Bascue, 75, pled not guilty Sept. 4 to a single count of assault with a firearm for allegedly firing a shot at police officers who came to his home in the Sawtelle neighborhood of Los Angeles in June after a call that Bascue himself made. A pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 13 before assigned Orange Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals.
Bascue served on the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1990 to 2007 and was the court’s presiding judge in 2001 and 2002.
Bascue’s attorneys told City News Service the judge’s conduct in the June incident was alcohol-related. They previously said he was receiving treatment at an unspecified location.
Goethals has ordered that Bascue wear an alcohol monitor and not possess firearms while awaiting trial. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where Bascue served as chief deputy in the 1980s, has recused itself from the case, which is being prosecuted by the state attorney general.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, on Sept. 22, submitted a proposed final default judgment holding Lee liable for disgorgement, interest, and penalties totaling nearly $8.5 million.
Prosecutors in the related criminal case previously reported that Lee is incarcerated in South Korea.
He was indicted Sept. 3 of last year by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana. He is accused of running an investment scheme that defrauded foreign investors seeking permanent resident status in the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
The SEC complaint, filed the same day as the indictment, names Lee; his wife, Rebecca Tawwon Lee; disbarred Los Angeles attorney Thomas Edward Kent; and five companies allegedly controlled by Lee as defendants. It alleges that the defendants raised more than $11 million from investors seeking to participate in the EB-5 program, used the money improperly to finance other ventures, and lied to the government in order to conceal their failure to meet the EB-5 program’s job-creation requirements.
Rebecca Lee has pled the Fifth Amendment in those proceedings. The proceedings as to Kent were stayed last October, and he agreed earlier this month to entry of final judgment for disgorgement and penalties totaling $205,000.
The civil and criminal allegations against Justin Lee are similar to those raised in State Bar disciplinary proceedings filed in January 2013. In a 38-page response, he acknowledged responsibility for “errors and/or mistakes” in the handling of EB-5 investments, but largely denied the State Bar’s charges and sought to deflect blame to Kent.
Lee has been a State Bar member since 1997, but has been under suspension for nonpayment of dues since July 1 of last year, and was suspended from practicing before the U.S. District Court for the Central District on Dec. 22.

There are no vacancies, but one will be created when Judge Harry Pregerson takes senior status on Dec. 11, when he will complete 44 years of active service on the federal courts. The judge turns 92 years of age next month.

President Obama, on July 16, nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Young to succeed Judge Audrey B. Collins, who retired Aug. 1 of last year to join the state Court of Appeal.
Judge Margaret Morrow is taking senior status Oct. 29, and Judge Dean Pregerson is doing so Jan. 28.

There are no vacancies.

Judge Reva Goetz retired Sept. 21.
Earlier vacancies resulted from the retirements last year of Judges Antonio Barreto Jr. Sept. 5, Steven Ogden Sept. 24, James Steele Sept. 30, and Leslie A. Dunn Nov. 10; the elevations of Judges Lee Edmon on Jan. 5 of this year and Judges John Segal and Luis Lavin last month to the Court of Appeal; and this year’s retirements of Judges Thomas White Feb. 19; Ronald Rose March 20; and Patrick Hegarty and Patricia Schnegg March 31, Arthur Jean, Owen Kwong, and Ronald Skyers April 30, Leland Harris May 8, Alan Goodman July 30, Thomas McKnew July 31, Tia Fisher Aug. 1, and Richard Stone Aug. 28.

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

•AB 139 by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, which would authorize the use of revocable transfer-on-death deeds so that real estate may be transferred without probate upon the death of the transferee. The Assembly voted 78-0 on Sept. 1 to concur in Senate amendments, and the governor signed the bill into law Sept. 21.

•AB 182 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, which would broaden the scope of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 by allowing courts to create a remedy for racially polarized voting within local government districts, as well as within jurisdictions that vote at-large. The bill, which passed the Assembly May 11 by a vote of 53-25, passed the Senate Sept. 3 by a vote of 26-14. The Assembly concurred in Senate amendments Sept. 8 by a vote of 53-24, and the bill was sent to the governor Sept. 17.

