California
SoCal Edison lawsuits claim series of missteps made Eaton Fire more deadly
ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California Edison has filed lawsuits accusing Los Angeles County, local water agencies and the Southern California Gas Company of a series of missteps that the utility says made last year’s Eaton Fire more deadly.
The utility filed cross-complaints in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday against Los Angeles County, Pasadena Water and Power and five other water agencies, KABC-TV reported. SoCal Edison also filed a separate court complaint against SoCalGas.
The fire that ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures. It took firefighters nearly a month to extinguish the blaze, which scorched 22 square miles (57 square kilometers).
The cause remains under investigation, but evidence suggests one of the utility’s idled power lines might have sparked the fire.
SoCal Edison claims in the lawsuits that Los Angeles County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in east and west Altadena. Eighteen of the 19 people who died in the fire lived in west Altadena.
Los Angeles County declined to comment about the latest court filings.
The utility also claims water agencies, including Pasadena Water and Power, did not provide enough water as the fire spread, leaving firefighters with limited resources.
In a separate court filing, SoCal Edison blames SoCalGas, claiming the gas utility did not begin widespread shutoffs until four days after the fire started. SoCal Edison says gas leaks and gas-fed fires helped fuel the blaze.
SoCalGas said it is reviewing the complaint and will respond through the judicial process. Meanwhile, Pasadena officials rejected SoCal Edison’s claims, saying the city believes the utility’s equipment caused the fire.
SoCal Edison is facing 998 lawsuits from fire victims, insurers and government entities. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued the company over damage to National Forest land.
Tennessee
Judge grants expanded media access to state-run executions
A judge ruled Friday that Tennessee prison officials must grant expanded access to media members to view state-run executions, after a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press sued on claims that state execution protocols unconstitutionally limit thorough and accurate reporting.
Before Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles’ order, reporters witnessing lethal injections were limited to a short time period during which they could view the execution process. The coalition’s lawsuit argued the protocols violate the public and press’s constitutional rights to witness the entirety of executions conducted by the Tennessee Department of Correction, “from the time the condemned enters the execution chamber until after the condemned is declared dead.”
The lawsuit sought a judgment that the protocols are unconstitutional and an injunction to allow the press to see the full execution process. Myles’ order granted a temporary injunction allowing media members and other witnesses to see most of the execution process, with security procedures in place for those carrying out the procedures.
The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, names as defendants Kenneth Nelsen, warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville that houses Tennessee’s execution chamber, and Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent after hours Friday to a department spokesperson.
During previous executions, media members began seeing what happens once the condemned person is already strapped to a gurney and hooked up to IV lines. They don’t know at which precise moment the injections begin and those administering the injections are in a separate room.
The protocol says that after the syringes of saline and pentobarbital are administered, a team leader signals to the warden and a five-minute waiting period begins. After that period, the blinds are closed, the camera is turned off and then the doctor comes in to determine if the person is dead. If that is the case, the warden announces on the intercom system that the sentence was carried out and witnesses are directed to exit.
Essentially, the process granted witnesses a 10 to 15 minute window where they could observe the process.
Prison officials argued that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not grant the press a right of special access to information not regularly available to the public. They claimed that the restrictions are necessary because allowing the press to see the full execution would endanger prison security and people involved in the process.
The judge’s order says members of the execution team shall wear a disposable protective suit covering the members’ regular work uniform, identification badge and hair. Team members also will be offered a mask “to further conceal his or her identity should they so choose to wear one,” the judge wrote.
During executions involving lethal injection, curtains to the official witness room shall be opened to the execution chamber at 10 a.m., which, according to protocols, is when the inmate is secured with restraints on a gurney and the IV insertion process begins.
The curtains must remain open until the pronouncement of death, the judge ruled.
“This Court finds that a meaningful and full observation of executions allows the public to assess whether the state carries out death sentences in a lawful and humane manner and ensures that the execution process remains subject to democratic oversight,” the judge wrote.
In addition to AP, the media coalition includes Gannett Co., Inc.; Nashville Public Media, Inc.; Nashville Public Radio; Scripps Media, Inc.; Six Rivers Media, LLC; and TEGNA INC.
New York
Mother of Elon Musk’s child sues his AI company over sexual deepfake images created by Grok
The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitive deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress.
Ashley St. Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleges in a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing her as an adult in sexualized positions and wearing a bikini with swastikas. St. Clair is Jewish. Grok is on Musk’s social media platform X.
On Wednesday, following global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, X announced that Grok would no longer be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing, in places where that is illegal.
Asked about the lawsuit and its allegations, xAI replied only “Legacy Media Lies” in an email to The Associated Press.
St. Clair said she reported the deepfakes to X after they began appearing last year and asked that they be removed. She said the platform first replied that the images did not violate its policies. Then it promised to not allow images of her to be used or altered without her consent, she said.
St. Clair said the social platform then retaliated against her by removing her premium X subscription and verification checkmark, not allowing her to make money from her account, which has 1 million followers, and continuing to allow degrading fake images of her.
