Multiple immigration sweeps reported across Los Angeles, with a tense standoff/protest downtown; SEIU union leader arrested

L.A. public defenders are on a win streak as Trump’s Justice Department charges activists​

• L.A. public defenders have secured several acquittals defending activists charged with assaulting federal officers during immigration protests.
• The Justice Department has filed assault and other charges against more than 100 people since June in connection with immigration operations.
• Defense lawyers contend these cases should never have been brought, with weak evidence that juries consistently reject, prompting legal experts to question the prosecution strategy.

Historically, the odds have been stacked against federal public defenders.

Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted throughout the U.S. in fiscal year 2024, according to the latest available statistics from the federal judiciary. The majority of federal cases result in guilty pleas and never go to trial. Prosecutors often pursue the most serious charges available, seeking leverage to negotiate plea agreements with defendants who may plead guilty to avoid the risk of a lengthy prison sentence.

Only five criminal defendants were acquitted in the Central District of California in fiscal year 2024, according to statistics from the federal judiciary.

But in L.A. and across the country, some defendants charged in connection with protests and immigration enforcement operations have opted to go to trial. There have been acquittals in Chicago, Seattle and D.C., including the widely ridiculed case of a man charged with assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a Border Patrol agent.

As of this month, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A., 23 people have pleaded guilty to assault, impeding and other charges and another 23 have had charges dismissed. About 40 defendants are due to go to trial this year.

[For the trials that have completed, the public defenders are now an undefeated 6-0. Some of these have been mentioned upthread, but...]

Brayan Ramos-Brito’s case was the first to go to trial in September. U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino testified that he witnessed Ramos-Brito strike a Border Patrol agent during a June protest.

...Alexandria Augustine, accused of assaulting a federal officer with an umbrella. An investigator for the office testified that she had to use a special scale to weigh the umbrella, because it was less than a pound.

...a client charged with stealing government property by towing an immigration agent’s vehicle.

During the [most recent] trial, Abel and Nickell introduced videos that their team had tracked down, showing the federal officer seemingly walking into Lopez’s [expensive professional Sony a7 IV] camera and then shoving it back toward him. They told jurors that the officer’s “excessive force” resulted in a large cut on Lopez’s hand that drew blood. The defense lawyers acknowledged that Lopez pushed the officer back but argued it was in self-defense.

In her closing argument, Abel said Lopez was the one attacked, not the other way around. The officer, she said, “could not stand being photographed, could not stand when someone did not immediately bend to his will.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Rahul Hari told the jury that Lopez “did not act in reasonable self-defense.”

essentialsaltes said:

Father of three Marines beaten by masked federal agents, set to be released from immigration facility​

The father of three U.S. Marines who was violently tackled and beaten by masked federal agents in Orange County is scheduled to be released on bond after spending 20 days in federal custody.

Click to expand...

Mexican father of 3 U.S. Marines in California gets deportation reprieve​

A federal immigration judge has ended the deportation case against Narciso Barranco, the Mexican father of three U.S. Marines whose arrest on video showing masked federal agents pinning him down and punching him outside an IHOP in Southern California went viral last year.

Rigo Hernandez, 44, told The Times that the judge terminated his stepfather’s case during a virtual hearing on Jan. 28.

At the time [of the arrest], the Department of Homeland Security denied Barranco’s shoulder had been dislocated and blasted him on social media, accusing him of assaulting federal law enforcement with the weed whacker.

But ... no charges were ever filed against him.

During his father’s hearing last month, Hernandez felt anxious, he said, as the judge listened to arguments from attorneys representing his father and the Department of Homeland Security. But he started to feel slightly better as the judge’s questions started to lean in favor of his father.

Since the ruling, Hernandez said, his father no longer has to wear an ankle monitor or check in with federal immigration officials. The ruling also means he’ll be able to get his bond money back.

“He still has to settle his legal status,” he said. “But this clears the way for that.”

...his father’s attorney petitioned for him to be put into a federal program [Parole in Place] that allows immediate family members of U.S. citizens or military service members to temporarily remain in the country and apply for a work visa.

Barranco’s attorney, Lisa Ramirez, said it was the Parole in Place program that ultimately helped convince the judge that his case should be dropped.