Los Angeles Times - 06.08.2019

CALIFORNIA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019::LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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Two Southern California

prosecutors have accused a

company of using residents’

fears to sell them a wildfire

defense spray for their

homes that the prosecutors

say doesn’t work.

In a court filing Monday

that seeks fines and a civil in-

junction, Los Angeles City

Atty. Mike Feuer and Santa

Barbara County Dist. Atty.

Joyce Dudley accused L.A.-

based Jim Moseley and his

company, Sun FireDefense,

of hawking a fire-defense

spray that doesn’t live up to

the hype.

“If you are selling a prod-

uct that you claim protects

homes against wildfires, it

had better work as adver-

tised,” Feuer said at a news

conference Monday an-

nouncing the lawsuit.

The company claims its

SPF 3000 Clear Spray can

keep a home from catching

fire amid a shower of embers

for up to five years. It says

the spray is nontoxic and

Class A-rated for fire resist-

ance.

But prosecutors say all of

that should be questioned.

MAKER

OF FIRE

SHIELD

IS SUED

A company boasts its

spray protects homes

from flames. It doesn’t

work, prosecutors say.

By Joseph Serna

CITY ATTY. Mike

Feuer, seen in April, has

sued over product claims.

Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times

[SeeAnti-fire spray,B5]

SACRAMENTO —

Three years after the Califor-

nia Legislature banned tax-

payer-financed travel to

states it saw as discrimi-

nating against LGBTQ peo-

ple, lawmakers and uni-

versity athletic teams are

still visiting the boycotted

states and finding other

ways to pay for their trips.

Signed in 2016 by then-

Gov. Jerry Brown, Califor-

nia’s law bars state-funded

travel to 10 states and says

the purpose of the restric-

tions is to “avoid supporting

or financing discrimination

against lesbian, gay, bisexu-

al, and transgender people.”

But California elected of-

ficials have tapped cam-

paign contributions to con-

tinue visiting the targeted

states, while state university

sports teams and students

participating in academic

competitions have appealed

for private donations to fund

their travel.

The law has been criti-

cized by officials from the

states affected — Alabama,

Kansas, Kentucky, Missis-

sippi, North Carolina, Okla-

homa, South Carolina,

South Dakota, Tennessee

and Texas — who say it rep-

resents meddling in their af-

fairs by left-leaning Califor-

nia. But supporters say it

has had an effect, putting

pressure on states that have

adopted discriminatory

laws, even if some California

officials are using political

funds to continue traveling

to the targeted states.

“Ultimately this is about

making sure that our tax-

payer dollars aren’t going to

those states, and I think in

that way the law has been

successful,” said Samuel

Garrett-Pate, a spokesman

for Equality California, an

LGBTQ rights group.

The travel restrictions

were pushed by Democratic

lawmakers but opposed by

Republicans, who say it has

proved to be an empty ges-

ture.

Assembly Republican

leader Marie Waldron of Es-

condido cited as one exam-

ple Gov. Gavin Newsom’s

April fact-finding trip to El

Salvador to determine the

reasons so many migrants

from that country have fled

to the United States.

“The travel ban was

virtue-signaling at its

worst,” Waldron said. “El

Salvador doesn’t allow

same-sex couples to marry

or adopt children and dis-

crimination is rampant.

Where was the outrage from

legislative Democrats when

Gov. Newsom traveled

there?”

Some California officials

have cut back on their travel

to the states targeted by the

law. Assembly Speaker An-

thony Rendon (D-Lake-

wood) and state Sen. Holly

Mitchell (D-Los Angeles)

are among the many law-

makers who are opting not

to attend the annual summit

of the National Conference

of State Legislators, sched-

uled to begin this week in

Nashville, Tenn.

“If any legislators or staff

were to attend, they would

be traveling to Tennessee

with private funds,” said

Pablo Espinoza, a spokes-

man for Rendon.

Records show Mitchell

spent $1,950 of her campaign

funds during the last two

years on trips to Mont-

Lawmakers still

making trips to

boycotted states

Officials tap other

funds to evade ban on

taxpayer-paid travel.

By Patrick McGreevy

[SeeTravel ban,B5]

An Orange County multi-

millionaire charged in the

slaying of his wife was taken

into custody Sunday after a

years-long manhunt, au-

thorities confirmed Monday.

Peter Chadwick, 54, a fig-

ure on the U.S. Marshals’

most-wanted list, was ar-

rested late Sunday out of the

country and arrived in Cali-

fornia early Monday, law en-

forcement sources said. A

photograph of a man in

handcuffs said to be Chad-

wick was taken by news

crews as he arrived at Los

Angeles International Air-

port.