“I have suffered and continue to suffer serious pain and mental distress as a result of xAI’s role in creating and distributing these digitally altered images of me,” she said in a document attached to the lawsuit. “I am humiliated and feel like this nightmare will never stop so long as Grok continues to generate these images of me.”
She also said she lives in fear of the people who view the deepfakes of her.
St. Clair is the mother of Musk’s 16-month-old son, Romulus. She lives in New York City, where she filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court. She is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages for alleged infliction of emotional distress and other claims, as well as court orders immediately barring xAI from allowing more deepfakes of her.
Later Thursday, lawyers for xAI transferred the lawsuit to federal court in Manhattan, asking a judge to hear the case there. And the same day, xAI also countersued St. Clair in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleging she violated the terms of her xAI user agreement that requires lawsuits against the company be filed in federal court in Texas. It is seeking an undisclosed money judgment against her.
X is based in Texas, where Musk owns a home and his electric automaker Tesla in headquartered in Austin.
Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer for St. Clair, called the countersuit a “jolting” move that she had never seen by a defendant before.
New Mexico
Actor Busfield’s attorneys say an investigation undermines state’s child sex abuse charges
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield’s attorneys told a court Friday he should be released while he awaits the outcome of child sex abuse charges against him because an independent investigation undermined the state’s allegations, the parents of his accusers have a history of fraud and dishonesty, and he passed a polygraph test.
Busfield was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance Wednesday, a day after he turned himself in to face charges stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.
A judge will hold a detention hearing on Tuesday to determine whether Busfield will remain in jail.
Albuquerque police issued a warrant for his arrest last week on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed in the city.
In a video shared before turning himself in, Busfield called the allegations lies. Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething.”
According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported Busfield touched him on private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8.
The boy’s twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.
Busfield’s attorneys said in court filings that the allegations against him emerged only after the boys lost their role in the TV show, creating a financial and retaliatory motive. The filings detailed what the attorneys said was a history of fraud by both the father and mother.
They cited an investigation by Warner Bros. into the allegations, which they said prosecutors didn’t include in their criminal complaint, found the allegations unfounded. Independent witnesses supported the report’s conclusions, the court filings said.
Busfield also submitted letters vouching for his character. His passing of the polygraph test aligns with the other information submitted, his attorneys said.
Legal experts say New Mexico is among a few states that allow polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but a judge has final say over whether one can be used. There are strict requirements for admission.
SoCal Edison lawsuits claim series of missteps made Eaton Fire more deadly
ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California Edison has filed lawsuits accusing Los Angeles County, local water agencies and the Southern California Gas Company of a series of missteps that the utility says made last year’s Eaton Fire more deadly.
The utility filed cross-complaints in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday against Los Angeles County, Pasadena Water and Power and five other water agencies, KABC-TV reported. SoCal Edison also filed a separate court complaint against SoCalGas.
The fire that ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures. It took firefighters nearly a month to extinguish the blaze, which scorched 22 square miles (57 square kilometers).
The cause remains under investigation, but evidence suggests one of the utility’s idled power lines might have sparked the fire.
SoCal Edison claims in the lawsuits that Los Angeles County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in east and west Altadena. Eighteen of the 19 people who died in the fire lived in west Altadena.
Los Angeles County declined to comment about the latest court filings.
The utility also claims water agencies, including Pasadena Water and Power, did not provide enough water as the fire spread, leaving firefighters with limited resources.
In a separate court filing, SoCal Edison blames SoCalGas, claiming the gas utility did not begin widespread shutoffs until four days after the fire started. SoCal Edison says gas leaks and gas-fed fires helped fuel the blaze.
SoCalGas said it is reviewing the complaint and will respond through the judicial process. Meanwhile, Pasadena officials rejected SoCal Edison’s claims, saying the city believes the utility’s equipment caused the fire.
SoCal Edison is facing 998 lawsuits from fire victims, insurers and government entities. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued the company over damage to National Forest land.
Tennessee
Judge grants expanded media access to state-run executions
A judge ruled Friday that Tennessee prison officials must grant expanded access to media members to view state-run executions, after a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press sued on claims that state execution protocols unconstitutionally limit thorough and accurate reporting.
Before Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles’ order, reporters witnessing lethal injections were limited to a short time period during which they could view the execution process. The coalition’s lawsuit argued the protocols violate the public and press’s constitutional rights to witness the entirety of executions conducted by the Tennessee Department of Correction, “from the time the condemned enters the execution chamber until after the condemned is declared dead.”
The lawsuit sought a judgment that the protocols are unconstitutional and an injunction to allow the press to see the full execution process. Myles’ order granted a temporary injunction allowing media members and other witnesses to see most of the execution process, with security procedures in place for those carrying out the procedures.
The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, names as defendants Kenneth Nelsen, warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville that houses Tennessee’s execution chamber, and Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent after hours Friday to a department spokesperson.
