Legal

Maryland teenager Jonah Poole was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder for killing his former boss, Edward Koza ... burning him to death inside his car.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department announced Poole's sentence last week ... saying Poole was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison and forfeit approximately $215,000 he stole from Koza, his former boss at Tropic Bay Water Gardens in Davidsonville, MD.

It remains unclear if Poole's brief employment with Koza was part of his motive for the killing.

Denise Richards is asking a judge to make sure her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, promises not to leak her financial records before she's forced to turn them over in their nasty court battle ... TMZ has learned.

The "Wild Things" star filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming Aaron has spread all sorts of private information about her to the media in the wake of their split.

Denise says Aaron wants her to turn over bank statements and information about her pay for "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" ... but she insists much of that information is subject to confidentiality agreements with production companies, and she wants to make sure a protective order is in place before she sends them over.

Keanu Reeves went to bat for his old director ... but it wasn't enough to keep Carl Rinsch out of prison after the filmmaker was sentenced in his $11 million Netflix fraud case.

Here's the deal ... Keanu personally wrote to the judge asking for leniency for Carl -- who directed Keanu in the 2013 movie "47 Ronin" -- calling Carl an "exceptional artist" while acknowledging Carl has a tendency to self-sabotage. Keanu also praised Carl's unfinished Netflix series at the center of the case as "superb and visionary."

The heartfelt endorsement didn't carry the day, though ... a federal judge sentenced Carl to 30 months behind bars Monday after he was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes tied to the failed project.

NPR may have jumped the gun on one of the biggest political scoops of the year ... reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is retiring, only to quickly reverse course and retract their story.

The Alito retirement story, written by prominent SCOTUS reporter Nina Totenberg, was published Tuesday morning before quickly disappearing from NPR's website. In its place now sits a brief editor's note that reads, "This story has been taken down. It was published in error."

The report spread quickly because the stakes couldn't be much higher. If Alito steps down, President Trump would get the chance to nominate a fourth Supreme Court justice -- further cementing his influence over the nation's highest court for years to come.

The twist here is who's behind the scoop ... Totenberg has spent decades covering the Supreme Court and is widely regarded as one of the best-sourced reporters on the beat -- having broken countless major stories involving the justices. That's already fueled speculation the underlying reporting may be sound and the story simply went live before NPR intended.

Blake Lively wants Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer to be on the hook for just north of $8 million in attorneys' fees and court costs after his defamation lawsuit against her was tossed out ... TMZ has learned.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "It Ends With Us" star requests a judge grant her $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees she incurred in fighting his lawsuit, plus $539,514.01 in court costs and expenses incurred while defending herself.

As we told you, Justin's $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake was tossed out ... and a judge recently ruled Justin would need to cover her legal bills, although Blake was turned down in her attempt to get other damages in the case.

Kanye West and his former personal assistant Lauren Pisciotta are nearing an agreement to settle her bombshell lawsuit, which featured sexual harassment allegations and a slew of other disturbing claims.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, counsel for each side met June 4 for mediation and agreed in principle to settle the case. The court took the next hearing off the calendar to give the parties a chance to finalize the deal.

TMZ broke the story ... Lauren sued Ye in June 2024, claiming he fired her after sending her vile sexual texts and videos. One alleged text read, "See my problem is I be wanting to f*** but then after I f*** I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f***ed while I'm f***ing them. Then I want her to cheat on me."

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's NDA for wedding guests may look intimidating ... but TMZ has learned it doesn't have much bite, because guests who violate it won't face any obvious financial punishment.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the electronic non-disclosure agreement sent to guests does not include a monetary penalty -- or any other punishment for that matter -- if one dared to violate the agreement.

We're also told there's no film release attached, meaning guests weren't asked to sign away their rights to appear on camera -- making a wedding streaming special or documentary seem pretty unlikely.

As TMZ first reported ... between 1,100 and 1,200 guests are expected at Madison Square Garden July 3 to celebrate the couple tying the knot.

The NDA is just one piece of an elaborate security plan.

Dianna Russini is in hot water again ... but this time it's not for holding hands with an NFL coach ... but for seemingly not telling the truth about what happened during a traffic stop.

Here's the scoop ... in January, the former NFL reporter for The Athletic got pulled over by a police officer for using her phone while driving in New Jersey. Their subsequent interaction was caught on body cam video that was posted Monday on X by Adam Herbets of Center Square. 

