Compton Superior Court

Dec 6 2012

Congressional action sought by postal service

The post office on Willowbrook Avenue in downtown Compton was one of 3,000 across the nation that in August 2011 was put on a list of possible closures, and while the postal service has put the shutdowns on hold for all of 2012, pending action by Congress, local activists continue to have meetings to gather support for keeping the facility open.

According to spokesperson Richard Maher, the postal service lost $15 billion last year (70 percent of which was due to a law Congress passed that accelerated payments to prefunded retirement.)

Jul 2 2012

Youth, 15, will be tried as an adult

Bail was set at $3 million for a 15-year-old boy charged as an adult in a June 4 shooting that killed a 14-month-old boy and wounded his father in Watts.

Donald Ray Dokins made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon, but did not enter a plea. His arraignment was postponed to July 16 in Compton Superior Court.

Dokins faces one count of murder stemming from Angel Cortez’s slaying and one count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting the boy’s father, Mauro, in the shoulder.

Mar 4 2011

Foster Elementary School

COMPTON, Calif.—A former teacher accused of molesting three female students while he was assigned to Foster Elementary School in Compton pleaded not guilty today to three felony counts.

Ronald Sture Hoppe, 45, of Diamond Bar, appeared late this afternoon in Compton Superior Court, where he is charged with three counts of lewd act on a child under 14.

Hoppe, who was arrested Thursday, is accused of molesting one student between August 2005 and June 2006, the second between August 2007 and June 2008 and the third in November 2008.

Dec 9 2010

Linked through DNA

COMPTON, Calif.—A Palmdale man linked through a DNA database to the rape of a woman in Compton pleaded not guilty to charges that could land him in prison for life.

Paul Lorenzo Madry, 22, is accused of attacking the woman on Nov. 25, 2008, as she walked between the Compton courthouse and a parking structure.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.