Governor signs anti-paparazzi bill
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Monday night groundbreaking anti-paparazzi legislation that allows civil law suits to be filed against any media outlet that publishes a photo that was taken illegally. Historically, only the paparazzo who took the photo would be held accountable and the publication that published the photo would not be liable.
Malibu City Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich volunteered last year to work with the Los Angeles Regional County Task Force that was the impetus for the bill to address what she said has been a threat to public safety.
Ulich said she has many friends whose children attend Malibu public schools, and that some of them have been mistaken for celebrities and harassed by paparazzi.
“Some of my friends were chased on PCH and were fearful for their life,” Ulich said in July. “My friend had a three-year-old in the back of the car and paparazzi were on all sides of them.”
Don Zachary, a media lawyer who has represented the celebrity gossip Web site and TV show TMZ, among other media organizations, said the bill that the governor signed into law does a poor job at balancing the issue with First Amendment rights. Other opponents, including the California Newspapers Publishers Association, are also against it for that reason.
Patrick Alach, the Loyola Law School graduate whose Entertainment Law Review article entitled “Paparazzi and Privacy” helped frame the legislation sponsored by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, said: “Not only is this new law significant in protecting public safety, but it reaffirms the integrity of individual privacy rights. As more technologically advanced methods of surveillance arise, diligent legislation must follow to curb intrusive uses and reaffirm a citizen’s right to privacy. By limiting the use of sensory enhancing technology to observe a person in otherwise private activities, this bill helps protect a citizen’s ‘right to be let alone.’”
Burned body found in Santa Fe trash bin is not that of missing woman
Los Angeles police detectives investigating the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson, who went missing three weeks ago after being released by the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, said they are certain the badly burned body found in a Santa Fe Springs trash bin is not the missing woman. They also have expressed they believe Richardson is still alive and not the victim of foul play.
“Mitrice is out there,” LAPD robbery-homicide Det. Chuck Knolls told the Los Angeles Times. “We don’t believe she’s a victim of foul play.”
The burned body of a woman found in the parking lot of a Santa Fe Springs manufacturer was about a mile from the freight office where Richardson worked.
“Bottom line is it’s not Mitrice Richardson,” said Det. Chuck Knolls of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Malibu/ Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station officials are under continuing scrutiny for releasing the 24-year-old woman in the middle of the night without identification or a form of transportation, and for failing to properly diagnose and evaluate her mental state before releasing her at 1 a.m. Sept. 17.
The last she was seen was by area neighbors who saw her sleeping in a backyard, but disappeared after they called the station. Since then, there have been numerous reports of sightings, but nothing has panned out so far.
L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas called this week for the Sheriff’s Department to review its procedures.
“I think we need to revisit the policy of the Sheriff’s Department as it relates to releasing someone from custody under these circumstances,” he said.
The staff at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu, who called the Sheriff’s Department when Richardson could not pay her dinner bill, said she seemed mentally disturbed. A sheriff’s spokesman said deputies at the Lost Hills Station, where she was detained, thought she was behaving normally.
They also told her she could stay overnight at the station if she wanted.
Ridley-Thomas said the department should examine “what alternatives could be put in place” to prevent a person who might have mental problems from being allowed to walk out of the station.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has offered a $10,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the 24-year-old woman.
FunwalkRun event to benefit School on Wheels
Staff, volunteers, family and friends of School on Wheels will participate in School on Wheel’s annual FunwalkRun on Sunday, 11 a.m., to raise awareness and funds for the nonprofit and the children that it serves.
There will be 50 participants in the FunwalkRun, including School on Wheels founder Agnes Stevens and Executive Director Catherine Meek.
Participants will be running the length of Zuma Beach and back, (approximately 5 kilometers) and ending the event with libations and pizza at Spruzzo’s Pizza restaurant. A trophy will awarded to the fastest runner and there will be a prize for the biggest fundraiser.
School on Wheels, which offers tutoring and supplies to homeless children, has a set a fundraising target of $10,000 and is more than half way to achieving that goal. More information can be obtained online at www.firstgiving.com/sow
Public asked to help search for missing parrot
A local family, with help from the California Wildlife Center, is asking the public for help with finding its missing bright yellow parrot.
The 12- to 14-inch tall parrot escaped Sept. 6 from the La Costa area, and has been seen in the Santa Monica/Venice area with a homeless man who has chained one of her feet. The family asks the public to check their backyards, as the parrot may still be in the Malibu area. To report whereabouts of the parrot, call 310.880.1958.
-Olivia Damavandi and Laura Tate