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March
29,
2013

A report on where
things
stand


Superior Court Judges John Reid, Dewey Falcone to Retire...First District Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Marchiano Retires...Bills to Amend Rape-by-Impersonation Statute Advance in Assembly, Senate


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

David Tamman
Suspended Attorney

Tamman, a former securities partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, faces sentencing May 20 after he was convicted Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court of al 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 Feb. 11.
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 in June 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, an attorney and former construction manager for Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, faces sentencing April 8 following his Nov. 21 plea of guilty to federal mail fraud charges.
Sentencing was continued from Feb. 4.
Haw admitted before U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson of the Central District of California that he had committed two counts of mail fraud and participated in an illegal kickback scheme. Prosecutors said Haw paid more than $56,000 to an entity controlled by Huntington’s then-director of construction, who was previously sentenced to three years in prison.
Haw’s plea agreement contemplates a sentence of approximately one year, prosecutors said.
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.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14 unanimously approved the nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Beverly R. O’Connell to succeed Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank, who took senior status March 1 of last year. O’Connell was originally nominated Nov. 14 of last year and her confirmation hearing was held Dec. 12.
The nomination had to be resubmitted Jan. 4 because it was returned to the president when Congress adjourned at the beginning of the year. O’Connell was rated “exceptionally well qualified,” the highest possible rating, by the American Bar Association.


There are no vacancies.

First District

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

Second District

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

There are vacancies in the seats last held by Judge Rita Baird, who retired Dec. 30, 2011, and by seven judges who retired last year—Carl J. West, who stepped down Feb. 29; Gary Hahn, whose retirement was effective March 7; Rose Hom, who left office March 27, Joan Comparet-Cassani, who last day in office was May 11; Gary E. Daigh, who retired July 16; Lyle McKenzie Jr., who retired Sept. 8; and Charles Sheldon, whose last official workday was Nov. 21.
Judge Joseph DeVanon retired Feb. 1.
Judge Phillip Hickok retired Feb. 4. Judge Jan Greenberg Levine retired Feb. 13.
Judge Dudley Gray retired Feb. 19. Judge Peter Meeka is retiring Sunday.
Judges Diane Wheatley and Stephanie Sautner sat for the last time in February and will retire in April—Sautner on April 5 and Wheatley April 16.
Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz is retiring April 5. Judge Richard Adler sat for the last time Feb. 5 and is officially retiring April 1.
Judge John Reid is sitting for the last time today and retiring June 2. Judge Dewey L. Falcone is retiring but does not have an official date.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible judicial appointees to the court are Deputy Alternate Public Defender Beverly Bourne; Superior Court Commissioners Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, David Cowan, Lloyd Loomis, Dennis Mulcahy and Kenneth Taylor; Referee Terry Truong; Irvine attorney James L. Crandall; 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; Los Angeles attorney Douglas W. Stern; 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 Douglas Carnahan retired yesterday.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

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

•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. The bill was amended in the Assembly Jan. 30, adding Lowenthal as co-author in place of Speaker John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles. As amended Feb. 20 and Feb. 25, the bill would extend to certain other sex crimes. The bill was approved by the Public Safety Committee March 19 by a vote of 7-0 and was amended March 20 to add an urgency clause, meaning that the bill would take effect immediately upon becoming law. The bill was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee March 21.

•AB 157, by Assemblymember Nora Campos, D-San Jose, which would allow a court issuing a protective order against domestic violence or harassment to include a provision barring the defendant from impersonating the plaintiff. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee Jan. 31 and is scheduled for hearing April 2.

•AB 176, by Campos, which would provide that where there are both civil and criminal protective or restraining orders regarding the same parties in effect, the more restrictive order takes precedence, whereas under current law, the criminal order takes precedence. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee Feb. 7 and scheduled for hearing April 9.

•AB 184, by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, which would create an extended statute of limitations in felony hit-and-run cases where the perpetrator is not immediately identified. The bill was referred to the Public Safety Committee, which approved it March 13 by a vote of 7-0, and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•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 was referred to the Committee on Public Safety Jan. 10 and is scheduled for hearing April 23.

•SB 59, by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as introduced, would extend the rape-by-impersonation statute to include one who deceives the victim into believing the defendant is the victim’s “intimate sexual partner.” As amended in the Senate Feb. 14, the bill would be expanded to other crimes involving sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration and would apply to any person who impersonates the victim’s “sexual partner,” defined as any individual with whom the victim has had consensual sexual contact. The bill cleared the Senate Public Safety Committee Feb. 26 by a vote of 6-0 and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee, where a hearing is scheduled April 8.

•SB 166, by Sen. Carol Liu, D-Pasadena, which would establish standards for the appointment of counsel in juvenile court. The bill was read the first time Feb. 4 and referred Feb. 14 to the Public Safety Committee, where it is set for hearing April 2.


 

 

 


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