Dec.
31,
2002

A report on where
things
stand

Klausner Sworn in as U.S. District Judge...Perluss Faces Confirmation Hearing Next Week for Presiding Justice Slot...Niles Named to State Bar Court

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Patrick B. Murphy
Attorney and former Superior Court judge

Murphy, who resigned from the Los Angeles Superior Court in May of last year while on the verge of being removed from office, reinstated his State Bar membership on July 1 of this year and became the subject of a State Bar disciplinary proceeding on Nov. 15.

MURPHY

The proceeding largely tracks the action taken against Murphy by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which censured him and barred him "from receiving any assignment, appointment, or reference of work from any California state court."

The State Bar's notice of disciplinary charges accuses Murphy of "committing acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption," in violation of Business & Professions Code Sec. 6106.

Those charges parallel those which were found by the commission to be true: excessive absenteeism over a four-year period, engaging in outside activities when he should have been on the bench, lack of candor with the presiding judge of the Citrus Municipal Court (on which he sat prior to unification), creating administrative problems by virtue of his absences and malingering.

The notice recites that Murphy was absent from Sept. 20, 1999, until April 3, 2000; stopped working as of June 8, 2000; and resigned on May 4, 2001. Largely drawn from the commission's May 10 decision, the notice chronicles Murphy's activities during the time he was supposedly too sick to work: teaching one or two night law classes a week, completing pre-med physics and chemistry courses at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, and attending classes at a school of medicine on the Island of Dominica in the West Indies from January to April of 2000.

Murphy is also charged with lying about his state of health to Rolf Treu, the presiding judge of the Citrus court, falsehoods which he caused to appear on a health certificate, and inconsistencies in his testimony before the CJP.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the court, the most recent being a result of Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez taking senior status June 1.

Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1 of last year, Judge Procter Hug Jr. on Jan. 1 of this year, and the late Judge Charles Wiggins on Dec. 31, 1996.

The nominations of Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl to the court were returned to the president when Congress adjourned Nov. 25, but both nominations are expected to be resubmitted in January.

President Bush on May 23 nominated Bybee, a former law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, to succeed Hug. He did not receive a confirmation hearing in the 107th Congress.

Kuhl was tapped by Bush last year to succeed Browning. Kuhl has not received a confirmation hearing, as Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer would not sign a "blue slip." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., declined to schedule confirmation hearings for judicial nominees without the approval of both senators from a nominee's home state.

With the Republican takeover of the Senate as a result of the Nov. 5 elections, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will become chairman of the Judiciary Committee and has said he will revise the blue-slip policy. Opposition from home state senators will be taken into consideration, Hatch said, but will not necessarily preclude a confirmation hearing.

Kuhl, 48, is a seven-year veteran of the Superior Court bench. She previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, and worked in the office of the solicitor general during the Reagan administration. She is married to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger.

She clerked for Anthony J. Kennedy, then a Ninth Circuit judge, after graduation from Duke University School of Law.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner was sworn in this month as the court's newest judge. He succeeds Judge William Keller, who took senior status Oct. 29, 1999.

KLAUSNER

President Bush on July 18 nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judge S. James Otero to succeed Judge Richard Paez, elevated to the Ninth Circuit in March 2000. Otero's nomination was returned when the Senate adjourned, but he received a highly favorable rating from the American Bar Association, as well as the support of Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, so the nomination is likely to be resubmitted and confirmation is probable.

The president nominated Orange Superior Court Judge-and former UCLA football star-Cormac J. Carney on Oct. 10 to fill the vacancy resulting from Carlos Moreno's confirmation as a California Supreme Court justice Oct. 17 of last year. Carney's nomination is likely to be resubmitted next month.

There is one other vacancy, a result of Judge J. Spencer Letts taking senior status Dec. 19, 2000. A new judgeship was created by the Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act signed into law earlier this year, but it cannot be filled until July 15 of next year.

There are no vacancies.

