Feb.
28,
2009

A report on where
things
stand


Attorney Richard I. Fine Disbarred, Faces Sentencing on Contempt Charge...Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Hawkins to Take Senior Status...Governor Signs Bill to Restore Judges' Supplemental Benefits


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Mervyn H. Wolf
Encino Attorney

Wolf, a lawyer for 40 years, is scheduled for pretrial conference and trial setting on five felony embezzlement counts on March 5 before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bob Bowers Jr. The case was continued from Feb. 5.

Wolf is accused of having taken settlement funds from his clients in multiple personal injury, workers' compensation, and wrongful termination cases between June 2003 and June 2004. He allegedly deposited settlement checks into his clients' trust accounts, and then embezzled the funds.

Wolf was placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar Court July 10 of last year and faces discipline in connection with several matters. He has had extensive contacts with the disciplinary system, having been placed on three years' probation in 1995 for misconduct in three matters, suspended 45 days in 1998 for failing to comply with a condition of the earlier probation, placed on inactive status for a month in 2002 for failure to comply with MCLE requirements, and served a month on suspension in 2004 for nonpayment of bar dues.

Richard I. Fine
Attorney

The California Supreme Court ordered on Feb. 11 that Fine, an attorney since 1973, be disbarred.

The State Bar Court had recommended disbarment based on Hearing Judge Richard Honn's finding in November 2007 that the lawyer engaged in a concerted campaign of litigation designed to harass judicial officers who had ruled against him, in particular Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Bruce Mitchell.

Fine was also held in contempt in January by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe, who found that he refused to respond to questions at a judgment debtor examination and held himself out as entitled to practice law after being placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar Court. Fine's motion to set aside the judgement of contempt was rejected at a hearing on Feb. 24, and he now faces a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 4.

Fine said he will seek review of the disbarment in the U.S. Supreme Court on free speech and due process grounds. He contends the State Bar is retaliating against him for engaging in protected speech, while the State Bar says that Fine engaged in moral turpitude by continuously relitigating issues on which he had been ruled against.

Fine is also suing the State Bar in U.S. District Court, claiming that the statute allowing a finding of moral turpitude based on acts that are not crimes is unconstitutional.

The attorney claims to be the victim of a vendetta by Los Angeles Superior Court judicial officers based on his litigation of suits in which he challenged Los Angeles County's payment of benefits to Superior Court judges. Those benefits were declared unconstitutional by the Fourth District Court of Appeal last year in a suit brought by the advocacy group Judicial Watch, but the governor this month signed a bill that would allow counties to continue paying benefits to supplement the salaries of Superior Court judges.

Roosevelt Dorn
Former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Dorn, who served on the Inglewood Municipal Court and the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1979 until his election as mayor of Inglewood in 1997, pled not guilty on July 24 of last year, to charges of conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds. He is alleged to have personally benefited from a loan program designed to assist city employees in purchasing and improving housing within the city.

A pretrial conference and hearing on Dorn's motion to set aside the charges has been set for March 25 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The case has been continued from Feb. 24.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments



Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There has been a vacancy on the court since Judge Stephen Trott took senior status Dec. 31, 2004. There is also a newly created position as of Jan. 21, and Judge Michael Daly Hawkins is scheduled to take senior status Feb. 12, 2010.

 

There are three vacancies on the court.

Judge Nora Manella resigned to become a justice of this district's Court of Appeal in 2006. Judge George Schiavelli resigned Oct. 5 of last year. Judge Alicemarie Stotler took senior status Jan. 5.


There are no vacancies.

First District

Justice William Stein retired from Div. One at the end of August. Justice Linda M. Gemello retired from Div. Five Jan. 4. Justice Douglas E. Swager retired from Div. One Dec. 31.

Second District

Justice Miriam Vogel retired July 3 from Div. One, which also has a vacancy as a result of Robert Mallano's elevation to presiding justice. Presiding Justice Candace Cooper retired from Div. Eight Dec. 31.

Third District

Justice Fred Morrison retired at the end of January. Justice Rodney Davis retired Feb. 16.

Fifth District

Justice Thomas Harris died Nov. 12.

Seats in other districts are filled.
Los Angeles Superior Court


There are vacancies as a result of the retirements of Judge Kathryn A. Stoltz Feb. 20, Rodney Forneret Dec. 5, Kenneth Black Nov. 5, Darlene Schempp Sept. 30, and Coleman Swart and Suzanne Person Sept. 15, and the decision of the Judicial Council to convert former Commissioner Ronald Rose's seat to a judgeship. Rose was among the 17 new judges named by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November.

A newly created position on the court was to have been funded as of last June 1, but legislation in response to the state budget crisis postponed the effective date to June 1 of this year. The Judicial Council has now indicated that legislation enacted last month-again in response to the budget crisis-has further postponed the funding.

Judge Aviva K. Bobb said she expects to retire in May or June. Judge William Pounders previously indicated he would retire at the end of this year, or sooner if county-paid judicial benefits were cut off pursuant to the Court of Appeal ruling in Sturgeon v. County of Los Angeles. Judge Robert O'Neill is retiring April 6.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court former Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, now in private practice; former Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Vaughn, now a managing director of the litigation and consulting firm FTI Consulting, Inc.; criminal defense specialist Steven Cron of Santa Monica; Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Gary Geuss, Los Angeles Deputy City Attorneys Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorneys General Steven D. Matthews, E. Eugene Varanini IV, Victoria Wilson, Paul Roadarmel Jr., Robert S. Henry and Kenneth Byrne; Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand; Deputy District Attorneys Steven I. Katz, Alison S. Matsumoto, Shellie Samuels, Jeffrey Gootman, John D. Harlan II and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners Henry Hull, John Slawson, Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Joel Wallenstein, Dennis Mulcahy, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Steven Berman and Loren DiFrank; U.S. District Court attorney Amy L. Lew; Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown; Deputy Federal Public Defender Angel Navarro; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jerome J. Haig; Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer Martin Joseph Murphy; Los Angeles attorneys Michael Wilner, Shan K. Thever, John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Mark A. Borenstein, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman; Pasadena attorney Warren Gilbert, Glendale attorney Mark J. MacCarley; and Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl.

