Crime

Lyle and Erik Menendez's aunt, Terry Baralt, has been rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in a Los Angeles hotel room ... TMZ has learned.

Our sources tell us Terry -- who is 85 and battling colon cancer -- has been exhausted, stressed and traumatized in the last year as the entire Menendez family works to get the two brothers released from prison.

It all came to a boiling point Friday when the Menendez brothers appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for a resentencing hearing. During the tense hearing, the defense team went at it with prosecutors while the Menendez family looked on.

Rosie O’Donnell has revealed her friendship with an infamous convicted killer -- Lyle Menendez -- saying she feels "safe" to be vulnerable with him.

The actress, comedian, and former talk show host opened up about their close bond during a recent chat with the New York Times ... revealing she and Lyle -- who is serving life in prison without parole alongside his brother Erik Menendez for the first degree murder of their parents -- became pals in 2022 after his now-estranged wife reached out to her.

Rosie said she and Lyle began speaking on a "regular basis" via a tablet phone, and their friendship grew naturally.

A California man was arrested by cops over the weekend for threatening to bomb the Coachella Music & Arts Festival.

Davis Darvish, a 40-year-old man from Santa Monica, allegedly approached a security guard at a Southern California casino on Saturday and made the threat to bomb the popular music festival where hundreds of celebrities hang out and perform.

According to reports, cops caught up with Darvish about an hour after he made the initial threat and that's when the Cathedral City Police Department searched Darvish's car but thankfully no explosives, weapons, or bomb-making materials were found.

Erik and Lyle Menendez might take the stand next Thursday to convince the judge in their resentencing hearing they're worthy of redemption ... but according to their lawyer, it could be a high-risk move.

Mark Geragos jumped on the "2 Angry Men" podcast Friday from the Van Nuys Courthouse, fresh off a victory where the judge shut down the D.A.'s request to put the kibosh on any resentencing hearing.

Excuse the intro to the clip -- it's a pisser -- but a little ways in, Harvey asks Mark about his strategy to possibly call the bros to the stand. Harvey has spent some time talking to Erik and Lyle, and says plainly they presented themselves as compelling men who might impress the judge.

Soulja Boy will have to break open a few of his penny banks ... a jury just found him liable in the sexual assault lawsuit filed by his ex-personal assistant!!!

A judge read the verdict on Thursday in a Los Angeles courtroom, and spelled out that the "Crank Dat" rapper would be responsible for coughing up the dough for millions of dollars in damages ... and the jury is still considering punitive damages.

The rap star was found liable for assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

3 PM PT -- Los Angeles Police Dept. Spokesperson Jennifer Forkish tells TMZ ... "Our investigation revealed evidence such as a shell casing and video footage showing she repeatedly ignored police commands to disarm and that she fired her weapon at LAPD officers. She was subsequently booked for attempted murder of a peace officer."

We're learning more about the police-shooting incident involving Jillian Lauren Shriner, wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, in L.A. this week ... and she's been released on $1 million bond after allegedly firing a single shot and being booked for attempted murder.

TMZ also obtained police-scanner audio, which provides new insight into Tuesday's crazy shootout between Jillian and the LAPD.

As you can hear, officers on the ground and helicopters flying overhead coordinate a response to search for a male suspect ... who apparently stripped down to his boxers and dove into a pool in an attempt to throw off the chase.

Jillian was shot by police when she emerged from her house with a gun in her hand as the male suspect prowled her next-door neighbor's backyard, where the pool was located.

Los Angeles-bred gang leader Eugene "Big U" Henley Jr. has pled not guilty to the slew of charges thrown at him last month, including a murder -- but the mother of the man he supposedly killed is speaking out ... and she's claiming he did what feds say he did!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently caught up with the family of Rayshawn Williams ... his mother, Shadonna Brown, and her daughter, outside Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

According to the federal indictment, prosecutors outlined how Big U allegedly killed Williams after a dispute in Las Vegas before dragging his body into the desert where it began to deteriorate.

Weezer bass player Scott Shriner is going to play Coachella with his bandmates ... just a few days after his wife was shot by cops in Los Angeles and booked for attempted murder.

