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October
31,
2005

A report on where
things
stand


Chief U.S. District Judge Emeritus Consuelo Marshall Takes Senior Status... Schwarzenegger Names Chavez to This District's Court of Appeal, Five to Los Angeles Superior Court...Superior Court Commissioner Bindman Retires


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Kevin A. Ross
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

The Commission on Judicial Performance met last week but took no action on the case of Ross, a judge since 1998, which was argued before the commission on Aug. 24.

A panel of special masters reported to the commission that Ross:

� Committed willful misconduct by adding chargesófor which there was no factual basisóagainst a defendant, arraigning her without counsel present, and summarily remanding her to custody.

� Engaged in prejudicial, but not willful, misconduct by disregarding one defendant's right to counsel, becoming embroiled in the case and acting in a prosecutorial role; disregarding another defendant's right to a formal probation violation hearing and continuing the proceedings in the absence of her counsel; revealing on a public television program information he had learned while presiding over a confidential juvenile matter; and participating in the filming of a pilot for a television program which was "degrading to the judge and all the participants" in the course of which his name and title were used for promotional purposes and he arbitrated actual disputes.

� Engaged in improper conduct, but not prejudicial misconduct, by making ex parte telephone contact with a defendant.

� Violated no canons of judicial ethics by speaking on a radio program about a statewide ballot proposition during courtoom hours, participating in a community outreach program different from the one for which he had obtained an approved leave without notifying the court of the change, or commenting during three public television appearances about legal issues involved in two high-profile pending cases in which he was not personally involved.

Ross was the subject of a misconduct hearing last November. Ventura Superior Court Judge Vincent J. O'Neill, Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Judith Haller, and San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith were the special masters for the hearing, which was postponed from September after the commission brought additional charges.

Ross admitted that in one case, he inappropriately ordered a traffic court defendant jailed because he believed she had provided false information about her identity, and that in another matter, he improperly interrogated an unrepresented defendant after the man said he wanted to consult with an attorney.

Ross also acknowledged problems with his 2002 arrangement with a production company for a show to be called "Mobile Court." Ross was to resolve small claims cases, with the parties stipulating to be bound by his rulings.

In making the deal, the masters said, Ross violated Canon 2B(2), which provides that a judge "shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the pecuniary or personal interests of the judge or others."

Ross' attorney and agent testified that his name and title were not supposed to be used in connection with the presentation. Ross said he unintentionally violated the ethics code by signing arbitration awards in favor of the winning "litigants," since judges cannot engage in private alternative dispute resolution, but denied that he abused his office by participating in the effort to sell the program.

The charges rejected by the masters involved appearances by Ross, a former prosecutor, on the KCET public television program "Life and Times Tonight" during 2001 and 2002. Ross, a frequent guest on the public affairs discussion program, gained a seat on the Inglewood Municipal Court in 1998 by defeating Judge Lawrence Mason and became a Superior Court judge upon unification in 2000.

Among the canons of the Code of Judicial Ethics violated by the four appearances, the CJP asserted, is Canon 3B(9), which says that a judge shall not shall not "make any public comment about a pending or impending proceeding in any court."

Both of the unauthorized absence allegations also related to public appearances made by the judge.

Ross testified that his television appearances were consistent with the California courts' efforts to educate the public on the judicial process and noted that other judicial officers had appeared with him or on similar programs. He also contended that the restrictions on judicial comment on pending cases are unconstitutional.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments



Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the court.

Judge Stephen S. Trott took senior status Dec. 31, Judge A. Wallace Tashima took senior status June 30 of last year, Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1, 2000, and 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 on a party-line vote of 10-8. President Bush resubmitted Myers' nomination on Feb. 14.

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. Attorney Debra W. Yang of the Central District of California has reportedly been under consideration for appointment to the court.

�

Judge Robert J. Timlin took senior status Feb. 1. Also taking senior status were Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. on April 22, Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian on Aug. 5, and Judge Consuelo Marshall on Oct. 24.

