The Commission on Judicial Performance ordered Murphy, a judge since 1993, removed from office on May 10. The commission approved a report by a panel of special masters, who found that the judge—who hasn’t worked regularly since mid-1998 and last took the bench in June of last year—abandoned his duties and lied about being too sick to work.

The commission acted without awareness that Murphy had submitted a letter of resignation, which was dated May 4 and received by the governor May 9. The resignation was effective on the May 4 date, a spokesman for Secretary of State Bill Jones told the METNEWS.

The commissioners — like the masters — rejected Murphy’s claim that a "phobia" of the court left him unfit to resume his duties on the bench but capable of approving search warrants, teaching law classes, taking exams, exploring new careers and beginning medical school in the Caribbean.

The CJP noted that one of Murphy’s doctors told the Ross University Medical School on the island of Dominica that Murphy had no health problems that would preclude his studying medicine, at the same time that another of his doctors was telling court officials that he was too sick to work.

The commission also found that Murphy had shown a "cavalier attitude to sick leave" as early as 1996, when he would teach law school in the evenings on days that he purported to be too ill to sit as a judge.

James Simpson
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Simpson, who became a Glendale Municipal Court judge in 1994 and joined the Superior Court through unification last year, has applied for disability retirement.

Simpson has been under preliminary investigation by the Commission on Judicial Performance, and the investigation is apparently still open.

The investigation centers on charges that Simpson attempted to influence court commissioners in their handling of traffic cases involving friends of the judge.

The judge, who is currently on extended medical leave, is also accused of bringing his dog into court at the conclusion of jury trials and introducing him as the "low-budget bailiff."

Other allegations are that Simpson discussed personal business on the telephone while court was in session, and that he stood in his chambers bathroom "urinating with the door wide open" after giving his court clerk permission to enter.

 
Central District of California

Judge J. Spencer Letts took senior status Dec. 19, creating a fifth vacancy.

Earlier vacancies resulted from the elevation of Judge Richard Paez to the Ninth Circuit in March of last year, Judge William Keller’s taking senior status Oct. 29, 1999, and the retirement of Judge John Davies and Judge Kim Wardlaw’s elevation to the Ninth Circuit, both of which occurred in July 1998.

A procedure for naming successors was announced Tuesday by U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Judiciary Advisory Committee chair Gerald Parsky.

Parsky, an attorney and investment banker, was President Bush’s state campaign chair. The committee will have four subcommittees, one for each district.

Under an agreement between the White House and the two Democratic senators, three members of each subcommittee will be chosen by Parsky and three by the two senators. The subcommittee, by majority vote, will then recommend three to five people for each vacancy, and Parsky will review the choices and advise the president.

The Central District subcommittee is chaired by retired Presiding Court of Appeal Justice Elwood Lui, chosen by Parsky. The other Parsky selections are attorneys Thomas Malcolm of Irvine and Robert Bonner of Los Angeles, while Boxer picked Burlingame attorney Joseph Cotchett, Feinstein chose Los Angeles litigator Holly Fujie, and the two senators jointly chose Santa Ana trial lawyer Wiley Aitken.

The court is in the process of selecting four magistrate judges to fill new positions, along with a replacement for Santa Ana-based Magistrate Judge Elgin Edwards, who is retiring next month.

•AB 36, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which would provide that in an action based upon injury, wrongful death or financial loss allegedly caused by a defective product, financial fraud, unfair insurance claims practice or environmental hazard, certain information contained in settlement discussions or acquired during discovery shall be presumed to be public information and may not be kept confidential as part of the settlement. The bill specifies that its provisions are not intended to affect the confidentiality of settlement agreements between participants in mediation proceedings, or the confidentiality of evidence protected under the Evidence Code. The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 6-3 vote May 15, and was sent to the Assembly floor.

