Southwest
Texas grandmother jailed in alleged political retaliation wins at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a Texas ex-councilwoman who was thrown in jail in an act of political retaliation.
Sylvia Gonzalez and her attorneys at the nonprofit Institute for Justice (IJ) sued Castle Hills Mayor JR Trevino and other officials, alleging they plotted to remove her from office as retaliation for criticizing the city manager, thereby violating her First Amendment rights.
A Fifth Circuit court tossed her case, saying she didn’t present required evidence to advance a “retaliatory-arrest” case that would show others had not been arrested after engaging in similar conduct. She had been arrested for allegedly trying to remove a document from a city council meeting that she claimed she did not realize she had in the first place, and the charges were eventually dropped.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reversed the Fifth Circuit’s decision, finding that Gonzalez’s research showing that the statute under which she had been charged had never been used in her county to prosecute someone for “trying to steal a nonbinding or expressive document” was sufficient to support her claim. The Fifth Circuit, in ruling against her, said she needed more.
“That court thought Gonzalez had to provide very specific comparator evidence — that is, examples of identifiable people who ‘mishandled a government petition’ in the same way Gonzalez did but were not arrested,” the Supreme Court said in an unsigned opinion, adding that “the demand for virtually identical and identifiable comparators goes too far.”
SUPREME COURT HEARS CASE OF TEXAS GRANDMOTHER THROWN IN JAIL AFTER CRITICIZING CITY GOVERNMENT
Castle Hills, Texas, police arrested then-Councilwoman Sylvia Gonzalez in July 2019 on a rarely used charge of tampering with a public document. (Courtesy Institute for Justice)
Gonzalez’s story began in 2019, when constituents had complained that the city manager, Ryan Rapelye, was unresponsive, particularly to their concerns over the condition of their streets.
As soon as she was elected, Gonzalez championed a nonbinding petition calling for the city manager to be replaced with a previous manager who residents felt had done a better job. Another resident introduced the petition at Gonzalez’s first city council meeting. Discussion of the manager’s job performance “grew contentious,” according to court records, and the meeting was extended through the following day.
At the end of the meeting, Gonzalez said she straightened up the papers strewn across her dais and put them in her binder before going to talk to a constituent.
A police officer interrupted the conversation, telling Gonzalez that Trevino wanted to speak with her, according to court documents. Gonzalez went back to the dais and Trevino asked where the petition was. Gonzalez said she didn’t know. Trevino allegedly asked her to look in her binder, saying he could see a clip inside.
Indeed, the petition was in the binder, so Gonzalez handed it over and thought nothing of it. But two months later, she learned from a neighbor that there was a warrant out for her arrest.
“I didn’t even know what I was accused of,” Gonzalez, a 72-year-old grandmother, told Fox News. “I’d never been in jail… and it was very scary to an old lady like me.”
MOMS SUE STATE OVER ‘CREEPY’ BABY BLOOD DATABASE, PRIVACY CONCERNS
“I’d never been in jail… and it was very scary to an old lady like me,” Sylvia Gonzalez told Fox News Digital. (Institute for Justice)
Trevino and Police Chief John Siemens used the briefly displaced petition to launch a criminal investigation into Gonzalez, her lawsuit alleges. Three weeks into the investigation, the police chief assigned a “trusted friend and local attorney” to take over as a “special detective,” according to Gonzalez’s complaint.
The special detective produced an arrest affidavit alleging that Gonzalez had “been openly antagonistic” toward the city manager from her first meeting, “wanting desperately to get him fired.” The affidavit also accused Gonzalez of misleading a woman by “telling her several fabrications” about Rapelye in order to get her signature, according to court documents.
Detectives found probable cause to believe Gonzalez stole her own petition when she put it in her binder with other papers, violating a Texas ban on intentionally removing or destroying government records, according to court documents from the defendants.
RANCHERS SAY THE STATE FLOODED THEIR LANDS, KILLING ANIMALS. THE SUPREME COURT WILL DECIDE IF TEXAS HAS TO PAY
Sprinklers water the lawn in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 29. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The statute is usually used in cases involving fake Social Security numbers, forgeries of official checks and counterfeit green cards, Institute for Justice senior counsel Anya Bidwell said. IJ looked at 10 years of Bexar County data and couldn’t find “anything even remotely similar” to Gonzalez’s case, she added.
Rather than seek a summons for the nonviolent misdemeanor, the special detective took the unusual step of asking for an arrest warrant, the lawsuit contends. The special detective also went straight to a district court judge, circumventing the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
“They wanted to punish me, and they wanted to make sure I went to jail. And they did a good job,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez turned herself in, was handcuffed, spent the day sitting in jail and had her mugshot splashed across the evening news. Even though the DA’s office dropped the charge, her brief political career was over.
Gonzalez sued Trevino, Siemens, special detective Alexander Wright and the city in 2020, alleging they deprived her of her rights under the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
“This is a great day for the First Amendment and Sylvia Gonzalez, who has courageously fought against retaliatory actions by government officials,” Bidwell said.
“The Supreme Court’s revision of its First Amendment retaliation doctrine ensures that Americans can seek justice when they have evidence of a retaliatory arrest. Retaliatory arrests undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and this ruling helps safeguard the rights of all Americans to speak out without fear of retribution,” Bidwell said.
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Los Angeles, Ca
O.C. Uber customer says driver asleep in Tesla on 405 Freeway
An Orange County rideshare customer captured cellphone footage of his Uber driver seemingly asleep behind the wheel of a Tesla traveling along the 405 Freeway earlier this year.
The incident, according to the customer who reached out to KTLA, occurred March 24 while he was on a ride to Costa Mesa just before 7:30 p.m.
In the footage, the driver, wearing a coat and tie, is seen with his head resting against the headrest while remaining completely still, even as the customer moves closer with the camera.