Judge Gary Taylor took senior status Dec. 8 of last year and retired to become a private judge with JAMS on June 30.


A vacancy exits as a result of Justice Janice Rogers Brown leaving June 30 to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to which she was confirmed June 8. The names of First District Court of Appeal Justice Carol Corrigan and Third District Justice Vance Raye have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation.

First District

Presiding Justice Laurence Kay of Div. Four retired Aug. 31..

Second District

The governor Friday nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chavez to succeed Justice Michael Nott, who retired from Div. Two April 1.

Fourth District

Justice James D. Ward of Div. Two will retire Monday.

Fifth District

Justice Timothy Buckley retired Sept. 26.

Seats in other districts are filled.
Los Angeles Superior Court


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday named five new judges, leaving two vacancies on the court.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Robert P. Applegate was named to succeed Judge Meredith C. Taylor, who retired May 11; Deputy District Attorney Mike Camacho to replace Judge Ronnie B. MacLaren, who was named to the Alameda Superior Court in February after her husband took a job in Northern California; Long Beach Assistant City Prosecutor Daniel Murphy to succeed Judge Judith Abrams, who retired April 30; Margaret L. Oldendorf, senior staff counsel for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, to succeed Judge Frances Rothschild, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal April 4; and Otis D. Wright, a partner in the law firm of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker in Los Angeles, to replace Judge Lorna Parnell, who retired May 4.

The remaining openings stem from the Aug. 1 retirement of Judge Phillip Argento and the Aug. 7 retirement of Judge Gregory O'Brien. Another will occur when Judge Floyd Baxter retires tomorrow.

Judge Charles Lee is on 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 District Attorney Richard M. Goul, Commissioners Dennis Mulcahy, Harvey Silberman, Christina Hill and Loren DiFrank, Referee Steven Berman, U.S. District Court staff attorney Amy L. Lew, Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown, and Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman.

Commissioner Gary L. Bindman retired Oct. 11.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

�AB 415, by Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, which, as amended, extends to Jan. 1, 2007 the sunset date of legislation allowing non-California attorneys to appear in arbitration proceedings under certain circumstances. The bill was signed by the governor Oct. 6.

�AB 664, by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, which permits the Committee of Bar Examiners, for purposes of registration, and the State Bar, for purposes of providing an original or renewed license to practice law, to accept applications from individuals, such as foreign nationals, who are not eligible to obtain the social security number currently required by statute. The bill also specifically permits courts, which are required under current law to include the name and telephone number of a single local federally-funded legal services program in the notice sent to defendants in eviction actions, to substitute the name of a legal services program receiving Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts funds. It further clarifies that courts may include the name of more than one federally or IOLTA-funded legal services program on the notice. The bill was signed by the governor Oct. 6.

�SB 111, by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, which as amended permits prosecution of sex crimes against minors at any time prior to the victim's 28th birthday, replacing the current 10-year statute of limitations as well as the law permitting otherwise time-barred prosecutions to be brought, in some circumstances, up to one year after a police report is filed. The bill, which passed the Senate June 1 by a vote of 36-0, was amended in the Assembly Aug. 25. Prior to the amendment, the bill would have permitted prosecution up until the minor's 30th birthday. The Senate concurred in the Assembly amendments by a vote of 33-1 on Aug. 31, and the bill was signed by the governor Oct. 4.

�SB 442, by Sen. Joseph Simitian, D-Pittsburg, which as amended would increase the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court from $5,000 to $7,500 in most cases, would require �attorneys serving as temporary small claims judges to take a course given by the courts, and which passed the Senate May 31 by a vote of 24-14, was amended in the Assembly Aug. 15 and again Aug. 25. One amendment eliminated a provision that would have increased the filing fee for claims over $5,000; a portion of the increase would have gone to law libraries. The Senate concurred in the Assembly amendments by a vote of 32-8 Sept. 7, and the governor signed the bill into law Oct. 7. It takes effect Jan. 1.


 

 

 


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