Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO -- Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi pleaded no contest Friday to stealing nearly $2,500 in clothing from the Neiman Marcus store on San Francisco's Union Square after a judge reduced the felony grand theft charge against her to a misdemeanor. Outside court, her attorney said Hayashi had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor before the shoplifting, and that the condition may have influenced her behavior. Hayashi, 45, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor grand theft. She was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay $120 to a restitution fund and $60 in court costs, and told to stay at...