End of the Month

Deputy District Attorney Lori Jones Elected Superior Cour Commissioner...Judge Nora Manella Faces April 10 Confirmation Hearing for Court of Appeal Slot...Field of Candidates Set for Judicial Office in June 6 Primary

Judicial Elections

The following candidates (with ballot designations in parentheses) are running in the only contested races in the June 6 primary:

• Office No. 8- Alan H. Friedenthal (Court Commissioner/Professor), Bob Henry (California Deputy Attorney-General), Deborah L. Sanchez (Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat now held by Judge Charles Rubin, who did not seek re-election. Friedenthal has retained Evelyn Jerome of Forman/Jerome Consulting to advise the campaign.

• Office No. 18-David Crawford III (Trial Attorney), Stephen M. Feldman (Attorney at Law), John C. Gutierrez (Administrative Law Judge) Richard H. Loomis (Deputy City Attorney), Daviann L. Mitchell (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), and Richard A. Nixon (Attorney/Business Owner) for the seat vacated by Judge Michael E. Knight, who retired last month. Consultants working in the race are AMAC Information and Graphics of Redondo Beach for Feldman, Cerrell Associates Inc. for Gutierrez, and Jerome for Mitchell.

• Office No. 28-S. Paul Bruguera (Deputy Attorney General), Judith L. Meyer (Criminal Prosecutor/ Professor), and Douglas W. Weitzman (Corporate Attorney/Professor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Stephen Petersen, who is retiring in May.

• Office No. 95-Richard Kraft (Criminal Prosecutor) and Susan L. Lopez-Giss (Assistant City Attorney) for the seat of Judge Larry S. Knupp, who chose not to seek re-election. Evelyn Jerome is the consultant for Lopez-Giss.

• Office No. 102-C. Edward Mack (Attorney/Counselor), George C. Montgomery (Trial Lawyer/Teacher), and Hayden Zacky (Criminal Gang Prosecutor) for the seat of Judge Marion Johnson, who is not running for re-election. Jerome is working for Zacky.

• Office No. 120-Dzintra I. Janavs (Judge of the Superior Court) and Lynn Diane Olson (Attorney at Law). Janavs has hired the Cerrell firm.

• Office No. 122- Robert Davenport (Disabled Veteran/Attorney) and Daniel Lowenthal (Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat of Judge Barbara Burke, who has applied for disability retirement. Lowenthal has hired the Cerrell firm as well as Parke Skelton as consultants.

• Office No. 144-Janis Levart Barquist (Deputy City Attorney), Stephen H. Beecher (Attorney at Law), Maria Rivas Hamar (Litigation Attorney), Randolph Martin Hammock (Consumer Law Attorney), Larry H. Layton (Law School Professor), Edward J. Nison (Deputy District Attorney) and David W. Stuart (Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Paula Mabrey, who is retiring next month. AMAC is working for Beecher, Jerome for Barquist.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Kevin A. Ross
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Ross, a judge since 1999, resigned Jan. 12, but petitioned the state Supreme Court Feb. 14 to overturn the Commission on Judicial Performance's November order that he be removed from office. If the decision is overturned, it would secure Ross' right to practice law and make him eligible to seek judicial office again in the future.

In the petition filed by San Francisco attorney James A. Murphy, Ross challenged findings that he engaged in willful misconduct by participating in a pilot for a proposed television series called "Mobile Court" in which the judge arbitrated disputes at the places where they arose, including a strip club; and that the engaged in improper conduct by making prejudicial comments about a Northern California sex offender case during an appearance on public television.

The petition also questions the commission's unanimous conclusion that the judge was less than candid in his dealings with the commission.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the court.

On Feb. 14, President Bush nominated Los Angeles attorney Milan D. Smith, a former member of the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission, to the court. If confirmed, he would succeed Judge A. Wallace Tashima, who took senior status June 30, 2004.

On Feb. 8, the president nominated Sandra S. Ikuta, California Resources Agency deputy director and general counsel, to succeed Judge James Browning. Browning took senior status Sept. 1, 2000.

On Dec. 16, President Bush nominated N. Randy Smith, a trial judge from Pocatello, Idaho and former chairman of his state's Republican Party, to fill the vacancy created when Judge Stephen S. Trott took senior status Dec. 31, 2004. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has placed a hold on the nomination, saying that since both Trott, who moved to Idaho after his appointment, and his predecessor were from California, Trott's successor should come from this state as well.