Toward the end of the video, one of the driver’s hands appears to rest near his waist rather than on the steering wheel.
The customer told KTLA he filed a complaint with Uber but was informed he would not be able to find out whether any action was taken regarding the incident. He also said he contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which reportedly declined to accept the video evidence and told him deputies would have needed to witness the driver asleep themselves.
Videos of Tesla drivers appearing to be asleep have become increasingly common.
More recently, footage of an apparently napping Tesla driver on the 5 Freeway was captured by witnesses in southbound lanes near Camp Pendleton.
As far back as February 2023, video obtained by KTLA showed two separate drivers appearing to be asleep behind the wheel in the span of a week, one in Los Angeles and the other in Temecula.
KTLA’s San Francisco sister station, KRON, also obtained footage of an East Bay driver apparently asleep behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 3 on Highway 4 in March.
According to Tesla’s guidelines, drivers using the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving mode are required to remain attentive and ready to take control of the car at any moment.
In past incidents, the California Highway Patrol has told KTLA that drivers must be awake, conscious and sober to legally operate a moving vehicle.
The electric vehicle maker has been at the center of numerous controversies but remains the top-selling brand in California for the fourth year in a row. Tesla’s Model Y far outsold any other new vehicle in the state in 2025.
KTLA has reached out to Uber about the March 24 incident and is awaiting a response.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. mayor, California governor races shift focus to November election; Republicans scrutinize process
The frontrunners in the California governor’s race and Los Angeles mayor’s race are looking ahead to the November general election, as some Republicans scrutinize the state’s ballot-counting process.
Votes continue to be counted, but with the majority of results in, news outlets are already calling clear winners in both races.
So are the candidates, with several making appearances Tuesday to officially kick off their general election campaigns.
Mayor Karen Bass led the mayoral primary race with 34% of the vote, and the Associated Press called Progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman in second place Monday with 29%, overtaking Spencer Pratt.
Bass joined supporters in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning, saying she won Tuesday and will win again in November, despite challenges including the Palisades Fire and the city’s ongoing homelessness crisis during her first term.
“It’s hard for me to express how much it means to me to have all of you here, to feel your embrace, to feel your power, and to feel your encouragement because we’re going to have four more years,” she said.
Meanwhile, there is no word on when Raman will make an appearance, but she took to social media to declare victory, saying she was incredibly proud and encouraging voters to join her movement.
“We got here because people across Los Angeles believe in something better: a city where Angelenos can afford to live, work, and build a future,” she said.
Raman had made a last-minute entry into the race, after she had endorsed Bass for reelection.
The mayoral race has historical markers, with Bass being the first Black woman to hold the post, and Raman could be the first South Asian woman on the job.
The election will test whether voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and sidewalks and climbing rent and home prices.
Meanwhie, in the California gubernatorial primary, NewsNation’s Decision Desk called Steve Hilton a winner with 25% of the vote, behind Xavier Becerra’s almost 28% of the vote.
Hilton held a press conference Tuesday morning at the Registrar’s Office, kicking off his general election campaign ahead of the November runoff.
While Hilton said he is not officially declaring victory until the Associated Press calls the race, he used the opportunity to discuss voter reform.
“You can send in your mail-in ballot for a week after the election,” he said. “And here’s the theory. We have to really understand, this simple example shows you just how broken this system is.”
Hilton called for California to limit mail ballots to those who request them, rather than sending them to all registered voters.
The President Donald Trump-backed candidate will face Democrat Xavier Becerra, who is also expected to kick off his campaign Tuesday.
Becerra leaned on his more than 35 years in public office, including as state attorney general and U.S. health secretary, and argued that he was the most qualified candidate in a crowded field.
Trump has condemned California’s elections, citing voter fraud. So far, the Registrar’s Office has defended the process, saying the allegations were made prior to the election.
In California, vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election, as well as any provisional ballots cast, will be counted.
KTLA’s Angeli Kakade and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
In-N-Out Burger opens new flagship location on Las Vegas Strip
Los Angeles’ favorite burger chain is taking over the Vegas Strip.
In-N-Out Burger’s flagship restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip opens today, marking a major milestone for the iconic Southern California-based chain.
“It’s officially official,” the company announced in a post on X Tuesday. “In-N-Out’s new flagship Las Vegas location will open tomorrow, with over 8,000 square feet on one level and beautiful views of the Strip.”
The new restaurant is likely to become one of the most visited In-N-Out locations in the company’s history, given its spot in the heart of the Las Vegas tourist corridor, adjacent to the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.
News of the flagship In-N-Out Burger, located at 3747 S. Las Vegas Blvd., has been in the company’s “opening soon” section of its website since earlier this year.
The family-owned business has operated restaurants throughout Las Vegas for years, but its latest opening represents a significant expansion of the brand’s presence as one of the country’s fastest-growing burger chains.
While California remains In-N-Out’s largest market by far, the chain has steadily expanded eastward over the past decade, opening stores in states including Colorado, Texas and Tennessee.
When CEO Lynsi Snyder announced the company’s expansion into Tennessee in 2023, she hinted that other states near its distribution hub in Lancaster, Texas, would be coming soon.
Snyder also announced last year that In-N-Out’s corporate office in Irvine will close by 2030, with all operations shifting back to the company’s roots at a home office in Baldwin Park, where her grandparents founded the chain in 1948.
In-N-Out has since grown from a small Southern California hamburger stand into a favorite known for its simple, affordable menu of burgers, fries and milkshakes.
It’s unclear whether any festivities are planned for the new Vegas opening, but burger lovers should expect long lines to order their Double-Double, animal-style fries or Snyder’s go-to order: a double meat with fried mustard, extra spread, pickles and chopped chilis.
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