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The article focuses on the first murder conviction in California related to a fatal fentanyl overdose, highlighting efforts to combat the rising number of deaths caused by the drug. Topics include unique prosecution of a 21-year-old man for second-degree murder in connection with providing fentanyl to a 15-year-old girl, the challenges of pursuing murder charges in fentanyl-related cases, and legislative debates regarding the fentanyl crisis and potential measures to hold suppliers accountable.

Reports that former vice president and former salesman of California-based Homestore Inc., Clayton Chan and Geoffrey Infeld, will plead guilty to charges that they participated in fraudulent transactions to inflate the company’s advertising revenue.

The article focuses on the Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 74, is anticipated to enter a deal that will spare him the death penalty on charges for 13 murders and 13 kidnappings spanning six counties in California. Topics include the retired cop accused of being the notorious "Golden State Killer" is expected to plead guilty to a reign of terror that involved more than a dozen slayings; and he's expected as part of the deal to cop to at least 62 rapes during his twisted crime spree.

The article discusses former San Diego, California mayor Bob Filner's October 2013 guilty plea to sexual harassment complaints, and mentions Filner's deal with state Attorney General Kamala Harris for probation, loss of pension, and a ban against his running for public office.

The article reports on the not guilty plea of a 68-year-old man Frederick Hengl to the murder of his wife Anna Faris.

The article reports on the prison sentence and probation imposed on Nakoula Baseley Nakoula, the man behind the "Innocence of Muslim," a YouTube video that is considered as anti-Islam. It states that Judge Christina A. Synder, the federal judge of the District Court in California, sentence Nakoula, one year in prison with four years of probation after his confinement because of deception. According to attorney Robert Dugdale, Nakoula deception caused harm to others.

LOS ANGELES -- Kinde Durkee, a former campaign treasurer for a number of California Democrats, pleaded guilty on Friday to five counts of mail fraud involving a long-running scheme in which she stole millions of dollars from candidates. Federal prosecutors said the scheme, in which Ms. Durkee stole more than $7 million from dozens of campaigns, is the largest case of embezzlement by a campaign treasurer ever brought to court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mayor Edwin M. Lee of San Francisco said on Tuesday that he would seek the removal of Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who was sentenced to counseling and probation on Monday after pleading guilty in a domestic violence case. Sheriff Mirkarimi said he did not intend to resign. Mr. Lee said Sheriff Mirkarimi's behavior during an incident on Dec. 31, in which he grabbed and bruised his wife's arm, fell ''below the standards of decency and faith'' expected of elected officials. The mayor appointed Vicki Hennessy interim sheriff while the case is investigated by the San Francisco Ethics Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi of San Francisco pleaded guilty Monday to false imprisonment in a domestic violence case after reaching a plea deal. Mr. Mirkarimi entered the plea after an appeals court said an emotional video of his wife could be shown to the jury during his domestic violence trial. Under the deal, he was fined $590 and sentenced to three years of probation and a year of counseling and is required to take parenting classes. He said he intended to remain as sheriff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A wine steward who plucked artworks off hotel and gallery walls on both coasts admitted on Tuesday that he had stolen a $350,000 drawing in New York, resolving the charges against him in the city after serving his jail time in California. The thief, Mark Lugo, who decorated his apartment with the artworks, pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to grand larceny, prosecutors said. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A politically connected financial firm and its founder pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in fraud and bid-rigging conspiracies related to the municipal bond business. The Justice Department said CDR Financial Products of Beverly Hills, Calif., and its owner, David Rubin, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Manhattan. The department said that they each acknowledged their roles in schemes intended to win contracts to invest the proceeds of municipal bonds issued by state, county and local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VMG Global, a sports nutrition company in California, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to selling products under the guise of dietary supplements that had been illegally spiked with steroids, according to court documents. The Food and Drug Administration has jurisdiction over dietary supplements, defined as products that can offer general health benefits but cannot claim to treat specific diseases or symptoms. Products marketed as dietary supplements that are found to contain undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients like steroids are considered to be illegal, misbranded drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Elliott Broidy, a California venture capitalist, pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he helped his company land a lucrative deal with New York's public pension fund by giving nearly $1 million worth of illegal gifts to state officials. Mr. Broidy, chairman of Markstone Capital Partners, made an appearance in New York State Supreme Court to admit to a felony charge of rewarding official misconduct. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The dormant legal case surrounding Roman Polanski has started up again. A state appeals court in Los Angeles on Monday rejected Mr. Polanski's request that the Los Angeles County Superior Court be disqualified from deciding whether his prosecution be dismissed because of alleged wrongdoing in the justice system. In the ruling, a division of the Second Appellate District Court said the Superior Court was free to consider the dismissal request. Judge Peter Espinoza had planned a hearing on this matter for Jan. 21, but the appeals court stopped it at the last minute. Mr. Polanski fled the country more than 30 years ago after pleading guilty to having illegal sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article announces that Henry G. Reid, the former director of the donated-body program at the University of California in Los Angeles, California, has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a money-making scheme to sell body parts to medical, drug, and research companies. Reid pleaded guilty in the Los Angeles County Superior Court to one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft. Reid reportedly sold the body parts to Ernest V. Nelson, a middleman, who then sold them to various medical and research companies.

