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Appeals court upholds former Compton mayor’s conviction

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — A state appeals court panel has upheld former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley’s conviction for misappropriating and misusing taxpayer funds. In a ruling released late May 6, the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Bradley’s contention that insufficient evidence and incorrect jury instructions mandated reversal of his July 2017 conviction on the two felony counts.

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By Wave Staff and Wire Reports

COMPTON — A state appeals court panel has upheld former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley’s conviction for misappropriating and misusing taxpayer funds.

In a ruling released late May 6, the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Bradley’s contention that insufficient evidence and incorrect jury instructions mandated reversal of his July 2017 conviction on the two felony counts.

“We conclude reversal is not warranted,” the panel found in its 25-page ruling.

Bradley was sentenced in August 2017 to three years probation, along with a year in county jail that he had already served.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli suspended a three-year state prison term that Bradley will not have to serve if he complies with the terms of his probation. He cited Bradley’s age and lack of prior criminal history.

Bradley told reporters after the hearing that he was “very thankful” to the judge.

“You know, he looked at my age, my propensity to do wrong, which before this incident I had never even had a speeding ticket, and he said enough is enough and I’m thankful to him for that,” the then 59-year-old former mayor said.

Bradley questioned how much the District Attorney’s Office — which tried the case against him a second time after his 2004 conviction was overturned — spent “to come up with an outcome that says I’m prohibited from running for office.”

“I bet it was more than the alleged $6,500 that they say I misappropriated,” Bradley said. “In my opinion, just my humble opinion, the justice system has gotten way off track and certainly with the money that was expended to make a point with me because I am an outspoken African-American male who doesn’t bite his tongue could have been spent on some really important things.”

Bradley was found guilty in his second trial of one felony count each of misappropriation of public funds by a public officer and misuse of public funds by a public officer for personal gain.

He was first convicted in 2004, sentenced to three years in prison and then later moved to a halfway house. But his conviction was reversed in 2012 as a result of a California Supreme Court ruling involving crimes by public officials. While awaiting a retrial, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Aja Brown.

At his retrial, Bradley testified that he never used any city money for personal expenses. He insisted that any city dollars he spent were for the benefit of Compton.

During two days on the stand, the former mayor testified that he had played golf with officials in order to discuss several city projects, and bought golf clothing to look the part.

Deputy Public Defender Robert J. Hill told jurors that the charges against Bradley were “false.” He said his client acted openly and transparently and knew he was “under scrutiny.”

Deputy District Attorney Ana Lopez countered that Bradley’s spending was “purely personal” and offered “no public benefit.”

“The word here is accountability,” she told jurors in the retrial.

The prosecutor said Bradley clearly understood the rules, but that accountability for spending became “very relaxed” in Compton after the city council approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of city credit cards to council members without any public comment on the issue.

Bradley — who was born and raised in Compton — was a city councilman between 1991 and 1993 and mayor from 1993 until 2001.

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers

Wave Staff and Wire Reports

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

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