July
31,
2013

A report on where
things
stand


Suspended Attorney John Haw Reports to Serve Sentence in Kickback Scheme... Senate Committee Cancels Hearing on Bill to Permit Military Spouses to Practice Without State Bar Admission...Judge Gary Feess to Take Senior Status Next Year


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

David Tamman
Suspended Attorney

Tamman, a former securities partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, faces sentencing Aug. 5 after he was convicted Nov. 13 of last year in U.S. District Court of all 10 counts of an indictment charging him with obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into whether one of the firm’s former clients was running a Ponzi scheme.
The sentencing was continued from May 20.
Following a two-week bench trial, Tamman was found guilty by Judge Philip Gutierrez of the Central District of California of one count of conspiring to obstruct justice, five counts of altering documents, one count of being an accessory after the fact to his client’s mail and securities fraud crimes, and three counts of aiding and abetting the client’s false testimony before the SEC.
Tamman in 2011 sued Nixon Peabody in Los Angeles Superior Court, contending he was “thrown under the bus” by the firm. That action was stayed by Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis, pending the outcome of the federal prosecution.
Tamman’s interim suspension from the State Bar took effect Feb. 18.

John Haw
Suspended Attorney

Haw, a 52-year-old attorney and former construction manager for Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, reported this month to a halfway house in San Pedro to serve a six-month sentence on two counts of mail fraud based upon his participation in an illegal kickback scheme.
Haw was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson of the Central District of California following his Nov. 21 plea of guilty. In addition to the jail term, he must also pay $55,000 in restitution.
Prosecutors said Haw paid more than $56,000 to an entity controlled by Huntington’s then-director of construction, David Hamedany, who was previously sentenced to three years in prison.
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel notified the State Bar Court on Dec. 19 that it will seek an order of summary disbarment once Haw’s conviction becomes final. Haw’s conviction resulted in an interim suspension effective Feb. 18, which was stacked on top of a 2012 suspension for failure to pay dues.


Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments



Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There is one vacancy, in the seat of Judge Stephen Trott, who took senior status in 2004. Judge Raymond Fisher is taking senior status April 1.

 

There are no current vacancies, but Judge Gary Feess is taking senior status on March 13 of next year.


There are no vacancies.

First District

Presiding Justice James Marchiano retired from Div. One March 15.

Second District

Justice Orville Armstrong is retiring from Div. Five today.
Justice Kathryn Doi Todd retired from Div. Two on Jan. 22. Justice Paul Coffee retired from Div. Six on Jan. 31 of last year.

Third District

There has been a vacancy since Tani Cantil-Sakauye became chief justice in January 2011. Those whose names have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation reportedly include San Joaquin Superior Court Judge George Abdallah and Sacramento Superior Court Judges Thadd Blizzard, Helena Gweon, David Abbott, David DeAlba and Kevin Culhane.

