VANESSA MUNOS Associate Mastagni Holstedt, APC Unexpected Consequences of Retiring Before an Investigation Ends After more than two decades of distinguished service, California State Parks Peace Officer Supervisor (Ranger) James Valdez retired believing his exemplary record would remain intact. He had previously delayed his retirement, and shortly before submitting for […]
Category: PORAC LDF News
ANDREW M. GANZ Partner Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC “It is a violation of this Department’s policy to engage in conduct which tends to bring the agency or its administrative officers into disrepute; or which destructively criticizes the agency or its administrative officers in the performance of […]
ROGER D. WILSON Of Counsel Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC Policing in California has become a political football, kicked between reform advocates and law-and-order loyalists, while officers in the field aim to do their jobs. State legislation like AB 1506, which mandates independent investigations into officer-involved shootings, […]
JOHN A. FERRONE, ESQ. Partner Ferrone Law Group The process for approving or denying an industrial disability retirement (IDR) used to be straightforward and accurate. When treating physicians and evaluating doctors within the workers’ compensation system concluded that a work injury prevented a safety member from performing their usual and […]
DAVID E. MASTAGNI Partner Mastagni Holstedt, APC In a unanimous ruling on May 15, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court revived a civil rights lawsuit against Houston-area traffic officer Roberto Felix Jr., who fatally shot 24-year-old Ashtian Barnes during a 2016 traffic stop. The Court overturned the Fifth Circuit’s dismissal of […]