•AB 84, by Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Sherman Oaks, which would protect the home address of a trial court employee from public release by the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon the request of the employee. The bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 21-0 vote May 17, passed the Assembly on May 24, and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 146, by Assemblyman Howard Wayne, D-San Diego, which would specify that service on a governmental board or commission by an administrative law judge or an attorney employed by the state in a non-elected position shall not, by itself, be deemed a conflict of interest that requires the automatic vacation of one of the positions. The bill was approved by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee on a 10-0 vote May 29, and was sent to the Senate floor.

•AB 363, by Steinberg, would direct the State Bar to adopt a rule of professional conduct clarifying the competing obligations of government attorneys to protect the interests of the taxpayers and protect the confidences of their client. The bill, intended to protect "whistleblower" attorneys from being disciplined by the State Bar or fired, passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 10-0 vote May 2, was approved by the Assembly on a 71-3 vote May 14, and was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•AB 732, by Wayne, which would provide that statutes pertaining to the recovery of attorney fees following the rejection of a settlement offer do not apply to any enforcement action brought by the attorney general, district attorneys or city attorneys. The bill was approved by the Assembly on a 76-0 vote May 10, and was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•AB 830, by Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, D-Saratoga, which would require the state Department of Aging to create a task force with a budget of $50,000 to study whether the state should establish a statewide telephone hotline for seniors who need legal advice. The bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 21-0 vote May 2, was approved by the Assembly on a 73-0 vote May 17, and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 913, by Steinberg, which would require that any contract with the state for legal services which exceeds $50,000 must certify that the contracting law firm agrees to provide a minimum amount of pro bono services — the equivalent of 20 hours per full-time attorney per year, not to exceed an amount of work valued at more than 10 percent of the contract. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on an 8-1 vote May 8, and was sent to the Assembly floor.

•SB 303, by Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Martinez, which would exempt San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District police from jury duty in civil or criminal cases. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 4-1 vote May 1, passed the Senate on a 23-12 vote May 7, and was sent to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

•SB 371, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, which would establish the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act and would establish provisions and procedures governing the employment and compensation of certified and registered trial court interpreters employed by the Judicial Council. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 4-2 vote May 9, passed the Senate on a 21-13 vote May 21, and was sent to the Assembly.

•SB 352, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, which would reduce State Bar fees $5 a year for most attorneys, reflecting a decrease in the fee for the Client Security Fund. The bill cannot become law unless SB 479, below, is signed into law. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 6-1 vote May 1, passed the Senate on a 28-9 vote May 14 and was sent to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

•SB 475, by Escutia, which would require the Judicial Council to collect information from the trial courts regarding the use of referees in discovery matters, and to report findings to the Legislature. The bill was approved by the Senate on a 33-3 vote May 21 and was sent to the Assembly.

•SB 476, by Escutia, which would require an appellate court to accept supplemental briefs from the parties before affirming a summary judgment on a ground not relied upon by the trial court. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-2 vote May 15, and was sent to the Senate floor.

•SB 479, by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, which would require the State Bar to administer a diversion program to facilitate treatment and recovery of lawyers due to abuse of drugs or alcohol, or due to mental illness. The bill would authorize the State Bar to increase its annual fees $10 per lawyer to cover the costs of the program. The bill, which is double-joined to the State Bar dues bill, SB 352, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 4-1 vote May 7, passed the Senate on a 21-12 vote May 10, and was sent to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

•SB 565, by Morrow, which would set forth the Class Action Improvements Act, with numerous changes to procedures involving class actions. The bill was defeated by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 2-3 vote May 1.

•SB 623, by Escutia, which would appropriate $2.1 million to develop new court facilities in Los Angeles, Calaveras, Lassen and Madera counties. Los Angeles County would receive $1 million to begin construction of a 116,300-square-foot courthouse in the Southeast District. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-2 vote May 8, and was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

•SB 817, by Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine, which would change the application requirements and deadlines for State Bar examinations, based on recommendations of the State Bar. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 7-0 vote May 8, passed the Senate on a 38-0 vote May 17 and was sent to the Assembly.