This District (Second District)

The governor on Dec. 26 nominated Justice Dennis Perluss of Div. Seven to succeed Presiding Justice Mildred Lillie of that division. Lillie, California's longest-serving jurist, died Oct. 27 at age 87. Perluss faces a Jan. 10 confirmation hearing in San Diego.

There is one vacancy in newly created Div. Eight. The names of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Charles Lee, Richard Rico, and Aurelio Munoz have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as potential appointees to the post.

Fourth District

Jan. 10 confirmation hearings have been scheduled for three judges nominated to the court by Gov. Gray Davis last week. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia G. Aaron was nominated to Div. One, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Jeffrey King to Div. Two, and Orange Superior Court Judge Raymond Ikola to Div. Three.

Aaron and King would fill new seats created by SB 1857, which was effective Jan. 1 of last year. Ikola would succeed Justice Thomas Crosby, who retired June 1, 2001.

Sixth District

The governor last week nominated Justice Conrad Rushing as presiding justice to succeed Christopher Cottle, who retired in August of last year. Rushing faces a Jan. 10 confirmation hearing.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

The governor appointed six new judges Dec. 26.

Robert A. Schnider and David Sotelo, who were commissioners of the court, succeed Judges William T. Garner and Robert Letteau, respectively. Garner retired Sept. 24 and Letteau Sept. 4.

Deputy District Attorney James R. Dabney succeeds Judge Thomas R. Simpson, who retired July 1. Deputy District Attorney Craig D. Karlan fills the vacancy created by the July 31 retirement of Judge Theodore Piatt.

Assistant County Counsel Kevin C. Brazile will fill the vacancy created by the Sept. 4 retirement of Judge David A. Horowitz. Long Beach insurance defense lawyer Michael P. Vicencia will succeed Judge Alban Niles, who retired Oct. 4 and was appointed this month as a State Bar Court judge.

Four judges elected on Nov. 5, and another who won outright in the March primary, are scheduled to take office next Monday. Deputy District Attorney Hank Goldberg will succeed Pirosh, State Bar Court Judge Paul Bacigalupo will replace Finkel, Deputy District Attorney Richard Naranjo will succeed Judge Richard Spann, and Deputy District Attorney Richard Walmark replaces Judge Reginald Dunn.

Lauren Weis, who retired from the District Attorney's Office after defeating three opponents in the March primary, will succeed Judge Michael Kanner.

The appointments fill all of the vacancies on the court except for the three that occurred this month. Judges Pamela Rogers and Reginald Yates had their disability retirements approved Dec. 11, a week after Judge R. Gary Klausner took the oath as a U.S. district judge for the Central District of California.

Judge Keith Groneman has scheduled retirement for Jan. 31 and Judge Robert Mackey for Feb. 24.

Judge David W. Perkins is expected to return in February following a successful liver transplant.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

•AB 2, by Assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Yucaipa. This bill would authorize a victim to request to speak last when testifying at a parole hearing. The bill was introduced Dec. 2.

•AB 20, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Santa Clara. This bill would state legislative intent to protect the rights of developmentally disabled victims of crime and to provide that developmentally disabled persons who testify in court are given the same rights afforded to minor children in the same situation. The bill was introduced Dec. 2.

•AB 29, by Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes, D-Fresno. This bill would require all petitioners for domestic violence protective orders to notify their minor children by mail, and to provide proof of service to the court. The bill was introduced Dec. 2.

•SB 32, by Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz. Existing law relating to wiretaps includes in the definition of "wire communication" any electronic storage of specified communications. This bill would remove such storage from the definition. The bill was introduced Dec. 2.

•SCA 1 , by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco. This measure would provide that access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state, and would require all government agencies to make changes to increase public access to information. The proposed constitutional amendment was introduced Dec. 2.

•SCR 2 , by Burton. This resolution designates Diane F. Boyer-Vine as the legislative counsel of California. The measure was introduced Dec. 2, and was adopted unanimously by the Senate and Assembly on the same day.