By a MetNews Staff Writer

The Commission on Judicial Performance yesterday slated a Sept. 18 hearing in Santa Ana on charges that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick B. Murphy was derelict in his duties by missing more than 500 days of work over a four-year period.

The commission also identified the three jurists appointed by the Supreme Court to preside over the hearing as special masters. The three, all justices of the Court of Appeal, are Richard D. Huffman of the Fourth District's Div. One; Carol A. Corrigan of the First District's Div. Three, and Art W. McKinster of the Fourth District's Div. Two.

Commission trial lawyers Jack Coyle and William Smith will present the evidence against Murphy, the commission said in a release. The commission also disclosed that Murphy, who has been represented at prior stages of the proceedings by attorneys Eugene Moses and James Freidhofer, is now representing himself.

In his formal response to the commission, filed in April, Murphy argues that the charges violate Art. I, Sec. 8 of the state Constitution, which prohibit discrimination based on sex, race, creed, color, or national or ethnic origin. Murphy did not indicate which of those categories might apply to him.

He also claimed violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the workers' compensation law, and the Americans With Disabilities Act. FEHA bars discrimination on the bases set forth in Sec. 8, or on the basis of age, disability, or sexual orientation.

The judge has claimed in the past that he was unable to work due to cardiac- and stress-related problems. The judge acknowledged in his filing that he has had "significant periods of absence" from the bench, although he said he doesn't have sufficient memory or records to ascertain the actual number of days.

Murphy admitted that he was continually absent from September of last year to April 3, when he took up his current assignment hearing traffic cases at the Metropolitan Court on Hill Street in Los Angeles. But he said the commission had failed to differentiate between unacceptable reasons for absence and those which are legitimate, such as "family emergency, professional activities elsewhere, educational programs, illness [and] disability."

Murphy did not specify which of those reasons covered his own absences. Records obtained by reporters appear to indicate that he enrolled briefly at a medical school on the Caribbean island of Dominica, and at Cleveland College of Chiropractic in Los Angeles, while away from the bench.

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000
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Murphy Hearing on Dereliction Continued by Commission on Judicial Performance

A Sept. 18 special masters' hearing into dereliction-of-duty allegations against Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick B. Murphy has been continued indefinitely, the Commission on Judicial Performance said yesterday.

The commission gave no reason for the postponement.

Court of Appeal Justices Richard D. Huffman of the Fourth District's Div. One, Carol A. Corrigan of the First District's Div. Three, and Art W. McKinster of the Fourth District's Div. Two were to hear the case next Monday in Santa Ana.

Murphy, who has been represented at prior stages of the proceedings by attorneys Eugene Moses and James Freidhofer, is now representing himself. The jurist filed a formal response in March, while Freidhofer was his attorney.

Murphy did not deny that he missed more than 500 court days between 1996 and the day the charges were filed. But the commission, Murphy said, failed to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate reasons for absence. And he accused the state's judicial watchdog agency of violating a number of employment discrimination laws, including the Americans With Disabilities Act.

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Friday, Nov. 3, 2000
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Commission on Judicial Performance Reschedules Murphy Hearing for January

A hearing on charges by the Commission on Judicial Performance against Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick B. Murphy has been rescheduled, the commission disclosed yesterday.

The hearing into allegations that Murphy abandoned his duties was to have taken place in September but was postponed for reasons that were never publicly disclosed. The hearing will now commence on Monday, Jan. 22 at the Fourth District Court of Appeal building in Riverside.

The state Supreme Court previously appointed Court of Appeal Justices Art W. McKinster of the Fourth District's Div. Two, Richard Huffman of the Fourth District's Div. One, and Carol A. Corrigan of the First District's Div. One as special masters to conduct the hearing. Huffman has since withdrawn and been replaced by Justice Betty Ann Richli of the Fourth District's Div. Two.