June
30,
2010

A report on where
things
stand


Four Los Angeles Superior Court Races Decided as Two Head to Runoffs...Bill to Create Unique Misdemeanor Grand Jury for City of Los Angeles Passes Senate, Is Amended in Assembly...Disbarred Lawyer Fine Returns to U.S. District Court in Bid for Freedom


Judicial Elections

The following are the results of the June 8 primary (official ballot designations in parentheses):

• Office No. 28—Randy Hammock (Superior Court Referee) and Mark K. Ameli (Arbitrator/Mediator/Litigator) were the top two vote-getters and face a November runoff for the seat from which Judge Emily Stevens retired May 11. Campaign consultants working in the race are David Gould for Ameli and Jill Barad for Ham­mock.

• Office No. 35—Soussan (Suzanne) Bruguera (Superior Court Judge) defeated Douglas W. Weitzman (Public Rights Attorney).

• Office No. 73—Laura A. Matz (Superior Court Judge) defeated Marvin G. Fischler (Attorney/Media­tor/Ar­bitrator).

• Office No. 107—R. Stephen Bolinger (Juvenile Ad­vocate Attorney), Valerie Salkin (Gang Prosecutor) and Tony de los Reyes (Attorney/Hearing Officer) for the seat now held by Judge William Weisman, who has scheduled his retirement for May 11. Salkin has retained the Cerrell firm, while Barad is the consultant for de los Reyes.

• Office No. 117—Alan Schneider (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) and Tom Griego (Criminal Prosecutor) face a runoff for the seat now held by Judge William Pounders. Fred Huebscher is Schneider’s consultant, while Parke Skelton is working for Griego.

• Office No. 131—Maren Elizabeth Nelson (Superior Court Judge) defeated Jim Garo Baklayan (Civil Litigation Attorney).


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Harvey Silberman
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Orange Superior Court Judge Richard M. King this month set a Sept. 17 deadline for the filing of pretrial motions on behalf of Silberman and two campaign consultants. The three are charged with offering an inducement to Deputy District Attorney Serena Murillo, Silberman’s 2008 opponent, to get out of the race.

King set Oct. 15 as the date for hearing defense motions. The defendants have waived their speedy trial rights for 60 days from that date.

Silberman’s attorney, Daniel Nixon, has already filed a motion to sever the judge’s trial from those of his co-defendants.

King, who is hearing the case as an assigned Los Angeles Superior Court judge, earlier dismissed charges against the three defendants of soliciting bribes, but denied their motions to throw out the election-law charges. A writ petition seeking to have those dismissed as well was denied by this district’s Court of Appeal, and the California Supreme Court.

Richard I. Fine
Disbarred Attorney

Fine, a onetime antitrust lawyer whose right to practice law was lifted for conducting what the State Bar Court found to be a campaign of vilification and frivolous litigation against certain judicial officers, continues to litigate for his freedom in state and federal courts.

On June 9, he filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California a “Request for Hearing to Determine Whether to Immediately Release Fine From ‘Coercive Confinement’ in Which He Is Being Held in Violation of Due Process.” That court has previously denied him habeas corpus relief, and he has also struck out in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fine is also seeking relief in state court, having filed a “Demand for an Immediate Farr hearing” before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe. He made that demand in March, and reiterated it in a filing last month, but has been unable to obtain any such hearing.

Fine claims he should be released under In Re Farr, 36 Cal.App.3d 577 (1974), which held that a coercive contempt commitment for disobeying a court order becomes punitive, and thus subject to a five-day limit, “where disobedience of the order is based upon an established articulated moral principle” and there is no “substantial likelihood that continued commitment will accomplish the purpose of the order upon which the commitment is based.”

Fine has been confined to the Twin Towers jail since Yaffe held him in contempt March 4 of last year. Yaffe ordered Fine jailed for as long as he refuses to respond to questions asked at a judgment debtor examination, and jailed for five days for holding himself out as entitled to practice law after being placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar Court.

The judgment debtor exam is part of an effort to collect sanctions imposed on Fine by Yaffe in the case of Marina Strand Colony II Homeowners Assn v. County of Los Angeles, BS109420. Fine argued Yaffe should have disqualified himself from the outset of the case because he, like apparently every other Los Angeles Superior Court judge, has received benefits from the county over and above his state salary.

