Legal

West Wilson's cousin appeared in court Wednesday after being accused of murdering their step-grandmother ... and the hearing quickly shifted focus from bond to concerns about his mental competency.

Dakota Sweeney appeared remotely from jail for a hearing tied to the shocking April killing of his 75-year-old step-grandmother, Gayle R. Wilson, inside a Missouri home. During the proceeding, Sweeney barely interacted with the court at all ... appearing sluggish and largely unresponsive while officials tried multiple times to confirm he could hear what was happening.

At one point, the judge repeatedly asked Sweeney to raise his hand or nod if he could hear the discussion after apparent technical difficulties with the jail connection. While Sweeney ultimately appeared able to hear the court, he still did not verbally respond.

"Summer House" star West Wilson's cousin Dakota Sweeney may undergo a mental exam after his legal team raised questions about his state of mind, TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, Dakota's lawyers are asking the court to approve a mental health professional interviewing him. 

As TMZ first reported, Dakota is charged with murder in the first degree after allegedly murdering his and West's 75-year-old step-grandma, Gayle R. Wilson. He entered a plea of not guilty. 

"General Hospital" star Steve Burton submitted alleged texts from his ex-wife, Sheree Burton, as part of their bitter custody battle ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ obtained the texts Steve says he exchanged with Sheree as they fought over custody and visitation issues for their 11-year-old daughter Brooklyn.

In one alleged text, dated March 14, 2026, Steve wrote, “This is manipulation” when talking about Sheree allegedly enrolling Brooklyn in a summer program in California, which Steve insists is a problem since he planned to travel with the kid.

The former FedEx delivery driver who copped to kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl in Texas has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Tanner Lynn Horner learned his fate Tuesday when a Texas jury sentenced him to death.

He pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping last month in the November 2022 death of Athena Strand.

Blake Lively’s team was spiraling privately as backlash grew amid the promo for "It Ends With Us" -- according to newly-uncovered documents from the now-settled case against Justin Baldoni.

TMZ obtained emails and text messages that Blake's team at her alcohol company, Betty Booze, said they were receiving from companies amid the drama surrounding "It Ends With Us."

On September 10, 2024, a member of Blake's team wrote to other team members about a convo with Kroger, the mega-supermarket, saying "I just got off the phone with the SGWS Kroger VP, and the first thing he mentioned to me was that Betty Booze was just discussed" and adding "there is a negative taste in Kroger's mouth based on the [Blake Lively] interview (press) from the movie, and they said they will be closely monitoring sales on the brand."

A Washington woman is accused of turning a neighborhood sidewalk into her own personal racetrack ... and a child on a bike nearly paid the price.

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office alleges 56-year-old Wendy Clemente drove her silver Ford Focus up onto a Spokane sidewalk on April 28 and chased a juvenile riding a dirt bike -- coming dangerously close to hitting the child.

Watch the clip above ... the whole thing was caught on cellphone video, and it’s as wild as it sounds.

Angelina Jolie won a legal victory in court Monday ... and now it turns out Brad Pitt won't get to see 22 emails he was hoping to get his hands on in the legal fight over their French chateau.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court just ruled in Jolie's favor ... this after the appellate court found the previous judge erred when she ordered Jolie to hand over 22 emails to Pitt in connection with their ongoing winery lawsuit in December 2025. The matter was sent back to the lower court for another look. Page Six was first to report the story.

Now the lower court has decided that, though not all of these emails were sent between attorney and client, they still discussed legal strategy ... and that makes them privileged. Translation: Brad's side doesn't get to see them in discovery.

Stefon Diggs has done a lot of winning, but no victory was more important than the one the NFL star just got in a Massachusetts courtroom ... he was found not guilty of attacking his chef during a dispute late last year.

The 32-year-old was on hand at the Dedham District Court for the reading of the verdict ... and it was nothing short of a resounding success for Diggs, who faced one count of felony strangulation and one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. Diggs was emotional as the verdict was being read ... with tears flowing from his eye and down his face.

"Not guilty." "Not guilty." Case closed. Deliberation lasted around an hour and a half.

