End of the Month

Judge Chesley N. McKay Jr. Draws Election Opponent....
March Ballot Will Have at Least Four Open Judicial Seats....
Judge Dale Fischer Confirmed to Serve on
U.S. District Court for Central District of California

Judicial Elections

Filing opened Monday for the March 2 primary.

Stella Owens-Murrell, an attorney with the Department of Industrial Relations, filed a declaration of intention to challenge Judge Chesley N. McKay Jr. No other challengers to incumbent judges have filed, although James Gustafson, a Westlake Village lawyer, took out papers to run against Judge Alexander H. Williams III.

Another lawyer who took out papers to run against Williams, P. Michael Erwin, also an attorney with the DIR, told the MetNews he will run for an open seat instead.

There will be at least four open seats, as Judges Marcus Tucker, Richard C. Hubbell, James Wright, and Rosemary Shumsky are not running for re-election. Judge Nancy Brown said she is undecided about running.

Candidates who have filed for open seats are Deputy District Attorney Daniel Feldstern for the Tucker seat, Deputy Attorney General Gus Gomez for the Hubbell seat, Deputy District Attorney Judith L. Meyer for the Wright seat, and Deputy District Attorneys Patrick David Campbell and Craig Renetzky for the Shumsky seat.

In addition, Deputy District Attorney Edward Nison filed for the Brown seat, but said he would switch to another race if Brown runs; Superior Court Referee Mildred Escobedo and Acton attorney Larry H. Layton took out papers to run for both the Tucker and Hubbell seats, but neither has filed; Superior Court Research Attorney Kevin Notre took out papers to run for the Tucker seat; Workers' Compensation Judge John Gutierrez took out papers to run for the Hubbell seat; and Superior Court Commissioner Donna Groman said she may run for an open seat.

Deputy District Attorney Laura Priver took out papers to run for the Brown seat, but said she would not run against the incumbent.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Patrick B. Murphy
Attorney and former Superior Court judge

Murphy resigned from the Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2001 while on the verge of being removed from office. Disciplinary charges were filed against him by the State Bar in November of 2003.

Murphy asked to enter the State Bar Court's diversion program for lawyers with mental health or substance abuse problems but failed to appear at hearings on Aug. 5 and 6 to determine his eligibility for that program. His default was entered and as a result he was placed on involuntary inactive status Aug. 9.

He was also suspended Sept. 16 for failure to pay his bar dues.

A request for disbarment is pending in State Bar Court. The bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel filed a closing brief Aug. 22, and a decision is expected by late next month.

The State Bar disciplinary charges largely track those found to be true by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which censured Murphy and barred him "from receiving any assignment, appointment, or reference of work from any California state court." The commission found Murphy had excessive absenteeism over a four-year period, engaged in outside activities when he should have been on the bench, exhibited a lack of candor with the presiding judge of the Citrus Municipal Court (on which he sat prior to unification), created administrative problems by virtue of his absences, and was guilty of malingering.

The State Bar disciplinary notice recites that Murphy was absent from Sept. 20, 1999, until April 3, 2000; stopped working as of June 8, 2000; and resigned on May 4, 2001. Largely drawn from the commission's May 10 decision, the disciplinary notice chronicles Murphy's activities during the time he was supposedly too sick to work: teaching one or two night law classes a week, completing pre-med physics and chemistry courses at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, and attending classes at a school of medicine on the island of Dominica in the West Indies from January to April of 2000.

Murphy did not deny those allegations, but claimed in his response that he was indeed ill, suffering from various maladies including a "phobia" regarding judicial service. His outside activities were a diversion he hoped would eventually enable him to return to the bench, he said.

Murphy also denied lying about his state of health to Rolf Treu, then the presiding judge of the Citrus court.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There is one vacancy and one scheduled future vacancy on the 28-judge court.

No action was taken this month on the nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. A cloture vote scheduled for Aug. 1 was called off after Senate Republican and Democratic leaders agreed to deal with other issues before going home for the summer recess. The lack of recent action suggests that Democrats persist in their willingness to filibuster the nomination.

The Judiciary Committee on May 8 approved Kuhl by a party-line vote of 10-9. Kuhl was tapped by Bush in 2001 to succeed Judge James Browning, who took senior status Sept. 1, 2000.

President Bush on May 15 nominated William G. Myers III of Idaho to succeed Judge Thomas G. Nelson, who takes senior status Nov. 14. Myers resigned Oct. 10 as solicitor of the Department of the Interior. A majority of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary found Myers qualified, with at least six members voting him not qualified.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dale Fischer was confirmed Tuesday by an 86-0 vote of the Senate. She will fill a new seat created by last year's Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act.

Judge Lourdes G. Baird has given notice she intends to take senior status next May, and Judge Robert J. Timlin will take senior status in January of 2005.

There are no vacancies, but one would be created if the Senate confirms Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to which she was nominated July 25.

A majority of the ABA committee rated Brown "qualified" for the position, with at least six of the 15 members voting her "not qualified." Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee indicated at a hearing Oct. 22 they would oppose her nomination.

Third District

Kathleen Butz, formerly a Nevada Superior Court judge, was confirmed and sworn in this month to fill the vacancy created by former Justice Consuelo Callahan's appointment to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

The There are six vacancies.

Judge William C. Beverly Jr. retired Aug. 3. Judges Laurie Zelon and Madeleine Flier were elevated to the Court of Appeal Sept. 25.

Judge John Martinez retired Oct. 3 and Judge Karl Jaeger retired on Oct. 15. Judge Warren G. Greene died Oct. 7.

A seventh vacancy will be created when Judge Dale Fischer is sworn in next month as a U.S. District Court judge.

A judicial panel has begun screening applicants for future commissioner positions. More than 100 applicants, including a number of the court's referees, sought the positions.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following legislation relating to the legal profession was acted upon in September:

•AB 862, by Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, D-Los Angeles, which would require state agencies to notify certain unions when hiring private lawyers to provide representation in any judicial proceeding. The bill was signed by the governor Oct. 12.

•AB 903, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which corrects technical errors in and clarifies provisions of a law passed last year to offer affirmative defenses to subcontractors and others in construction defect litigation. The bill was signed by the governor Oct. 10.

•AB 1101, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which authorizes an attorney to reveal confidential information to the extent that the attorney reasonably believes disclosure is necessary to prevent a criminal act likely to result in death or substantial bodily harm to an individual. The bill was signed by the governor Oct. 11.

•SB 636, by Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, which would have authorized grants, subject to the availability of federal money, to implement alternative dispute resolution programs for special education. The bill was vetoed by the governor Oct. 12.

•SB 933, by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, which would have provided that people of Mexican descent who were repatriated to Mexico against their will in the 1930s-or their heirs-could sue for damages in any court of competent jurisdiction in the state, even if the statute of limitations had expired. The bill was vetoed by the governor Oct. 12.