Our sources tell us Weezer will be at full strength Saturday when they take the stage at Coachella ... with Scott committing to play despite some pretty extraordinary circumstances back home.

TMZ broke the story ... Scott's wife, Jillian Lauren Shriner, was shot by LAPD during a wild police chase Tuesday in their Eagle Rock neighborhood in L.A.

8:19 AM PT -- Andrew Tate's attorney Joseph McBride tells TMZ ... "NEVER HAPPENED. These allegations are great content for a scene in Gangs of London, but are otherwise pure fiction when applied to real life."

The legalities keep stacking up against Andrew Tate -- four women in the UK are suing him now, and one claims he pointed a gun right at her face.

The women claim in legal docs Tate assaulted, raped, and controlled them between 2013 and 2015 in the British towns of Luton and Hitchin -- according to multiple reports from the BBC, The Independent, and The Telegraph.

Two of the women allege they dated Tate in 2013 and 2014, and the other two say they worked for his webcam biz -- with 3 of them reportedly going to cops years ago before officials apparently dropped the case in 2019, per The Independent.

An Ohio teacher who was convicted of having sex with an underage student doesn't need to worry about stocking up on Halloween candy this year ... because parents in her neighborhood are being warned to keep their kids away.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Emily Nutley will be a Tier III sex offender on the Ohio Sex Offender Registry, which is the highest designation, and that means anyone living within 1,000 feet of her home will be notified about her sex offender status.

As a result, our sources tell us postcards will be sent out to neighbors informing them of who Nutley is and the sex crimes for which she was convicted ... namely, two counts of sexual battery after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.

Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino -- the man who the L.A. County D.A. alleges killed 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez -- deserves the death penalty, one U.S congressman says ... and, he blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for making that impossible.

We spoke with U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) Wednesday about this case ... and, he tells us the moratorium on the death penalty instituted by Gov. Newsom in 2019 has had disastrous consequences.

Among them, Kiley says, the people of California voted to keep the death penalty legal ... and, the governor stepped in to override the rule, making criminals less afraid of committing major crimes. California Proposition 62 -- which would've repealed the death penalty -- failed back in 2016.

A jury in New York just awarded $1.68 billion to 40 women who accused director James Toback of sexual assault, psychological abuse, false imprisonment and coercion.

The money breaks down like this ... $280 million in compensatory damages and $1.4 billion in punitive damages.

Toback was sued in December 2022 by dozens of women who claimed he coerced them into meetings they believed were auditions of job interviews ... only for the meetings to allegedly turn sexual.

Bryan Kohberger's autism diagnosis may come up at his murder trial, but the state won't argue it elevated his alleged crimes to an even more severe level ... because a judge just ruled they can't.

Kohberger appeared in court Wednesday, and the conversation turned to his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder ... which the judge made clear should not be used by the state of Idaho during the sentencing phase -- if he's found guilty -- as an "aggravating factor." BK's attorney argued the diagnosis should keep him from being sentenced to death.

An "aggravating factor" is a factor in the case which makes the crime even more heinous ... such as premeditation, committing the act in front of a child, or showing a lack of remorse, for example. So the judge is basically granting the defense's request.

Hip Hop music industry legend Kevin Liles is preparing to try and dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit against him.

Kevin filed new legal docs Tuesday asking for permission to file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a woman who claimed he raped her way back in 2002 while he was an executive at Def Jam Recordings.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kevin claims he will argue to dismiss the case on the grounds that the woman waited too long to file her claims and the statute of limitations on her claims has run.

Days after Henry Cejudo subdued a would-be hit-and-run driver, the MMA star's Arizona studio was burglarized ... and one of his prized UFC belts was stolen, in addition to a bunch of expensive electronics.

Sources tell TMZ Sports that 38-year-old Cejudo's Phoenix-area spot was targeted around 4:30 AM ... and one of his two belts was taken in the haul. Henry's podcast producer also lost valuables ... including multiple cameras, computers, microphones, and even his wallet.

"Everything's gone," Cejudo's collaborator, Dylan Rush, said Tuesday. "It sucks. I want to give up, but I won't. It's terrible."