Feb. 10 was the last day of service for Commissioner Harold Vites. His official retirement date will be March 31 or April 1. Commissioner H.M. "Trip" Webster III an­nounced he will step down March 30, and Commissioner Gretchen Taylor said she will retire March 31.

There are commissioner vacancies as a result of Silberman, Greenberg, and Nelson becoming judges.

Commissioner William Dodson is on long-term medical leave.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following bills of interest to the legal community were acted upon in February:

•AB 5, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which would enact the Electronic Discovery Act. A similar bill was vetoed last year by the governor. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee Feb. 5. The bill was re-referred to the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14 and is scheduled for hearing March 3.

•AB 16, by Assemblywoman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, which would make it a felony for any person to solicit another person who is under 18 years of age to engage in an act of prostitution in return for money or other consideration or to agree to give another person who is under 18 years of age money or other consideration in return for the other person committing an act of prostitution. The bill was referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 5.

•AB 17, by Swanson, which would impose mandatory fines on persons convicted of soliciting prostitution, or of pimping, pandering, or procuring of a minor; authorize the court to impound any personal property used in the course of that unlawful conduct for a period of up to 60 days or to declare it forfeited if the person has a prior conviction for a similar offense; require each county to establish a sexually exploited minors fund into which shall be deposited the proceeds of those fines or forfeitures, with the proceeds divided between local law enforcement and assistance to sexually exploited minors; authorize local law enforcement agencies to make public or make available to media outlets the name and photograph of any person who is convicted pursuant to the bill. The bill was referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 5.

•AB 27, by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, which would increase the amount of damage required for a person to be guilty of aggravated arson from $5.65 million to $6.5 million, and extend the repeal date for existing provisions relating to property damage from Jan. 1, 2010 until Jan. 1, 2014. The bill was referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 5.

•AB 58, by Jeffries, which would reduce to an infraction, punishable by a fine of no more than $250, the offense of participating in a sports betting pool, when the offender is not being paid to operate the pool, the pool is not being operated online, and the amount at stake is no more than $2,500. A similar bill was vetoed last year by the governor. The bill was referred to the committees on Government Operations and Public Safety Feb. 5.

•AB 83, by Assemblyman Michael Feuer, D-West Hollywood, which, as amended Feb. 5, would amend the existing "Good Samaritan" law by providing that medical, law enforcement, and emergency personnel who in good faith, and not for compensation, render emergency medical care at the scene of an emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission. The bill would also provide that any person, not including medical, law enforcement, and emergency personnel, who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission, as long as that act or omission does not constitute gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. The provisions would only apply to actions filed on or after Jan. 1, 2010. The bill was re-referred to the Judiciary Committee Feb. 6 before being amended again on Feb. 26 and is scheduled for hearing in the Judiciary Committee March 3.

•SB 39 by Sen. John Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, which would, as amended, enact the Good Samaritan Protection Act which would provide that medical, law enforcement, and emergency personnel who in good faith, and not for compensation render emergency care at the scene of an emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission, and that any person, not including medical, law enforcement, and emergency personnel, who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission, as long as that act or omission does not constitute gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. The bill was amended Feb. 24 and re-referred to the Judiciary Committee.

•SB 46, by Senator Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, which would eliminate the statute of limitations as to certain sex crimes. The bill was amended Feb. 23, deleting flight of a sex offender to avoid prosecution from the list of offenses for which the statute of limitations would be eliminated.

•SB 108, by Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, which would authorize the California Law Revision Commission to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before May 1, 2009, that addresses the question of whether charter schools should be added to the list of public agencies covered by the California Tort Claims Act. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee Feb. 5.

•SB 150,by Sen. Roderick Wright, D-Inglewood, which would amend provisions related to sentence enhancements to eliminate the requirement, the validity of which is in question as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cunningham v. California, that when there are three possible terms for the enhancement, the judge must select the middle term in the absence of aggravating or mitigating factors. The bill would amend Proposition 21, and thus requires a two-thirds majority. It was introduced Feb. 12 and referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 23.

•SB 151, by Sen. Diane Ducheny, D-San Diego, which would require, until January 1, 2015, the Judicial Council to establish a pilot program for the operation of up to 10 court-based reentry programs for parolees who would benefit from community drug treatment or mental health treatment. The bill was introduced Feb. 12 and referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 23.

•SB 154, by Sen. John Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, which would grant the Department of Motor Vehicles the authority, which the Court of Appeal ruled last year it does not have under existing law, to suspend the license of any driver convicted of operating a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The bill was introduced Feb. 12 and referred to the Committee on Public Safety Feb. 23.

•SBX2 11, by Senator Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which would restore the authority of counties to grant supplemental benefits to judges of the superior court. The bill passed the Senate Feb. 14 by a vote of 32-6, passed the Assembly Feb. 15 by a vote of 69-3, and was signed by the governor Feb. 20.



 

 

 


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