Yaffe said the argument, whether meritorious or not, was waived because Fine was aware of the payments at least 10 months before he raised the issue.

Walter Karabian
Attorney and Former Legislator

Karabian, a onetime majority leader of the California Assembly, faces a July 19 trial in East Los Angeles on a misdemeanor charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

Karabian allegedly hit a parking attendant with his car during a USC football game last year. Prosecutors charge that he tried to drive his car into a parking structure at Exposition Park at around noon on Dec. 5 but was stopped by the attendant, who told him he did not have the proper permit, and that he intentionally struck her with the car.


Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments



Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

On May 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-7, along party lines, to approve the Feb. 24 nomination of UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to fill an open position on the court. Liu was unanimously rated “exceptionally well qualified” by the American Bar Association’s evaluating committee.

The president on March 25 nominated U.S. District Judge Mary H. Murguia of the District of Arizona to succeed Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, who took senior status Feb. 12. The ABA committee reported that a “substantial majority,” meaning 10 or more of the committee’s 15 members, had voted the nominee “qualified” and that the remainder—except for one abstention—found her “well qualified.”

There are two other vacant seats, previously held by Judge Stephen Trott, who took senior status in 2004, and Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, who took senior status June 12.

 

The Senate on June 21 confirmed Orange Superior Court Judge Josephine S. Tucker to succeed Judge Alicemarie Stotler, who took senior status Jan. 5 of last year. The president nominated Tucker, who was unanimously rated “Well Qualified” by the American Bar Association’s evaluation committee, on Feb. 4 and her hearing was held Feb. 18.

There are two vacancies for which no nominations have been made. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper died Jan. 15 and Judge Stephen G. Larson resigned Nov. 2 of last year to join the law firm of Girardi | Keese.


There are no vacancies.

Third District

Justice Fred Morrison retired at the end of January of last year. Justice Rodney Davis retired Feb. 16 of last year, and Justice Richard Sims III said he will retire sometime between October of this year and January of next year.

The name of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jaime R. Roman has been sent to the JNE Commission as a possible appointee to the court.

Fourth District

Justice Barton Gaut is retiring from Div. Two Feb. 28.

Fifth District

Justice Steve Vartabedian is retired March 31.

Seats in other districts are filled.
Los Angeles Superior Court


Christine W. Byrd, named by Gov. Arnold Schwar­zenegger on April 8 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John P. Farrell, took up her first permanent assignment in family law in San Fernando on June 14.

Judge Paul Gutman died June 13. The cause of death, his family said, was complications from spine surgery.

Judge Michael Mink retired on March 2, Judge William Chidsey on Feb. 26 and Judge Terry Friedman on Feb. 28. Earlier vacancies resulted from Judge Jacqueline Nguyen’s resignation in December to join the federal bench; the retirements of Judge Brett Klein on Nov. 30, Bob T. Hight on Nov. 1, Judith Chirlin on Sept. 15 and Josh Fredricks on Sept. 12; and the conversion to judgeships of two commissioner positions since last July.

A newly created position on the court was to have been funded as of June 1, 2008, but legislation in response to the state budget crisis postponed the effective date.

Judges Emily Stevens and William Weisman retired May 11. Judge Harvey Silberman is disqualified while under felony indictment.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla Ford; 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 Timothy R. Saito, Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorneys General Steven D. Matthews, Emilio E. Varanini IV, Victoria Wilson, Paul Roadarmel Jr., Robert S. Henry and Kenneth Byrne; Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand; Deputy District Attorneys Andrea Thompson, Teresa Sullivan, Sean Hassett, Frances D. Young, Jennifer Lentz Snyder, Joseph Markus, Steven I. Katz, Alison S. Matsumoto, Jeffrey Gootman and John D. Harlan II; Commissioners Lia Martin, Michele Fleurer, Cynthia Zuzga, John Slawson, Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Joel Wallenstein, Dennis Mulcahy, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Steven Berman, Mark Zuckman 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; Deputy Public Defender Lisa Brackelmans; Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer Martin Joseph Murphy; Los Angeles attorneys Marc Marmaro, David Herriford, Philip J. Ganz Jr., Marshall Mintz, Anthony de los Reyes, Howard Fields, Michael Wilner, Shan K. Thever, John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman; Pasadena attorney Warren Gilbert; Glendale attorney Mark J. MacCarley; Tujunga lawyer John K. Raleigh; Woodland Hills attorney John Cha; Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl; and Karlene Goller, counsel for the Los Angeles Times.

