End of the Month

Judge Leland Tipton Retires Today…State Bar Dues Bill and Judicial Elections Reform Bill, Passed by Senate, Head for Assembly Floor in Committee

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Carmen Trutanich
Former Los Angeles City Attorney

On April 10, the State Bar Court granted Trutanich’s motion to abate/stay disciplinary proceedings. The court also granted his motion to seal documents related to the request, so the reason for the action is not public.
The next scheduled action in the case is a status conference scheduled for Aug. 28.
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel has alleged that Trutanich, as the deputy district attorney prosecuting a capital murder case in 1985 and 1986, suppressed evidence favorable to the defendant.
In a notice dated Feb. 9, bar prosecutors alleged that Trutanich knowingly or negligently failed to inform the defense that a prosecution witness had falsely identified another person who had witnessed the charged killing, and also failed to provide that witness’s address.
Trutanich, who served as city attorney from 2009 to 2013 and is now at Tucker Ellis LLP in Los Angeles, is also charged with allowing a police detective to testify falsely at a pretrial hearing in the same murder. Trutanich has repeatedly denied the charges.

Michael S. Williams
Napa Superior Court Judge

Williams on July 17 received a censure from the Commission on Judicial Performance, pursuant to a stipulation, based on stealing at least two business card holders from a club in San Francisco during a bar association dinner. As part of the negotiated settlement, he will resign from office Dec. 5.
Williams will use up his accumulated leave time, going on vacation on Oct. 20 and remaining away from the courthouse until the resignation takes effect. It was also stipulated:
“Judge Williams also agrees that he will not seek or hold judicial office, accept a position or an assignment as a judicial officer, subordinate judicial officer, or judge pro tern with any court in the State of California, or accept a reference of work from any California state court, at any time after December 5, 2017.”

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the 29-judge court. Judge Harry Pregerson took senior status Dec. 11, 2015; Judge Barry Silverman took senior status Oct. 11; and Judges Richard Clifton and Diarmuid O’Scannlain took senior status Dec. 31. Libby A. Smith took over the position of Cathy A. Catterson as circuit executive. Senior Circuit Judge John T. Noonan, Jr. died April 17. There are no nominees for their seats.

There are five vacancies. Judge Audrey B. Collins retired Aug. 1, 2014 to join the state Court of Appeal; Judge Margaret Morrow took senior status Oct. 29, 2015 and subsequently left the bench to become president and chief executive of Public Counsel; Judge Dean Pregerson took senior status Jan. 28 of last year; Judge Christina A. Snyder took senior status Nov. 23 of last year; and Judge George H. King retired Jan. 6. There are no nominees to replace them.

Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar is retiring Aug. 31.

Second District

Presiding Justice Paul A. Turner of Div. Five died May 18.
There is a prior vacancy in that division, due to the retirement of Justice Richard Mosk, who left the court March 30 of last year and died 18 days later. There are also vacancies in Div. Two, due to the Jan. 31 retirement of Presiding Justice Roger Boren; Div. Three, due to the Oct. 5, 2015 retirement of Justice Patti S. Kitching; and Div. Seven, due to the retirement of Justice Fred Woods on March 31, 2015.
Among those whose names have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Gail Ruderman Feuer, Ann H. Egerton, Rita Miller, Richard Rico, Helen Bendix, Ann Jones, and Sanjay Kumar; Los Angeles attorneys Kent Richland and Bradley Phillips; Ventura Superior Court Judge Tari Cody; and Southwestern Law School professor Christopher Cameron.
Pro tems who are ending their service today are Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Michael Johnson and Douglas W. Sortino and a retired judge of that court, Allan Goodman.
Continuing to serve through Aug. 31 will be Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dennis Landin.
Assigned to the Court of Appeal through Sept. 30 are Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Monica Bachner, Natalie P. Stone, and Frank Menetrez. Remaining onboard will be Orange Superior Court Judge Kim Dunning.