•AB 256 by Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, which would extend the criminal statute regarding falsification of evidence to cover the destruction or concealment of an electronic record for the purpose of keeping it from being used in court. The bill passed the Assembly May 11 by a vote of 79-0 and was sent to the Senate, which passed it Sept. 2 by a vote of 40-0. The Assembly concurred in Senate amendments Sept. 4 by a vote of 79-0, and the bill was sent to the governor Sept. 16.

•AB 691 by Assemblymember Ian Calderon, D-Industry, which would establish a process, under probate court supervision, by which an individual may determine how much of his or her electronically stored personal information will be made public after his or her death. The bill passed the Assembly 78-0 on May 11 and was sent to the Senate, where it was amended July 1. Among other things, the amendments would extend service providers’ immunity to disclosures made in accordance with the legislation, even if not ordered by a court. The bill was further amended Sept. 4, re-referred to the Rules and Judiciary committees Sept. 9, and ordered to the Senate inactive file Sept. 11.

•AB 703 by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, which would establish minimum qualifications for the appointment of attorneys in dependency cases. The bill passed the Assembly April 27 by a vote of 78-0 and was sent to the Senate, which passed it Sept. 2 by a vote of 29-11. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 14.

•AB 1028 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, which would eliminate the prohibition against the administration of oaths and affirmations by former judges who retired due to disability. As amended, all former judges—unless removed from office by the Commission on Judicial Performance—would be allowed to administer oaths after obtaining a certificate from the CJP declaring the ex-judge does not suffer from an impairment affecting the ability to administer oaths. The bill passed the Assembly June 2 by a vote of 78-0, and was sent to the Senate, where it passed on Aug. 31 by a vote of 39-1. The bill was signed into law Sept. 21.

•SB 134 by Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Los Angeles, which, as amended, would provide that a percentage of escheated IOLTA funds be used to fund a student loan repayment program for public interest lawyers The Assembly amended the bill Sept. 3 and passed it Sept. 8 by a vote of 65-13, sending it to the Senate, which concurred in Assembly amendments Sept. 10 39-0. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 11.

•SB 229 by Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, which, as amended, would fund 12 of the 50 superior court judgeships that were previously authorized by the Legislature, including one in Los Angeles County. A provision to create an eighth seat on Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal was eliminated by amendment in the Assembly, which passed the bill Sept. 2 by a vote of 80-0. The Senate concurred in Assembly amendments Sept. 3 by a vote of 38-0, and the bill was sent to the governor Sept. 9.

•SB 504 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles, which would ease requirements for the sealing of juvenile delinquency records. The bill passed the Senate June 2 by a vote of 25-13, and was sent to the Assembly, where it passed Aug. 31 by a vote of 58-19. The Senate concurred in Assembly amendments Sept. 1 by a vote of 26-14, and the bill was sent to the governor Sept. 3.

•SB 588 by Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin DeLeon, D-Los Angeles, which would permit the Labor Commissioner to enforce orders for payment of wages as if they were civil judgments. The bill was amended in the Assembly on Sept. 1 and Sept. 4, and passed on Sept. 8 by a vote of 58-18. The Senate concurred in Assembly amendments Sept 10 by a vote of 28-11, and the bill was sent to the governor Sept. 16.

•SB 682 by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which would limit the authority of trial courts to privatize services previously performed by employees. As amended May 5, the bill would apply only to a new contract, not the renewal or extension of an existing one. The bill passed the Senate June 2 by a vote of 24-14 and was sent to the Assembly, where it passed Sept. 2 by a vote of 51-28 and was sent back to the Senate, which concurred in Assembly amendments Sept. 3 by a vote of 25-13. The bill was sent to the governor Sept. 9.

•SB 711 by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Vacaville, which would authorize county law libraries to charge for “special services” such as photocopying and admission to special events. The bill passed the Assembly Aug. 27 by a vote of 78-0, and was sent back to the Senate, which concurred in Assembly amendments Sept. 1 by a vote of 40-0. The bill was signed into law Sept. 21.