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.

Former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Beverly R. O’Connell received her commission April 30 to succeed Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank, who took senior status March 1 of last year. The court now has no vacancies.
Comments are being accepted until Sunday regarding the applications for reappointment by Magistrate Judges Jacqueline Chooljian and Frederick Mumm. Chooljian’s term expires Jan. 8 of next year and Mumm’s on April 2.
The court has provided email addresses for those who wish to comment: chooljiancomments@gmail.com and mummcomments@gmail.com.

There are no vacancies.

Gov. Jerry Brown this month named Superior Court Commissioner H. Jay Ford and attorneys Julie Fox Blackshaw, Gregorio Roman, and Douglas W. Stern as judges, leaving 21 vacancies on the 469-judge court. One of the vacancies is a position that the Legislature authorized but has never funded.
Ford was appointed to succeed Judge Carl J. West, who stepped down Feb. 29 of last year; Blackshaw replaces retired Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani, who last day in office was May 11 of last year; Roman fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rose Hom, who left office March 27 of last year; and Stern is the successor to Judge Gary Hahn, who retired March 7 of last year.
Still vacant are the seats last occupied by Judges Gary E. Daigh, who retired July 16 of last year; Lyle M. MacKenzie, who retired Sept. 7 of last year; Charles Sheldon, whose last official workday was Nov. 13 of last year; Joseph DeVanon Jr, who retired this past Jan. 31; Phillip Hickok, who retired Feb. 4; Jan Greenberg Levine, who retired Feb. 13; and Dudley Gray, who retired Feb. 19.
Also Judges John S. Fisher, who retired Feb. 22; Peter Meeka, who stepped down March 29; Richard Adler, who left April 1; Stephanie Sautner and Linda K. Lefkowitz, both of whom retired April 5; Diane Wheatley, who retired April 16; and Beverly Reid O’Connell, who joined the federal bench April 30. Additionally, there are six vacancies resulting from the conversion of commissioner positions to judgeship.
Judge John Reid is retiring June 2. Judge Dewey L. Falcone is retiring but does not have an official date.
Judge Brian Hoffstadt is sitting on assignment in Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal through the end of June. Judge Edward A. Ferns is sitting on assignment in Div. Two, Judge Rex Heeseman in Div. Three, and Judge John Segal in Div. Seven through the end of July.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible judicial appointees to the court are State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Beverly Bourne; Superior Court Commissioners Nicole Bershin, 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 Teresa Tracy Sullivan, 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.

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

•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 fiancÈ, fiancÈe, or cohabitant. As amended Feb. 20 and Feb. 25, the bill would extend to certain other sex crimes. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0 and was amended in the Senate May 8.

•AB 140, by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which would supplement the definition of “undue influence” in both the Probate Code and the criminal elder abuse statutes. The bill was amended May 6 and re-referred to the Appropriations Committee, which passed it May 8 by a vote of 12-0. It passed the Assembly May 16 by a vote of 57-10 and was sent to the Senate.

•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, which as amended would not become operative until July 1, 2014, passed the Assembly May 2 by a vote of 75-0 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 15.

•AB 161, by Campos, which would specifically authorize a court in a domestic violence proceeding to issue an ex parte order restraining any party from cashing, borrowing against, canceling, transferring, or disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage held for the benefit of the parties and their child or children, if any, for whom support may be ordered. The bill passed the Assembly April 11 by a vote of 75-0, and was sent to the Senate, where a Judiciary Committee hearing is scheduled for June 4.

•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 passed the Appropriations Committee May 1 by a vote of 17-0, passed the Assembly May 9 by a vote of 75-0, and was referred to the Judiciary and Public Safety committees in the Senate May 23.

•AB 184, by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, which would establish an extended statute of limitations in which to prosecute hit-and-run cases. The bill, as amended, passed the Appropriations Committee May 24 by a vote of 17-0 and passed the Assembly May 29 by a vote of 76-0..

•AB 246, by Assemblymember Steven Bradford, D-Inglewood, which would amend the Brown Act to allow local legislative bodies to meet with the governor in secret to discuss issues of “public security.” The bill, which passed the Assembly April 15 by a vote of 69-5, passed the Senate Committee on Government and Finance May 15 by a vote of 7-0.

•AB 296, by Assemblymember Donald Wagner, R-Tustin, which would permit a military spouse or domestic partner to receive a provisional license permitting the practice of law as long as the spouse or partner remains on active duty in the state. The bill was amended several times, limiting the circumstances under which such attorneys may practice. One amendment requires that the attorney be supervised by State Bar member; another requires that the provisional licensee take the next State Bar exam, or the first exam given more than 90 days after the license is issued, with the license expiring if the provisional licensee fails the exam. The bill passed the Assembly May 20 by a vote of 73-0 and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 307, by Campos, which would expand the list of crmes that may result in a 10-year protective order, in addition to penalties provided by law upon conviction, to include specified sex crimes, including rape, spousal rape, and crimes for which a person is required to register as a sex offender. The bill passed the Assembly April 25 by a vote of 76-0 and was referred to the Senate Public Safety Committee May 9.

•AB 365, by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, which would clarify certain provisions relating to court reporters. The bill was sent to the inactive file May 16 at the author’s request.

•AB 381, by Assemblymember Ed Chau, D-Alhambra, which would expand the definition of elder of dependent-adult financial abuse and add reasonable attorney fee awards to the remedies available in civil actions regarding such abuse. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 15 by a vote of 77-0, was amended and re-referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 24.

•AB 499, by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which, as amended, would permit an anti-harassment injunction to be entered, or renewed, for a maximum of five years, rather than three years as under current law. It would also provide that such an injunction is valid for five years if the court does not specify a shorter period. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 2.

•AB 1401, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would allow aliens lawfully present in the country to serve on juries. The bill passed the Assembly April 25 by a vote of 45-26 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 9.

•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 passed the Senate May 29 by a vote of 38-0..

•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 passed the Appropriations Committee April 8 by a vote of 7-0, passed the Senate April 22 by a vote of 38-0, and was sent to the Assembly, where it was referred to the Committee on Public Safety May 9.

•SB 166, by Sen. Carol Liu, D-Pasadena, which would establish standards for the appointment of counsel in juvenile court. The bill passed the Public Safety Committee April 2 by a vote of 5-1 and was held under submission in the Appropriations Committee May 23.

•SB 345, by Evans, which would set State Bar dues for next year in the current amount. The bill passed the Senate May 16 by a vote of 37-0 and was referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee May 28.

•SB 463, by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Calabasas, which would extend to Jan. 1, 2017, the sunset date of the law allowing judges imposing determinate sentences to select the lower, middle, or upper base term. The bill passed the Senate May 29 by a vote of 38-0.

•SB 649, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which would reduce penalties for possession of some controlled substances. The bill passed the Senate May 2 by a vote of 23-14 and was sent to the Assembly, where it was referred to the Public Safety Committee May 16.