In the clip, the officer walks up to Russini's vehicle and asks for her license and registration.  Russini introduces herself as an NFL journalist who just broke a story about Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott getting fired, saying she was sending a tweet about it before she was stopped.

Bad Bunny's record label passed out freebies to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a concert in Puerto Rico -- worth over $4,000, according to official documents.

TMZ obtained Sotomayor's annual financial disclosure, showing that the justice was given $4,333 worth of tickets by Rimas Entertainment for herself and guests while they were on a private trip to Puerto Rico in August 2025. Bunny's manager, Noah Assad, founded Rimas, which also represents a bunch of other Latin music artists. 

It's not clear from the disclosure whether Sotomayor and Co. attended a Bunny concert or a show for another Rimas musician. Yet, during August 2025, Bunny hit the stage in Puerto Rico for a slew of performances.

Gabbie Gonzalez's alleged accomplice Kai Cordrey says he's doesn't have nearly enough cash to post bond ... so now he's asking a judge to slash his $2 Million bail to an amount he says he can actually afford.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Cordrey -- one of the three defendants charged in the alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting singer Jack Avery -- wants his bail reduced from $2 Million to $100,000 ... claiming he's been stuck behind bars since May solely because he doesn't have the money to get out.

As TMZ previously reported, prosecutors allege Gabbie, her father Francisco Gonzalez and Cordrey conspired to have Avery killed during a bitter custody battle over the daughter they share. Prosecutors claim the trio explored hiring a hitman through the dark web, and all three have pleaded not guilty.

Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno is dragging his ex-girlfriend Anna Pham to court for refusing to return his personal property, TMZ has learned. 

Apolo filed a lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, claiming Anna has hundreds of items of personal and business property ... including studio and audio-production equipment, photographic and video equipment, electronics, apparel, a firearm, and computer hard drives containing irreplaceable content ... plus Olympic race and training footage, documentary footage held for future commercial sale, an unpublished book manuscript and personal Olympic photographs. 

The athlete claims the relationship ended in 2023, but they remained friends throughout most of 2024.

"America's Next Top Model" winner Eva Marcille is siding with Tyra Banks in her lawsuit against Netflix ... and Eva's hoping Tyra walks away with a huge payday.

We got Eva at LAX on Monday ... and our photog asked her about Tyra's defamation suit against the streaming giant.

Eva is firmly Team Tyra, telling us ... "Get your money, Black woman. Do your thing."

Eva's comments here stand in stark contrast to Adrianne Curry, the original 'ANTM' winner, who venomously responded to Tyra's claims.

Damien O'Brien and Jessica O'Brien -- the Michigan couple charged with murdering their obese 7-year-old son -- are apparently receiving better treatment in prison than they allegedly provided to their own child.

The O'Briens are enjoying a seemingly cozy experience behind bars, despite being held without bond for allegedly neglecting Casper O'Brien, who prosecutors say was 225 pounds when he died.

Jason Gould, a member of the Genesse County Sheriff's Office, tells us ... the parents are served three meals a day with a rotating menu. Breakfast is a choice of cereal, oatmeal, toast, or scrambled eggs ... lunch can be sandwiches or burgers ... and dinner can be a number of different food options like pizza, tacos, and pasta.

We're told each inmate is assured the right amount of calories and nutrition in each meal ... something prosecutors say Casper's parents failed to provide at home, where they allegedly fed him nothing but potato chips and french fries.

Josh Duggar keeps playing prison hopscotch, jumping from one penitentiary to another, with his latest stop at a federal lockup in Oklahoma ... and his lawyer is calling all the moves "punitive."

The ex-reality star was recently transferred to FTC Oklahoma City after a short stay at FMC Fort Worth in Texas. Before that, Josh was cooling his heels in FCI Seagoville, also in Texas, where he was initially sent after his 2021 conviction for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. 

Josh's lawyer, Beau Brindley, tells TMZ ... Josh's transfers from prison to prison are all "punitive," stemming from correctional officers allegedly violating the rules by opening Josh's legal mail at Seagoville.

Detroit Lions star Terrion Arnold just caught a huge break in his kidnapping case -- he will NOT remain behind bars as he awaits his trial, a judge ruled on Monday.

Arnold appeared at a pretrial detention hearing in Hillsborough County, Florida ... where both sides broke down the serious allegations made against the 23-year-old.

While the judge believed there is certainly probable cause, he did not agree with the prosecution that Arnold should be held until trial.