End of the Month

Judge Rejects Superior Court Candidate Ameli’s Bid to Change Ballot Designation...Karabian Faces Oct. 13 Pretrial Conference on Charge of Striking Parking Attendant With Car...Riverside Superior Court Judge Codrington, Nominated for Court of Appeal, to Sit There by Assignment

Judicial Elections

Runoff elections are scheduled Nov. 2 for two open seats on the court: (Official ballot designations in parentheses.):

• Office No. 28—Randy Hammock (Superior Court Referee) and Mark K Ameli (Litigator/ Mediator/ Arbitrator) were the top two vote-getters and face a November runoff for the seat from which Judge Emily Stevens retired May 11. On Sept. 2, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe denied Ameli’s petition for a writ of mandate directing election officials to accept a change in his ballot designation from Arbitrator/Mediator/Litigator, which he used in the primary, to Superior Court Litigator. Campaign consultants working in the race are David Gould for Ameli and Jill Barad for Hammock.

• Office No. 117—Alan Schneider (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) and Tom Griego (Criminal Prosecutor) face a runoff for the seat now held by Judge William Pounders. Fred Huebscher is Schneider’s consultant, while Parke Skelton is working for Griego.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Harvey Silberman
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Pretrial motions brought by Silberman and two campaign consultants are scheduled to be heard Oct. 15 by Orange Superior Court Judge Richard King. The three are charged with offering an inducement to Deputy District Attorney Serena Murillo, Silberman’s 2008 opponent, to get out of the race.

The defendants have waived their speedy trial rights for 60 days from that date.

King, who is hearing the case as an assigned Los Angeles Superior Court judge, earlier dismissed charges against the three defendants of soliciting bribes, but denied their motions to throw out related election-law charges. A writ petition seeking to have those dismissed as well was denied by this district’s Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.

Walter Karabian
Attorney and Former Legislator

Karabian, a onetime majority leader of the California Assembly, has a pretrial conference scheduled Oct. 13 in East Los Angeles on a misdemeanor charge of assault with a deadly weapon. The case has been continued several times.

Karabian allegedly hit a parking attendant with his car during a USC football game last year. Prosecutors charge that he tried to drive his car into a parking structure at Exposition Park at around noon on Dec. 5 but was stopped by the attendant, who told him he did not have the proper permit, and that he intentionally struck her with the car.

Ricardo A. Torres II
Attorney

Torres—whose family is well known in legal and political circles, and who abandoned his law practice and left the country earlier this year—was suspended from the State Bar Sept. 1 for non-payment of dues.

He was already ineligible to practice, having tendered his resignation on July 12 in the face of disciplinary charges.

The State Bar filed charges against Torres in April, accusing him of failing to return an unearned $15,000 fee that he obtained from a client and falsely telling the client that he had obtained a dismissal when in fact the prosecution chose not to file. He was also accused of failure to cooperate with the State Bar investigation.

Mitchell Roth
Former Los Angeles Superior Court Candidate

Roth, a candidate for the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2004, last month stipulated to a $1.1 million judgment, plus injunctive relief, in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Jerry Brown in July of last year. The suit had been stalled because Roth declared bankruptcy.

The attorney general charged Roth and foreclosure consultant Paul Noe Jr. with having defrauded some 2,000 desperate homeowners into paying exorbitant fees for “phony lawsuits” to forestall foreclosure proceedings.

Roth did not admit wrongdoing, but the complaint alleges that the suits were filed and abandoned, even though homeowners were charged $1,800 in upfront fees, at least $1,200 per month, and contingency fees of up to 80 percent of a home’s value.

The Los Angeles Superior Court assumed jurisdiction over Roth’s law practice in February of last year, allowing the State Bar to take control of his Sherman Oaks, San Diego and Riverside law offices. The State Bar said Roth had been hospitalized due to severe depression and that a takeover of his practice was necessary to protect his clients.

Roth did not contest the takeover or the State Bar’s subsequent motion to place him on involuntary inactive status, which was granted by State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn. Roth tendered his resignation from the State Bar on May 29 of last year rather than face disciplinary charges.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 23 approved, by a party-line vote of 12-7, the resubmitted nomination of UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to fill an open position on the court. The previous nomination was returned by the Senate when it left Washington for the summer congressional recess.

On May 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted by the same margin to approve the prior nomination. Liu was unanimously rated “exceptionally well qualified” by the American Bar Association’s evaluating committee, but Republicans object that he is too liberal.

U.S. District Judge Mary H. Murguia of the District of Arizona, nominated to succeed Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, who took senior status Feb. 12, was approved by the Judiciary Committee Aug. 5. Her nomination was held over by unanimous consent of the Senate, so it did not have to be resubmitted.

There are two other vacant seats, previously held by Judge Stephen Trott, who took senior status in 2004, and Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, who took senior status June 12.

There are two vacancies, for which no nominations have been made. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper died Jan. 15 and Judge Stephen G. Larson resigned Nov. 2 of last year to join the law firm of Girardi | Keese.

Judge A. Howard Matz is scheduled to take senior status next year on July 11.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments on Aug. 25 confirmed the nomination of Third District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to succeed Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who will leave office at the end of his term in January.

Voters will decide Nov. 2 whether to elect Cantil-Sakauye as chief justice for a 12-year term by voting Yes or No. If she is not elected by a simple majority, the next governor will nominate a new chief justice.

Third District

Justice Rodney Davis retired Feb. 16 of last year, Presiding Justice Arthur G. Scotland is retiring today, and Justice Richard Sims III said he will retire no later than January of next year.

The name of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jaime R. Roman has been sent to the JNE Commission as a possible appointee to the court.

