End of the Month

Superior Court Judge Robert Sandoval Returns to Work After Treatment for Cancer... Governor Signs Bill Expanding Hearsay Exception...Judge Reginald Yates Ill and Not Expected to
Return to Court

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Vicki M. Roberts
Attorney and former Superior Court candidate

Roberts, who lost a runoff to David Mintz for an open seat on the Superior Court in November 2000, was charged in May of last year with misdemeanor counts of arson and conspiracy in connection with an alleged arson-for-profit scheme.

ROBERTS

Roberts told the METNEWS that the allegations are false, and that she has "never seen" the building in question.

Roberts' home was searched in December 1998, pursuant to a warrant. Investigators removed about 45 boxes of documents, including records Roberts claims are subject to the attorney-client and work-product privileges.

Roberts, who is represented by Los Angeles attorney Richard Sherman, demurred to the complaint. The demurrer is pending, as is a motion to disqualify the District Attorney's Office for conflict of interest.

Roberts has also sued the city of Los Angeles and the District Attorney's Office, claiming the search of her home violated her civil rights. U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson dismissed the action, based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine prohibiting lower federal courts from interfering in state judicial proceedings.

In her appeal, which is currently pending before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Roberts argues that an exception to the doctrine applies because she was not given a full and fair hearing on her constitutional claims in state court.

Judicial Elections

Four Los Angeles Superior Court judges will be elected Nov. 5 in runoff elections.

• Office No. 2 - Deputy District Attorney Hank Goldberg faces Santa Monica lawyer Joseph Deering, running as an "Eldercare Attorney."

Deering is using the services of Crotty Consulting of San Diego. The winner will succeed retired Judge Michael Pirosh.

DEERING GOLDBERG

• Office No. 39 - Deputy District Attorneys Richard Naranjo and Craig Renetzky face a runoff for the seat of Judge Richard Spann, who did not run for reelection. Naranjo will be listed on the Novermber ballot as "Criminal Prosecutor," Renetzky-who recently began teaching law-related courses at Valley College, part of the Los Angeles Community College District-will be designated as "Prosecutor/Law Professor." Fred Huebscher is his consultant.

RENETZKY NARANJO

• Office No. 67 - State Bar Court Judge Paul Bacigalupo faces Deputy District Attorney David Gelfound in the runoff. A ruling this month by the Court of Appeal allowed Bacigalupo to keep the designation "Judge, State Bar," which a supporter of Gelfound's challenged as likely to mislead voters into thinking the candidate was an incumbent judge. Consultants working on the campaigns are Huebscher for Gelfound and Garcia-McCoy-Lee for Bacigalupo. The winner will succeed retired Judge David Finkel.

BACIGALUPO GELFOUND

• Office No. 100 - Deputy District Attorney Richard Walmark and Workers' Compensation Judge John C. Gutierrez will be the runoff candidates. Walmark will be listed on the ballot as "Criminal Trial Prosecutor" and Gutierrez as "Administrative Law Judge," as he was in the primary. Gutierrez tried to change his designation to "Judge, Administrative Law" but was turned down by the registrar. Huebscher is Walmark's consultant, while Mark Siegel is doing Gutierrez's campaign. The winner will succeed Judge Reginald Dunn, who is retiring Dec. 17 to become a private judge.

GUTIERREZ WALMARK

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the court, the most recent being a result of Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez taking senior status June 1. Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1 of last year, Judge Procter Hug Jr. on Jan. 1 of this year, and the late Judge Charles Wiggins on Dec. 31, 1996.

President Bush on May 23 nominated Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, a former law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, to succeed Hug. He has not yet had a confirmation hearing.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl was tapped by Bush last year to succeed Browning. Kuhl has not received a confirmation hearing, reportedly because Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will not sign a "blue slip." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has declined to schedule confirmation hearings for judicial nominees without the approval of both senators from a nominee's home state.

Kuhl, 48, is a six-year veteran of the Superior Court bench. She previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, and worked in the office of the solicitor general during the Reagan administration.

She clerked for Anthony J. Kennedy, then a Ninth Circuit judge, after graduation from Duke University School of Law.

President Bush on July 18 nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judges S. James Otero and Gary Klausner to fill two of the four vacancies on the court.

Otero would succeed Judge Richard Paez, elevated to the Ninth Circuit in March 2000. Klausner would fill a vacancy created by William Keller's taking senior status Oct. 29, 1999.