The article reports on the motion filed by film director John McTiernan in the federal court of Los Angeles, California, to withdraw his guilty plea for making false statements to an agent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. It informs that McTiernan had delivered false statements about Anthony Pellicano, whom he had hired to wiretap a business associate. It mentions that the court will announce its judgment on the motion on September 24, 2007.

The article reports that Gene F. Haas, owner of the company Haas Automation, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in cheating the U.S. government out of $34.3 million in taxes in California. Haas will be the fourth and last defendant to admit guilt in the case. The plea agreement is subject to approval by a judge of Federal District Court in Los Angeles, California. Haas has agreed to serve two years in prison.

The article reports that Melvyn Weiss, a partner at Milberg Weiss & Bershad LLP, and William Lerach, a lawyer at Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP, refused an offer to plead guilty and serve prison time in a criminal case pending in a court in Los Angeles, California. The federal government indicted Milberg Weiss & Bershad LLP due to an allegation that the firm paid kickbacks to plaintiffs in class actions. Lerach is involved in settlement talks with the government.

The article reports that Bryan Wagner, a former private investigator of Hewlett-Packard Co., will plead guilty of conspiracy in a Federal District Court in San Jose, California. He posed as a reporter to acquire phone records for the company's internal investigation. Wagner has cooperated with federal investigators and his lawyer believes that his cooperation will help his client's case in the federal court.

The article reports that the federal prosecutors of Sacramento have obtained a guilty plea from a Pakistani-American truck driver who was accused of lying during a terrorism investigation.

Reports on the guilty plea of Russell W. Sprague to federal charges related to Internet posting of copies of first-run movies supplied by an Academy Awards voter in Los Angeles, California.

Reports on the prison sentence faced by Matthew Lovett, the teenager who pleaded guilty to charges that he and two other adolescents tried to steal a car from a driver in Oakland, New Jersey.

Reports on the guilty plea of charity events promoter Aaron Tonken to federal charges of fraud in Los Angeles, California. Sentence to be given to Tonken; Accounts on the admission of Tonken on the accusation against him; Statement given by Tonken's lawyer Alan I. Rubin.

Reports that Timothy N. Belden, former head of trading at Enron Corporation's Portland, Oregon office, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally manipulate the California power market during the state's energy crisis. How the plea establishes that traders took advantage of California's energy crisis; Calls for reimbursement and greater regulatory scrutiny; Details of the plea and its ramifications; Possibility that Enron itself could be charged with a crime.

Reports the guilty plea of teenager Charles Williams for the murder of several people in a shooting rampage at a high school in San Diego, California in 2001.

Reports on the guilty plea of Enrique Perusquia, a former senior vice president of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and PaineWebber, for two counts of securities fraud in the Northern District of California.

Reports on the challenge to the guilty plea of accused terrorist Sara Jane Olson in her trial in Los Angeles, California.

Reports that two men entered a guilty plea in United States District Court in Sacramento, California to fraud charges in the auction of a painting purported to be by the late artist Richard Diebenkorn on eBay Inc.

Reports a student at California State Polytechnic University is expected to plead guilty on charges of sending threatening e-mail messages to people with Hispanic surnames. Admission of guilt by Kingman Quon, a senior; How Quon is expected to plead; Comments of Quon's lawyer, Joseph Gibbons Jr.; How Quon did not think his actions were illegal.

Presents news briefs from the United States on September 14, 1999. Decline of cigarette sales in California in the first half of 1999; Court case in Massachusetts on whether spanking a child constituted child abuse; Agreement of a Pennsylvania company to plead guilty to providing China with technology that would help improve the accuracy of missiles.