Diggs was facing up to five years in prison for the felony ... obviously a moot point, as a jury found the accuser's claims to be bogus.

The prosecutor in the Stefon Diggs trial acknowledged Jamila Adams was "argumentative, avoidant and difficult" throughout her testimony the past two days ... but he's hoping the jury looks past that in reaching a verdict.

The blunt approach came from Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Drew Virtue's closing argument in a Dedham courtroom on Tuesday ... when he admitted his key witness was all over the place on the stand.

"Was Ms. Adams a perfect witness? No," Virtue said.

Justin Baldoni's high-powered lead attorney, Bryan Freedman, says his client is the clear winner in his drawn-out legal war with Blake Lively.

Bryan joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday after Justin and Blake's camp announced Monday they had settled her legal claims against his production company.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but when we asked Bryan if this was a win for Justin, he told us why he felt it was a "huge victory" for his client.

Blake Lively may have shocked some when she stepped on the Met Gala red carpet last night ... but the actress being there wasn't a last-minute decision.

A Blake insider tells TMZ ... despite her attendance at the Gala turning heads since earlier in the day, her massive legal battle with Justin Baldoni was finally settled ... her presence had been planned for weeks, as she was an invited guest by Anna Wintour.

We’re told … the 11th-hour settlement was irrelevant -- BL was going to the Met -- no matter if there was a settlement, or the trial was still on the horizon.

Stefon Diggs' former chef claimed the NFL star attacked after she confronted him over missed payments ... but his finance team says the books show she actually got MORE than she was supposed to during her time on his staff.

Diggs' money manager -- PMG Private CFO employee Melissa Goddard -- took the stand on Tuesday ... and stated she did an audit of his payments to Jamila Adams in late 2025 after a "flag" was raised.

On Dec. 1, Goddard stated she received an invoice from Adams for three weeks of services for November and reimbursable expenses ... but knew it was incorrect because two of those weeks of pay had already been fulfilled -- so she launched the deep dive into Diggs' finances.

Michael Jackson's former doctor's life has taken a major twist, or rather his hair has ... because he's bunching it up in a ponytail these days.

We've obtained photos of Conrad Murray -- the doctor who served two years in jail for the manslaughter of the King of Pop -- sporting his new hairdo Tuesday morning outside a diner in Sunrise, Florida.

Check it out ... the new style seems in its nascent stages, but, it certainly looks like he's letting it grow, and letting his hipster flag fly.

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum Brit Eady is fighting Bravo's attempt to dismiss her $20 million battle over alleged sexual harassment on set ... claiming even her costars were shocked by Kenya Moore's actions ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Brit is scoffing at Bravo's claim the contract she signed bars her from being allowed to sue them.

The producers said Brit -- who joined the show in Season 16 -- was not victimized and was warned that being on 'RHOA' meant she would be exposed to "stressful or emotionally challenging" moments. They say she nevertheless agreed to sign up for the show.

The director of a prominent Arkansas school has been ordered to spend 30 days in jail for running a fight club for children.

Cops arrested Mary Tracy Morrison -- the owner and director of The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain -- in 2025 ... after video showed a horrific gathering where a child was forced to sit on the floor in a circle of 18 other kids, including Morrison ... according to a KAIT-TV report on the probable cause affidavit.

Morrison told the other children to hit the child in the circle's center with an unknown object, and berated the victim while he was kicked by another student. She then reportedly high-fived that student after the beating.

Blake Lively went in like a lion when she sued Justin Baldoni, but she went out like a lamb ... because TMZ has learned she got no money in the settlement.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... there was a lot of behind-the-scenes drama in the Lively camp in the days before a settlement was reached. We're told Blake brought in a new law firm -- Sussman Godfrey. The firm is a litigation powerhouse ... among their legal victories -- a $425 million verdict against Google, a $1.6 billion judgment against the Baha Mar casino resort, and a $1.5 billion in an A.I. copyright settlement.

It would seem the point of bringing the firm in would be to litigate the case, but the opposite happened. The settlement statement did not even include an apology from Justin.