Judge Thomas G. Nelson took senior status Nov. 14, 2003. The nomination of William G. Myers III to succeed Nelson was sent to the floor by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2004 on a party-line vote of 10-8.

President Bush resubmitted Myers' nomination on Feb. 14 of last year.

Republican senators tried and failed in July of last year to force a floor vote on the nomination of Myers. The vote on the motion to invoke cloture was 53-44, short of the three-fifths required, with both California senators voting against. No agreement concerning Myers was reached when a bipartisan group of senators reached a compromise to avert filibusters on several other nominees.

Myers, who was first nominated on May 15, 2003, is a former solicitor of the Department of the Interior and now practices law in Boise, Idaho. He has drawn opposition from native American activists and environmental groups.

His supporters say he holds mainstream, balanced views on environmental and other issues.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen G. Larson, nominated Dec. 15 to succeed Judge Robert J. Timlin, who took senior status Feb. 1 of last year, was confirmed by the Senate on March 17 and sworn in on March 21. Frederick Mumm was sworn in yesterday as a magistrate judge.

Costa Mesa attorney Andrew Guilford, a former president of the State Bar, was nominated Jan. 25 to succeed Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian, who took senior status on Aug. 5 of last year.

Also taking senior status last year were Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. on April 22 and Judge Consuelo Marshall on Oct. 24.

Judge Gary Taylor took senior status Dec. 8, 2004 and retired to become a private judge with JAMS on June 30 of last year.
Judge Ronald S.W. Lew will take senior status September 19.

There are no vacancies.

First District

Justice Laurence T. Stevens of Div. Five retired Feb. 28.

Second District

U.S. District Judge Nora Manella of the Central District of California faces an April 10 confirmation hearing after having been nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed Justice J. Gary Hastings, who retired from Div. Four.

Fourth District

Justice James D. Ward of Div. Two retired Oct. 31.

Fifth District

Justice Timothy Buckley retired Sept. 26. His potential successor, Fresno Superior Court Judge Brad Hill, faces an April 18 confirmation hearing.
Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Judge Stephen P. Pfahler, formerly city attorney for South Pasadena and Rolling Hills Estates, was sworn in March 2 to succeed Judge Richard Kolostian, who retired last month.

Judge Thomas Trent Lewis, a former Woodland Hills attorney, was sworn in March 6 following the retirement of Judge Thomas Peterson and has been assigned to a family law court downtown.

Judge Victor Wright, formerly a principal deputy county counsel, was sworn in March 5 following the retirement of Judge Ruth Essegian and is handling custody arraignments at the Metropolitan Court.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed attorney Richard Kemalyan March 9 to succeed Judge Michael Farrell, who retired March 6. The governor appointed Deputy District Attorney Richard M. Goul on March 29 to succeed Judge Robert Sandoval, who died Feb. 28.

There are vacancies on the court resulting from the death of Judge Jean Matusinka March 27 and the retirements of Judge Michael Knight Feb. 21 and Judge David Doi March 6. A fourth vacancy will occur when Judge Richard Denner retires today to become a private judge with Alternative Resolution Centers.

Judge T.K. Herman, whose last day working day was March 10, is retiring April 21 although he anticipates returning on assignment.

Judge Charles Lee returned to the court March 13 following a yearlong sabbatical in China.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Deputy City Attorney Edward J. Perez, Deputy District Attorneys David Gelfound and Laura Louise Laesecke, Commissioners Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Harvey Silberman, and Loren DiFrank, Referee Steven Berman, U.S. District Court attorney Amy L. Lew, Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown, Los Angeles attorney Adrienne Krikorian, and Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman.

Deputy District Attorney Lori Jones was elected commissioner earlier this month to succeed Tia Fisher, who became a judge in February, and has been assigned to the Downey courthouse.

Commissioner Thomas Parrott retired Feb. 4, Commissioner Mark Weiss Feb. 22, and . Commissioner H. Ronald Hauptmann March 21.

Commissioner Richard D. Hughes is retiring today.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following legislation of interest to the legal community was acted on in March:

•SB 1015 , by Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, which, as amended, would require that financial information in divorce cases be "redacted" unless the court finds good cause to make the information public. The provisions would replace provisions of a two-year-old law held unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds by Div. Seven of this district's Court of Appeal in its Jan. 20 ruling in Burkle v. Burkle. The bill was amended in the Assembly March 9.