Commissioner Michael Duffy retired Aug. 30 of last year.

Commissioner Steven Lubell retired March 4, Commissioner Dennis Shanklin on March 15, and Commissioner Murray Gross on March 31.

Commissioner Patrick Larkin is on medical leave.

Commissioners Marc Lauper and Lori Jones retired at the end of April.

Commissioner Ralph Olson retired Monday. Commissioner Nicholas Taubert’s retirement becomes official today.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

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

•AB 939, by the Committee on the Judiciary, which would, as amended, make certain changes in family law procedure. Among the changes would be a requirement that the court hear live testimony, absent a finding that it is unnecessary to do so, and a requirement that the court award attorney fees and costs if it finds that a disparity exists between the parties in terms of access to counsel and ability to pay. The bill, which passed the Assembly in January, was amended in the Senate on June 17 and re-referred to the Judiciary Committee.

•AB 1050, by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, which would, among other things, provide that a child 14 years of age or older has the right to testify at a custody or visitation hearing, except that the court may, if it finds that such testimony is not in the best interests of the child, ascertain the child’s preferences by other means. The bill was amended in the Senate June 21.

•AB 1639, by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, which, as amended, would establish a mortgage foreclosure mediation program, in which lenders would be required to participate prior to foreclosing on residential properties. The bill was sent to the inactive file June 21.

•AB 1894, by Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Santa Cruz, which would extend the time in which to file a Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 170.6 affidavit against a judge assigned for all purposes by five days. The bill, which passed the Assembly in April, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee June 22 by a vote of 4-0 and was placed on the Consent Calendar for yesterday.

•AB 2102, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which, as amended, would expand the permissible use of video appearances by misdemeanor defendants—currently limited to the initial court appearance, arraignment or plea—to any appearance not involving testimonial evidence. A hearing scheduled for June 17 was cancelled at the request of the author.

•AB 2674, by Assemblyman Marty Block, D-San Diego, which would provide that when one spouse solicits the murder of the other, the other is entitled to 100 percent of any community property interest in his or her retirement benefits, and the spouse who solicited the murder cannot receive spousal support or insurance benefits from the spouse whose murder he or she solicited. The same provisions already exist with respect to a spouse who attempts to murder the other. The bill, which passed the Assembly in April, passed the Senate 31-0 on June 24.

•SB 399, by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, which would, under limited circumstances, allow a judge to reduce the sentence of a defendant serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a crime committed when the defendant was under the age of 18. The bill, which passed the Senate in June of last year, was amended in the Assembly on June 22 and re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•SB 408, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, re-enacting the ban on possession of body armor by a convicted felon and defining body armor as “any bullet-resistant material intended to provide ballistic and trauma protection for the person wearing the body armor.” The Court of Appeal for this district ruled in People v. Saleem (2009) 180 Cal.App.4th 254, review of which is now pending in the Supreme Court, that the previous version of the statute was void because a person of ordinary intelligence would not know whether an item he or she was wearing met the statute’s definition of body armor. The bill was signed by the governor June 2 and took effect immediately as an urgency measure.

•SB 1168, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, which would authorize the empanelment of a misdemeanor grand jury—the only one in the state—for the City of Los Angeles. The bill, which failed in a Senate floor vote last month but was subsequently granted reconsideration and amended to remove offenses involving “unfair business practices” from the jurisdiction of the proposed grand jury, passed the Senate on June 1 by a vote of 24-9. The bill was amended in the Assembly June 24 to remove “corruption” from, and to add “hate crime” and “discrimination” to, the list of subjects into which the grand jury may inquire, and was re-referred to the Committee on Public Safety.



 

 

 


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