During previous executions, media members began seeing what happens once the condemned person is already strapped to a gurney and hooked up to IV lines. They don’t know at which precise moment the injections begin and those administering the injections are in a separate room.
The protocol says that after the syringes of saline and pentobarbital are administered, a team leader signals to the warden and a five-minute waiting period begins. After that period, the blinds are closed, the camera is turned off and then the doctor comes in to determine if the person is dead. If that is the case, the warden announces on the intercom system that the sentence was carried out and witnesses are directed to exit.
Essentially, the process granted witnesses a 10 to 15 minute window where they could observe the process.
Prison officials argued that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not grant the press a right of special access to information not regularly available to the public. They claimed that the restrictions are necessary because allowing the press to see the full execution would endanger prison security and people involved in the process.
The judge’s order says members of the execution team shall wear a disposable protective suit covering the members’ regular work uniform, identification badge and hair. Team members also will be offered a mask “to further conceal his or her identity should they so choose to wear one,” the judge wrote.
During executions involving lethal injection, curtains to the official witness room shall be opened to the execution chamber at 10 a.m., which, according to protocols, is when the inmate is secured with restraints on a gurney and the IV insertion process begins.
The curtains must remain open until the pronouncement of death, the judge ruled.
“This Court finds that a meaningful and full observation of executions allows the public to assess whether the state carries out death sentences in a lawful and humane manner and ensures that the execution process remains subject to democratic oversight,” the judge wrote.
In addition to AP, the media coalition includes Gannett Co., Inc.; Nashville Public Media, Inc.; Nashville Public Radio; Scripps Media, Inc.; Six Rivers Media, LLC; and TEGNA INC.
New York
Mother of Elon Musk’s child sues his AI company over sexual deepfake images created by Grok
The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitive deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress.
Ashley St. Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleges in a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing her as an adult in sexualized positions and wearing a bikini with swastikas. St. Clair is Jewish. Grok is on Musk’s social media platform X.
On Wednesday, following global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, X announced that Grok would no longer be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing, in places where that is illegal.
Asked about the lawsuit and its allegations, xAI replied only “Legacy Media Lies” in an email to The Associated Press.
St. Clair said she reported the deepfakes to X after they began appearing last year and asked that they be removed. She said the platform first replied that the images did not violate its policies. Then it promised to not allow images of her to be used or altered without her consent, she said.
St. Clair said the social platform then retaliated against her by removing her premium X subscription and verification checkmark, not allowing her to make money from her account, which has 1 million followers, and continuing to allow degrading fake images of her.
“I have suffered and continue to suffer serious pain and mental distress as a result of xAI’s role in creating and distributing these digitally altered images of me,” she said in a document attached to the lawsuit. “I am humiliated and feel like this nightmare will never stop so long as Grok continues to generate these images of me.”
She also said she lives in fear of the people who view the deepfakes of her.
St. Clair is the mother of Musk’s 16-month-old son, Romulus. She lives in New York City, where she filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court. She is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages for alleged infliction of emotional distress and other claims, as well as court orders immediately barring xAI from allowing more deepfakes of her.
Later Thursday, lawyers for xAI transferred the lawsuit to federal court in Manhattan, asking a judge to hear the case there. And the same day, xAI also countersued St. Clair in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleging she violated the terms of her xAI user agreement that requires lawsuits against the company be filed in federal court in Texas. It is seeking an undisclosed money judgment against her.
X is based in Texas, where Musk owns a home and his electric automaker Tesla in headquartered in Austin.
Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer for St. Clair, called the countersuit a “jolting” move that she had never seen by a defendant before.
New Mexico
Actor Busfield’s attorneys say an investigation undermines state’s child sex abuse charges
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield’s attorneys told a court Friday he should be released while he awaits the outcome of child sex abuse charges against him because an independent investigation undermined the state’s allegations, the parents of his accusers have a history of fraud and dishonesty, and he passed a polygraph test.
Busfield was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance Wednesday, a day after he turned himself in to face charges stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.
A judge will hold a detention hearing on Tuesday to determine whether Busfield will remain in jail.
Albuquerque police issued a warrant for his arrest last week on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed in the city.
In a video shared before turning himself in, Busfield called the allegations lies. Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething.”
According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported Busfield touched him on private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8.
The boy’s twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.
Busfield’s attorneys said in court filings that the allegations against him emerged only after the boys lost their role in the TV show, creating a financial and retaliatory motive. The filings detailed what the attorneys said was a history of fraud by both the father and mother.
They cited an investigation by Warner Bros. into the allegations, which they said prosecutors didn’t include in their criminal complaint, found the allegations unfounded. Independent witnesses supported the report’s conclusions, the court filings said.
Busfield also submitted letters vouching for his character. His passing of the polygraph test aligns with the other information submitted, his attorneys said.
Legal experts say New Mexico is among a few states that allow polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but a judge has final say over whether one can be used. There are strict requirements for admission.
