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M O N D AY, M A R C H 06- M A R C H 12, 2023
V I S I T M O N T E R E Y PA R K P R E S S . C O M
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Tax deadlines extended to October for most Californians due to storms By City News Service
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Form 1040. | Photo courtesy of John Morgan/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Man who spent 38 years in prison for murder is declared factually innocent
alifornia is extending the state tax filing and payment due dates to Oct. 16 for Californians impacted by this winter’s storms, aligning with the IRS, which previously extended the federal tax filing deadline to Oct. 16 for the same reason. “As communities across the state continue recovering from the damage caused by the winter storms, California is working swiftly to help recovering Californians get back on their feet,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “The state is aligning
with the Biden Administration and extending the tax filing deadline in addition to the tax relief announced earlier this year.” Last month, Newsom announced that those impacted by winter storms could claim a deduction for disaster loss, and extended filing and payment deadlines for individuals and businesses in California to May 15. The tax relief applies to nearly all of the state’s 58 counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San
Diego counties. Imperial County in the southeastern part of the state is not included. The relief applies to deadlines falling on or after Jan. 8, 2023, and before Oct. 16, 2023, including the 2022 individual income tax returns that would have been due on April 18 and the quarterly estimated tax payments that would have been due on Jan. 17 and April 18, 2023. California announced the extension Thursday. The IRS announced its extension in January.
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced for false report in shooting hoax By City News Service
By Terri Vermeulen Keith, City News Service
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man who spent 38 years behind bars for the 1983 abduction and murder of a woman in Inglewood was declared factually innocent Wednesday of the crime. Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan noted that the request for a finding of factual innocence for Maurice Hastings came in a motion jointly filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Innocence Project. “… I find him factually innocent,” the judge said during the brief hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Hastings, 69, was released from custody last October after his conviction was vacated for the abduction, sexual assault and slaying of 30-year-old Roberta Wydermyer, along with the attempted murder of Wydermyer’s husband, Billy Ray, and his friend, George Pinson. Martha Carrillo, deputy in charge of the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, told Hastings that he deserved to hear that he is factually innocent in a courtroom, and it comes with a “long overdue apology.” “You have fought for your innocence all these years,” Carrillo told Hastings. “You are, in fact, factually innocent.” She noted that Louis Sepe — one of the attorneys who represented Hastings in his first trial in which jurors deadlocked — had been accused of putting up a false alibi and said she hopes that Hastings feels vindicated in the work that Sepe had done for him. Sepe was among those in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom who hugged Hastings after the judge’s finding, which was met with a round of applause. Ayesha Hussain, a staff attorney for Los Angeles Innocence Project, told the judge that the factual innocence finding was “crucial” to ensuring that justice is done. “Mr. Hastings has maintained his innocence from the very beginning,” she said, noting that DNA testing that exonerated him proved he was “right all along.” Hastings said after the hearing the factual innocence ruling “means a lot to me.”
See Maurice Hastings Page 23
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former sheriff’s deputy who falsely claimed that he had been shot outside the Lancaster sheriff’s station was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and one year of probation Friday and was ordered to pay nearly $543,000 in restitution to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for its massive response to the hoax. Angel Raul Reinosa — who was a rookie deputy when he reported being shot in 2019 — was found guilty last November of a misdemeanor charge of making a false report of a crime, but acquitted of two felony counts of insurance fraud. Reinosa, now 24, reported that he was struck in the shoulder while standing in the station’s parking lot in the 500 block of West Lancaster Boulevard on Aug. 21, 2019.
| Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
The reported ambush triggered the establishment of a massive containment perimeter and an exhaustive, hours-long search of an adjacent four-story apartment complex. A nearby school was also placed on lockdown as
dozens of SWAT deputies descended on the scene via helicopter and armored vehicles. The search of the building and surrounding area continued until roughly See Ex-sheriff Page 23