Seats in other districts are filled.
Los Angeles Superior Court

Gov. Jerry Brown named six new judges to the court on July 12—Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rupa S. Goswami and Curtis Kin, Superior Court Commissioners Nicole C. Bershon and Lloyd C. Loomis, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Beverly L. Bourne, and Deputy District Attorney Teresa T. Sullivan.
Goswami, said to be the first South Asian woman to serve as a California judge, was named to succeed Judge Gary E. Daigh, who retired July 16 of last year. Kin replaces Judge Lyle M. MacKenzie, who retired Sept. 7 of last year.
Sullivan replaces Judge Charles Sheldon, whose last official workday was Nov. 13 of last year. The others fill vacancies that were created last year by converting commissioner positions to judgeships.
There is a vacancy in a position that the Legislature authorized but has never funded.
Still vacant are the seats last held by Judges Joseph DeVanon Jr, who retired this past Jan. 31; Phillip Hickok, who retired Feb. 4; Jan Greenberg Levine, who retired Feb. 13; and Dudley Gray, who retired Feb. 19.
Also vacant are the seats of Judges John S. Fisher, who retired Feb. 22; Peter Meeka, who stepped down March 29; Richard Adler, who left April 1; Stephanie Sautner and Linda K. Lefkowitz, both of whom retired April 5; Diane Wheatley, who retired April 16; Beverly Reid O’Connell, who joined the federal bench April 30; and John Reid, who retired June 2. There are still three vacancies resulting from the conversion of commissioner positions to judgeships.
Judge Edward A. Ferns is sitting on assignment in Div. Two of the Court of Appeal and Judge John Segal in Div. Seven through the end of September. Judge Brian Hoffstadt is sitting in Div. Six and Judge Sanjay Kumar in Div. Five through the end of August.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible judicial appointees to the court are State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn, Superior Court Commissioners Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, David Cowan, , Dennis Mulcahy and Kenneth Taylor; Referee Terry Truong; Deputy County Counsel Julie Ann Silva; Deputy Public Defenders Enrique Monguia, Lee W. Tsao and Johan ElFarrah; Deputy District Attorneys, Kathleen Tuttle and Brentford Ferreira; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; Court of Appeal staff attorneys Kenneth E. Roberson and Kim Nguyen; Los Angeles attorneys Timothy Martella and Angel Navarro; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu.
The name of Ed Chau was sent to the commission prior to his election to the state Assembly.
Commissioner Thomas Grodin retired at the end of June, the fourth commissioner vacancy that has not been converted to a judgeship. In addition, Commissioner John Green is retiring today, and Commissioner James Copelan is retiring on a date that has not been announced by the court.
Retired Judge Robert W. Armstrong died July 5 at the age of 89.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The Legislature took the following action on bills of interest to the legal community in July.

•AB 65, by Assemblymembers Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Los Angeles, which would extend the rape-by-impersonation statute to include one who deceives the victim into believing the defendant is the victim’s fiancé, fiancée, or cohabitant. As amended Feb. 20 and Feb. 25, the bill would extend to certain other sex crimes. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0. As amended in the Senate June 25, it would apply only to rape and sodomy, and not to oral copulation or to sexual penetration not amounting to rape. The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee July 1 by a vote of 6-0.

•AB 140, by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which would supplement the definition of “undue influence” in both the Probate Code and the criminal elder abuse statutes. The bill passed the Assembly May 16 by a vote of 57-10 and was sent to the Senate, where it passed the Judiciary Committee June 25 by a vote of 6-1 as amended, and was amended again on July 2 and re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 296, by Assemblymember Donald Wagner, R-Tustin, which would permit a military spouse or domestic partner to receive a provisional license permitting the practice of law as long as the spouse or partner remains on active duty in the state. The bill was amended several times, limiting the circumstances under which such attorneys may practice. One amendment requires that the attorney be supervised by a State Bar member; another requires that the provisional licensee take the next State Bar exam, or the first exam given more than 90 days after the license is issued, with the license expiring if the provisional licensee fails the exam. The bill passed the Assembly May 20 by a vote of 73-0 and was sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee May 29. A hearing scheduled for July 3 was cancelled at the request of the author.

•AB 381, by Assemblymember Ed Chau, D-Alhambra, which would expand the definition of elder of dependent-adult financial abuse and add reasonable attorney fee awards to the remedies available in civil actions regarding such abuse. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 15 by a vote of 77-0, was approved by the Senate, with amendments, July 1 by a vote of 36-0. The Assembly concurred in the Senate amendments on July 3 by a vote of 74-0.

•AB 499, by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which, as amended, would permit an anti-harassment injunction to be entered, or renewed, for a maximum of five years, rather than three years as under current law. It would also provide that such an injunction is valid for five years if the court does not specify a shorter period. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0. It was amended in the Senate June 18 to postpone the operative date to July 1 of next year, then passed the Senate July 8 by a vote of 33-0 and was sent back to the Assembly.

•SB 55, by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, which would establish requirements regarding installation of ignition interlock devices by repeat drunk drivers. The bill passed the Senate May 29 by a vote of 38-0, but failed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee July 2. The vote was 3-1 in favor, but four votes were required for approval. Reconsideration was granted.

•SB 463, by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Calabasas, which would extend to Jan. 1, 2017, the sunset date of the law allowing judges imposing determinate sentences to select the lower, middle, or upper base term. The bill passed the Senate May 29 by a vote of 38-0. It was sent to the Appropriations suspense file in the Assembly July 3.


 

 

 


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