of charges, including attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism and other offenses.

Don Lemon’s spilling more tea on Wendy Williams' situation at her assisted living facility -- especially the food, which apparently isn’t exactly satisfying her tastes.

The TV personality spoke to TMZ about his recent dinner with Wendy ... saying she was in great spirits and really enjoying her food -- because, as he put it, you can only imagine the grub at the Coterie in NYC isn’t exactly top-tier.

Wendy’s been vocal about feeling like a prisoner at the facility, but there are folks out there saying it’s karma for all the trash she talked about others during her career.

The death of Kyren Lacy has shocked the sports world ... with star athletes like Odell Beckham Jr. and Angel Reese paying tribute to the former star LSU receiver.

Lacy -- who scored nine touchdowns last season -- died on Saturday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police chase in Houston, TX.

The death of the 24-year-old football star came just days before a Grand Jury was set to convene to hear evidence in a fatal traffic incident from December 2024 -- which claimed the life of a 78-year-old retired U.S. Marine. Lacy was accused of causing the crash and fleeing the scene without calling for help.

The man accused of setting Governor Josh Shapiro's Pennsylvania home on fire confessed to the shocking crime after ordering his ex-girlfriend to drop a dime on him to the police, according to new court records.

Cody Balmer was arrested Sunday by the Pennsylvania State Police after his former girlfriend allegedly told police Balmer admitted to setting fire to the governor's house and asked her to tell the authorities.

The docs say shortly thereafter Balmer surrendered at Pennsylvania State Police headquarters and gave a blow-by-blow account of the incident, telling officers he was "harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro."

The Menendez family is blaming the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for the hospitalization of Terry Baralt -- Erik and Lyle's aunt ... claiming the graphic crime scene photos they were shown did a number on her health.

In a press release from the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition -- a collective of family members fighting for the brothers' release -- the group confirmed our story that Baralt had been found unresponsive in her hotel room.

The coalition says the D.A.'s office didn't give the family a heads up that they would be presenting photos of the crime scene at Friday's resentencing hearing ... a violation of Marsy's Law, a law designed to protect the victims of crimes.

Lyle and Erik Menendez's aunt, Terry Baralt, has been rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in a Los Angeles hotel room ... TMZ has learned.

Our sources tell us Terry -- who is 85 and battling colon cancer -- has been exhausted, stressed and traumatized in the last year as the entire Menendez family works to get the two brothers released from prison.

It all came to a boiling point Friday when the Menendez brothers appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for a resentencing hearing. During the tense hearing, the defense team went at it with prosecutors while the Menendez family looked on.

Diddy's trial begins in just a few weeks ... and, it seems some of his infamous "freak off" tapes may actually be shown to the jury -- if a new proposed questionnaire is any indication.

The rap mogul's lawyers submitted this questionnaire late Friday ... and, according to the Associated Press, it contains questions about potential jurors' willingness to watch sexually explicit videos or videos that depict physical assault.

Diddy's team also reportedly wants to know about jurors' views on people with multiple sexual partners.

Erik and Lyle Menendez might take the stand next Thursday to convince the judge in their resentencing hearing they're worthy of redemption ... but according to their lawyer, it could be a high-risk move.

Mark Geragos jumped on the "2 Angry Men" podcast Friday from the Van Nuys Courthouse, fresh off a victory where the judge shut down the D.A.'s request to put the kibosh on any resentencing hearing.

Excuse the intro to the clip -- it's a pisser -- but a little ways in, Harvey asks Mark about his strategy to possibly call the bros to the stand. Harvey has spent some time talking to Erik and Lyle, and says plainly they presented themselves as compelling men who might impress the judge.

Erik and Lyle Menendez will get their day in court to seek a new sentence, and possibly win their freedom ... after an intense battle with L.A. County D.A. ended with the judge ruling in the brothers' favor.

The Menendez brothers appeared remotely in the L.A. County courtroom Friday where D.A. Nathan Hochman and his team of prosecutors presented their case to the judge for withdrawing the petition to resentence Erik and Lyle -- a petition that was filed by the previous D.A. George Gascon, and which the newly elected Hochman vehemently opposes.

The brothers -- wearing prison blues -- were seen on a video screen in court, and visibly reacted as prosecutors repeatedly stated that they had not changed since their conviction ... because they never admitted their claim they purchased guns in fear for their lives was a lie.