Fourth District

Justice Barton Gaut retired from Div. Two Feb. 28. Voters will decide in November whether to elect the governor’s nominee, Riverside Superior Court Judge Carol Codrington, to fill the seat for a 12-year term commencing in January.

Codrington is scheduled to sit on the court by assignment beginning Nov. 8.

Fifth District

Voters will decide in November whether to elevate Justice Brad Hill to succeed Presiding Justice James Ardaiz, who chose not to seek retention. If a majority vote in favor, Hill will succeed Ardaiz in January..

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

There are five vacancies on the court.

Judge Emily Stevens retired May 11, Judge Paul Gutman died June 13, Judge Richard Wolfe died Aug. 29, Judge Gregg Marcus retired Sept. 8, and Judge Eudon Ferrell retired Sept. 16.

Judge David Yaffe is retiring Nov. 1. His last day in court is scheduled to be Oct. 8.

Judge Harvey Silberman is disqualified while under felony indictment. Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell is on temporary assignment to the Court of Appeal.

Retired Judge Robert O’Brien is sitting in the downtown Writs and Receivers Department in place of Judge James Chalfant, who is on medical leave.

Retired Judge James Kalin is sitting in the Appellate Division while Judge Sanjay Kumar is on temporary assignment to the Court of Appeal.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Century City attorney Robert B. Broadbelt III; Los Angeles attorneys David B. Bloom and H. Clay Jacke II; Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla Ford; former Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, now in private practice; former Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Vaughn, now a managing director of the litigation and consulting firm FTI Consulting, Inc.; criminal defense specialist Steven Cron of Santa Monica; Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Gary Geuss; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorneys Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorneys General Steven D. Matthews, Emilio E. Varanini IV, Victoria Wilson, Paul Roadarmel Jr., Robert S. Henry and Kenneth Byrne; Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand; Deputy District Attorneys Andrea Thompson, Teresa Sullivan, Sean Hassett, Frances D. Young, Jennifer Lentz Snyder, Joseph Markus, Steven I. Katz, Alison S. Matsumoto, Jeffrey Gootman and John D. Harlan II; Commissioners Lia Martin, Michele Fleurer, Cynthia Zuzga, John Slawson, Rocky L. Crabb, Joel Wallenstein, Dennis Mulcahy, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Steven Berman, Mark Zuckman and Loren DiFrank; U.S. District Court attorney Amy L. Lew; Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown; Deputy Federal Public Defender Angel Navarro; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jerome J. Haig; Deputy Public Defender Lisa Brackelmans; Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer Martin Joseph Murphy; Los Angeles attorneys David Herriford, Philip J. Ganz Jr., Marshall Mintz, Howard Fields, Michael Wilner, Shan K. Thever, John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman; Pasadena attorneys Anthony de los Reyes and Warren Gilbert; Glendale attorney Mark J. MacCarley; Tujunga lawyer John K. Raleigh; Woodland Hills attorney John Cha; Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl; and Karlene Goller, counsel for the Los Angeles Times.

Commissioner Dennis Shanklin retired on March 15 and Commissioner Murray Gross on March 31.

Commissioner Patrick Larkin is on medical leave.

Commissioners Marc Lauper and Lori Jones retired at the end of April.

Commissioner Ralph Olson retired June 28 and Commissioner Nicholas Taubert June 30. There are also commissioner vacancies as a result of the judicial appointments of Michael Convey on June 30 and Scott M. Gordon April 8.

As many as seven of the commissioner vacancies could be converted to judgeships.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following bills of interest to the legal community were acted upon in September:

•AB 15, by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, which would have required a judge, in accepting a guilty or no contest plea in a criminal case, to advise the defendant of the potential consequences in the event the defendant is deported and reenters the country illegally. The governor vetoed the bill Sept. 24, saying it “goes too far in advising a criminal defendant about the consequences of future criminality.

•AB 674, by Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista, which will establish a deferred entry of judgment program and a preconviction drug diversion program for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, and who commit specified offenses. The bill was signed into law by the governor Sept. 25.

•AB 939, by the Committee on the Judiciary, which, as amended, will make certain changes in family law procedure. Among the changes would be a requirement that the court hear live testimony, absent a finding that it is unnecessary to do so, and a requirement that the court award attorney fees and costs if it finds that a disparity exists between the parties in terms of access to counsel and ability to pay. The bill would direct a social worker to draw no inference regarding the credibility of allegations of child abuse from the mere existence of a child custody or visitation dispute, and would also provide an exception to the confidentiality of child welfare agency records for certain participants in family law and probate guardianship cases. The governor signed the bill into law Sept. 25.

•AB 1280, by Assemblyman Mike Villines, R-Fresno, which will make it a felony, punishable by life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, for a child’s caregiver or custodian to assault the child, causing paralysis or causing the child to become comatose, if the child is less than eight years old. The governor signed the bill into law Sept. 25.

•SB 399, by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, which would, under limited circumstances, have allowed a judge to reduce the term of a defendant who has served 10 years or more of a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a crime committed when the defendant was under the age of 18. The bill, which passed the Senate in June of last year, was refused passage by the Assembly Aug. 24 on a vote of 34-38, but was kept alive on a motion to reconsider. The Assembly, however, rejected the bill on reconsideration Aug. 30, effectively killing it.

•SB 877, by Sen. Tom Harman, R-Costa Mesa, which will extend to Jan. 1, 2013 the sunset date for a provision of the State Bar Act allowing an attorney admitted to practice in another state to represent a party to a California arbitration, with the permission of the arbitrator. The governor signed the bill into law Sept. 24.