Fourth District

Justice Alex McDonald of Div. One died Sept. 8.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Judge Leland H. Tipton is slated to retire today. Judge Lloyd Nash retired March 3 and Judge David Minning on April 6.
Vacancies that remain to be filled from last year were created by the retirements of Judge Soussan Bruguera Dec. 15, Sally Meloch Dec. 10, Steven Van Sicklen Nov. 1, and John Henning Sept. 8.
Among those whose names have been sent by the governor to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are West Los Angeles attorney Mark DiMaria; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Tracee May-Brewster; Altadena attorney Cynthia Cannady; Deputy Public Defenders Jose Colon and Lisa Brackelmanns; Bakersfield attorney Bernard Barrman Jr.; Century City attorney Jonathan Rosenbloom; Deputy District Attorneys Kerry White, Candace Foy Smith, Leonard Torrealba, and Kathleen Tuttle; retired Deputy District Attorney Brentford Ferreira; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney—and former city attorney candidate—Michael Amerian; attorney/mediator Michael Diliberto; former Superior Court Referee Stephanie Davis; Los Angeles attorneys Angel Navarro and Lisa Mattern; Superior Court counsel Brett Bianco; Beverly Hills attorney Edward Tabash; South Pasadena attorney Mark S. Priver; Court of Appeal staff attorney Kenneth E. Roberson; Superior Court Commissioners Karin Borzakian, Timothy Martella, Pamela Davis, Collette Serio, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, Dennis Mulcahy, Terry Truong and Kenneth Taylor; State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn; Deputy County Counsel Julie Ann Silva; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

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

•AB 3 , by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, which would, as amended, require the State Department of Social Services to seek proposals and issue grants to provide indigent immigrants with assistance in seeking relief from the consequences of past criminal convictions, subject to appropriations. The bill was passed by the Assembly June 1 and is in committee process in the Assembly.

•AB 42 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, which, as amended, would implement a revised pretrial release procedure. The bill was defeated in theb Assembly June 1 by a vote of 35 in favor and 37 against.

•AB 84 by Assemblymember Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, which would move the statewide primary election for all offices, including judges, to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, in presidential election years only. The bill is active but lumbering.

•AB 360 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, which would require the State Bar to coordinate legal aid programs for indigent veterans. The bill passed the Assembly May 11 by a vote of 77-0 and was sent to the Senate, where the Judiciary Committee on July 19 voted 7-0 in favor of passage.

•AB 638 by Assemblymember Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, which, as amended, would prohibit nonlawyers from practicing as immigration consultants unless authorized by federal law to represent persons before the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice. The bill was passed by the Assembly May 31 and on July 17 was approved by the Committee on the Judiciary by a 4-2 vote.

•SB 6 by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-El Centro, which, as amended, would create the Expanding Due Process Act, and would, among other things, appropriate $12 million to pay lawyers to represent immigrants, other than those convicted of violent felonies, facing removal from the United States. The bill, which passed the Senate as an urgency measure April 3 by a vote of 28-11, was referred to the Assembly committees on Judiciary and Human Services May 18. A June 20 hearing was canceled at the request of author.

•SB 8 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which would expand mental health diversion, currently available only to misdemeanor defendants, to those charged with low-level felonies. The bill passed the Senate May 30 and has been sent to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations which approved it on June 27 by a vote of 4-2; it has been re-referred to that committee in light of author’s amendments.

•SB 29 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, which would prohibit local governments from contracting with private entities to detain immigrants facing deportation. The bill passed the Senate on May 30, was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee June 28, and has been referred to the Appropriations Committee. It was set for hearing there July 19 but was placed on the suspense file.

•SB 36 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would authorize the State Bar to impose 2018 and 2019 dues in the same amounts as in 2016. The bill would also replace the current 19-member Board of Trustees with a 13-member board consisting of seven attorneys and six public members, and spin off the State Bar sections into a separate organization. The bill passed the Senate May 15 by a vote of 38-0 and was sent to the Assembly, where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee May 26. It was approved by that committee on July 19 11-0.

•SB 235 by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, which would regulate the use of ballot designations by judicial candidates. The bill passed the Senate May 22 by a vote of 34-1 and was sent to the Assembly. It passed the Elections Committee June 28 by a vote of 6-1 and by the Judiciary Committee on July 18 10-1.