The Orange County district attorney has filed a lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corp., accusing the automaker of knowingly selling hundreds of thousands of vehicles with acceleration defects. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference Friday that his office has the right to bring consumer protective action ...

Essex Property Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust, said Monday it agreed to acquire a stake in a 349-unit condominium project in Santa Ana, Calif., for $128 million. CEO Keith Guericke said Essex acquired the interest in the property, in Orange County, from a construction lender at ...

A Southern California jury recommended the death penalty Tuesday for a North Carolina woman convicted of murdering a Vietnamese fortuneteller and her 23-year-old daughter. The same Orange County panel convicted Tanya Nelson of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., last month of masterminding the murders of fortuneteller Ha "Jade" Smith ...