Other vacancies resulted from Judge Carlos Moreno's confirmation as a California Supreme Court justice Oct. 17 of last year and Judge J. Spencer Letts taking senior status Dec. 19, 2000.

There are no vacancies.

This District (Second District)

There is one vacancy in newly created Div. Eight. The names of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Charles Lee, Richard Rico, and Aurelio Munoz have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as potential appointees to the post.

Fourth District

Divs. One and Div. Two each have a vacancy created by SB 1857, which took effect Jan. 1 of last year. Div. Three has a vacancy created by the June 1, 2001 retirement of Justice Thomas Crosby.

Sixth District

Presiding Justice Christopher Cottle retired Aug. 31 of last year. Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian is the acting presiding justice.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

There are 12 vacancies on the court, the most recent resulting from the retirements of Judges David Horowitz and Robert Letteau Sept. 4 and William Garner Sept. 24.

Judge Theodore D. Piatt retired July 31, Judge Thomas Simpson retired July 1, Judge Juleann Cathey was granted disability retirement at the end of June, Judge Leslie Light retired June 1, Judge Debra Yang resigned May 10 to become U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Judge Ann Kough retired May 15, Judge J.D. Smith retired April 4, Judge Michael Pirosh retired in February, and Judge David Finkel retired in January.

Further vacancies are scheduled with the retirements of Alban I. Niles Oct. 4 and Reginald Dunn Dec. 17.

Judge Michael Kanner's term expires Jan. 6. Kanner, who did not run for reelection, will be succeeded by Deputy District Attorney Lauren Weis, who won the seat in the March primary.

Judge Richard Spann is also slated to leave office Jan. 6. Deputy District Attorneys Richard Naranjo and Craig Renetzky are in a runoff for the seat.

The court is without the services of Judges Aurelio Munoz, assigned to this district's Court of Appeal through the end of next month; Pamela Rogers, who had neck surgery last October; and Reginald Yates, who is seriously ill and not expected to return to the court. Judge Robert Sandoval has returned to work following treatment for liver cancer.

Nicholas Taubert, formerly a staff attorney with the Department of Child Support Services, was elected a commissioner this month and will be sworn in tomorrow.

Results are due Friday in the runoff election for two commissioner positions.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following legislation was acted upon by the Legislature in August:

•AB 2055, by Assemblyman Robert Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would eliminate the "work product" protection for lawyers "when a lawyer is suspected of crime or fraud in any official investigation or proceeding or action brought by a public prosecutor ... if the services of the lawyer were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit a crime or fraud." The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 11.

•AB 2211, by Assemblyman Jerome Horton, D-Inglewood, which would require the Judicial Council to study the potential effects of a policy requiring courts to consider community impact statements at criminal sentencing hearings. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 9.

•AB 2238, by Assemblyman Richard Dickerson, R-Redding, which prohibits any person from knowingly posting personal information about a judge or other public official-or the official's spouse or child-on the Internet knowing that person is an elected or appointed official and intending or threatening imminent physical harm to that individual. It also creates a task force to study how to protect a public safety official's home information. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 17.

•AB 2263, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would require the Judicial Council to study the effectiveness of expanding a program which assists children while their parents are in family court obtaining a divorce or legal separation. The study could use up to $50,000 from the Judicial Council's budget. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 10.

•AB 2470 , by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which allows hearsay evidence of a statement made by a minor under 12 years old who is the subject or victim in certain types of cases. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 19.

•SB 1316, by the Senate Judiciary Committee, makes numerous changes in the law to account for the abolition of the municipal courts. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 21.

•SB 1396, by Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove, which would enact the Superior Court Law Enforcement Act of 2002, which among other things would require the presiding judge of any county to develop an annual court security plan. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 3.

•SB 1459, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Monterey Park, which, among other things, makes any person who has resigned from the State Bar, regardless of whether charges were pending, guilty of a crime if that person advertises or holds himself out as being entitled to practice law. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 5.

•SB 1628, by Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Jose, which requires a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to an attorney general, district attorney or city attorney who prevails in a civil action to enforce an environmental law. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 5.

•SB 1732, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, which would provide that counties are responsible for providing suitable court facilities, while the state is responsible for funding court operations. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 10.

•SB 1897, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, which allows the State Bar to move ahead with plans to spin off the Conference of Delegates into an independent organization. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 6.