Orange County prose-

cutors allege Chadwick

killed his wife — 46-year-old

Quee Choo Chadwick — and

dumped her body in a gas

station trash bin in San Di-

ego County in 2012. He was

arrested at the time near the

Mexico border after the cou-

ple were reported missing by

a neighbor.

Chadwick claimed that

someone else killed his wife

and forced him to load her

body into a car and drive to

the border. He later admit-

ted to investigators that he

made up the story, author-

ities said.

Chadwick pleaded not

guilty to a murder charge

and posted $1-million bail.

He surrendered his British

and American passports to

the court and agreed to live

with his father in Santa Bar-

bara as he awaited trial.

But in 2015, authorities

discovered Chadwick had

disappeared when he failed

to show up to a pretrial hear-

NEWPORT BEACHPolice Chief Jon T. Lewis talks in 2018 about the hunt for

Peter Chadwick, accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in a trash bin.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Fugitive murder suspect captured

O.C. multimillionaire Peter Chadwick killed his wife,

then fled the country while awaiting trial, police say

[SeeFugitive,B5]

By Hannah Fry

A lawyer for a Los
Angeles-based state ap-
peals court justice told a
panel of judges Monday that
sexual harassment charges
against him stemmed from a
“whisper campaign” in court
hallways fueled in part by a
female judge who enjoyed
being at the center of atten-
tion.
During the first day of
formal proceedings against
2nd District Court of Appeal
Justice Jeffrey H. Johnson,
his lawyer suggested John-
son was the victim of ma-
licious gossip and that some
of his accusers, including
Justice Victoria Chaney,
were not credible.
Chaney, who serves on
the 2nd District Court with
Johnson, has accused him of
sexually harassing her for
years, grabbing one of her

breasts, patting her bottom

and repeatedly asking her to

have an affair with him. She

and Johnson were ap-

pointed by former Gov. Ar-

nold Schwarzenegger.

Chaney is one of nearly 20

women who have told the

state Commission on Judi-

cial Performance that John-

son harassed them over the

last two decades. Johnson

has denied the most serious

charges, but admitted that

he did not have proper

boundaries.

The proceedings before a

panel of judges appointed by

the California Supreme

Court began at a state bar

court in downtown Los An-

geles, with opening argu-

ments and testimony from

women who reported lewd

comments or conduct by

Johnson and court janitors

who said they saw him

apparently inebriated at

night.

The commission has

scheduled four weeks for the

hearing. Johnson, 58, faces

potential removal from the

bench.

Judge says he was

target of rumors

Justice’s tribunal

opens with testimony

from his accusers.

By Maura Dolan

[SeeJustice,B4]

At a Temecula Walmart,
police on Monday respond-
ed to reports of an armed
shoplifter.
But on social media, con-
cerned shoppers worried
that something much worse
was going on, sending pan-
icked messages on Twitter
and Facebook and warning
others to stay away from the
store.
One Twitter user wrote,
“A coward is trying to be a
copycat from this weekend.”
No one was injured, and
the Riverside County Sher-
iff ’s Department found that
the weapon in question was
a BB gun.
But the incident spoke to
the heightened tensions af-
ter back-to-back shootings

in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio,

nearly a week after commu-

nities were left reeling by a

shooting at a garlic festival

in nearby Gilroy.

The shootings all oc-

curred in public places — a

Walmart, a popular bar and

a famous food festival. It left

both law enforcement offi-

cials and security experts

debating what more can be

done to better protect these

venues from attacks.

“Soft targets” have long

been of concern to counter-

terrorism officials, even as

venues have increased secu-

rity and added metal detec-

tors and even bomb detec-

tion equipment. But it’s

clear those measures cannot

prevent a gunman hellbent

on killing.

There is also more dis-

cussion about whether there

EMMA DEL VALLEand Brenda Castaneda embrace at a memorial to the victims of the massacre in El Paso.

Larry W. SmithEPA/Shutterstock

Attacks in public spaces

leave many feeling anxious

Amid heightened fears, experts debate protecting ‘soft targets’

[SeeShootings,B4]

ANTONIO BASBOkisses a cross for his common-

law wife, Margie Reckard, a victim in El Paso.

Mark RalstonAFP/Getty Images

By Richard Winton
and Colleen Shalby

Fisheries study

finds waters

aren’t teeming

Researchers detect a

lull in biological

productivity — not a lot

of life — off the

Southland coast. B

Search widens

for woman

Authorities believe

Amanda Custer of

Monrovia may have

been buried in the San

Gabriel Mountains. B

Lottery.........................B