2016 End of Year

Friday, December 30, 2016

Page 11

2016 IN REVIEW

END OF THE YEAR:

Court Says Federal Law Criminalizing Unauthorized Wearing of Medals Violates Constitution...President Obama Nominates Judge Lucy Koh to Serve on the Ninth Circuit...Los Angeles County Supervisors Vote to Not Appeal Injunction Barring Cross From County Seal...Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Budget Including $600 Million for State Courts...Michael Meyer Elected President-Elect of LACBA

January

4—The California Supreme Court gave a green light to a ballot measure seeking voters’ views as to whether Congress should call a constitutional convention to propose amendments that would restrict political contributions by corporations in federal elections.

5—The Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld the kidnapping conviction of a man who broke into the home of his former girlfriend and carried off their infant child, driving off with her. The court pointed to testimony that he said he intended to sell the child, saying the illegality of purpose put the case within an exception to the usual rule that a parent cannot kidnap his own child...Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Mary Katherine McComb as state public defender.

6—The State Bar of California said that it had hired the firm of Hueston Hennigan LLP to represent it in the wrongful termination suit filed by its former executive director, Joseph Dunn.

7— A federal law criminalizing the unauthorized wearing of military medals violates the First Amendment, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled en banc. In an 8-3 decision, the court said 18 U.S.C. §704(a) violates the First Amendment because mere falsity isn’t enough to justify a ban on a particular type of speech, and the law goes further than is necessary to prevent abuse.

14—The Court of Appeal for this district upheld trial court orders mandating that the Los Angeles Zoo take specified measures to improve the conditions of its elephants, but declined to shut the elephant exhibit entirely. Div. Eight, in a 2-1 decision, held that a taxpayer suit is a proper vehicle to enjoin the violation of criminal statutes. But the court also said there was substantial evidence to support the ruling of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Segal—later elevated to the Court of Appeal—that some of the statutes the plaintiffs accused the zoo of infringing were either inapplicable or not violated.

25—San Mateo Superior Court Judge Joseph E. Bergeron, was publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance based on incidents in which he repeatedly tossed a crumpled calendar at a clerk, complained loudly about another clerk who did not return a voicemail message from him, and made improper remarks to a female deputy district attorney.

28—An attorney’s declaration of fault in support of a motion to set aside a default need not detail the reasons for the attorney’s “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect,” the Court of Appeal for this district ruled.

31—Justice Jeffrey King retired from the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Div. Two to become a private judge.

February

2—The City of Maywood legally disbanded its police department and is not liable to its former officers, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled.

3—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt said she will not be a candidate for election to a new term.

4—A judge’s use of vulgar and disrespectful language in addressing defense counsel in a capital case violated ethics rules, but did not deprive the defendant of a fair trial, the state Supreme Court ruled, as it unanimously affirmed the death sentence imposed on Louis Peoples for four murders that occurred in the Stockton area in October and November 1997. The judge in question, Alameda Superior Court Judge Michael Platt, was later removed from office on unrelated charges…The justices unanimously upheld the death penalty for Jose Lupercio Casares, sentenced in Tulare County in 1992 for the 1989 shooting murder of Guadalupe Sanchez, the defendant’s cocaine supplier, in the back of the head after a robbery.

5—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen O. Diesman said she would not seek reelection.

7—Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Birney Jr. died at 84.

11—The California Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence for a man who killed his estranged wife’s mother and cousin, along with a man she was dating. The court said there was sufficient evidence of Huber Mendoza’s competence to stand trial. The justices also held that Mendoza’s absence from portions of his trial was harmless even if, as the defendant claimed, he was suffering from mental illness that prevented him from making a competent choice to absent himself from the courtroom…Retired Downey Municipal Court Judge Leon Emerson died at the age of 90.

15—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel L. Brenner was struck and killed by an automobile while crossing a street. He was 64.

16—Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert L. Roberson Jr. died at the age of 84.

17—The Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Stuart Scott for an ex parte conversation with a prosecutor. The conversation, in which Scott critiqued the deputy district attorney’s trial skills and made deprecating remarks about her opposing counsel, after the case had been tried but before sentence was imposed, “undermined the integrity of the judiciary and the fair administration of justice,” the commission said in its decision.

22—Two superior court judges tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown for elevation to the Court of Appeal won confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Martin Tangeman was confirmed as associate justice in this district’s Div. Six, filling a seat that had been vacant since Justice Paul Coffee retired four years ago. San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Marsha G. Slough won approval to fill the seat recently vacated by the retirement of Justice Betty Richli from the Fourth District’s Div. Two.

25—President Obama nominated U.S. District Judge Lucy Haeran Koh of the Northern District of California to serve on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals….A partial stay of proceedings, with the parties allowed to conduct mediation and complete discovery, did not toll the five-year period in which to bring the case to trial, the California Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision.

26—The Los Angeles Superior Court elected Timothy Weiner, Robert Wada, James Blancarte and Karin Borzakian as commissioners….Victims of Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks are entitled to attach a $2.8 million judgment the Iranian Defense Ministry won against a U.S. company, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled....A 2012 executive order by President Obama makes clear that the judgment is a “blocked asset” that can be attached under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, the court said.

March

1—The use of an out-of-state witness’ conditional examination testimony at a Solano Superior Court trial violated the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause, because the prosecutor made no effort to produce the witness for trial, the First District Court of Appeal ruled.

2—Sheriff’s deputies violated the constitutional rights of a homeless couple by making a warrantless entry into the shack in which they were living, and are liable for damages they suffered as a result of being shot, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.The judges upheld a $4 million damage award to Angel Mendez and Jennifer Lynn Garcia, rejecting Los Angeles County lawyers’ contention that deputies Christopher Conley and Jennifer Pederson were entitled to qualified immunity.

3—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell said she intends to retire April 30.

4—Judges and judicial candidates may attend political events featuring candidates for nonjudicial office, but have an affirmative duty to guard against the use of their names or judicial titles to advance the interests of such candidates, the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions said.

10—Retired Culver Municipal Court Judge Harold I. Cherness died at the age of 93.

14—The Los Angeles Superior Court will move from its leased courthouse space at Sixth Street and Occidental Boulevard to the U.S. Courthouse on Spring St., likely beginning next year, Presiding Judge Carolyn Kuhl told the court’s judicial officers.

17—An unsuccessful 2012 challenger to an incumbent judge was fined after admitting that he failed to disclose the actual source of a campaign donation, with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J.D. Lord playing a central role in the transaction....The Fair Political Practices Commission approved a stipulation under which Manhattan Beach attorney Kenneth Hughey, 83, and his committee, Hughey 4 Judge 2012, were fined $4,500 for failing to report the true source of a campaign contribution. The donor of $50,000, Harbor Financial Services, Inc., a Wyoming real estate investment company—over which Lord had at least partial control—was fined $2,000 for failing to file a major donor campaign statement.

19—Funeral services were held for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Hugh C. Gardner III, who died Feb. 25 at the age of 73.

23—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick Connolly received a public admonishment from the Commission on Judicial Performance based on bellicose conduct toward a criminal defense attorney. The CJP said Connolly held an “unauthorized” set of post-trial hearings regarding attorney Freddie Fletcher’s accusation that a courtroom observer saw a prosecutor signaling a police officer who was testifying as to how to answer a question by shaking her head. Connolly improperly held the hearings without issuing an order to show cause, excluded Fletcher from an evidentiary hearing, held ex parte conferences with the prosecutor, and summoned transcripts from Long Beach to gain information concerning Fletcher’s conduct in another judge’s courtroom.

30—Court of Appeal Justice Richard Mosk of this district’s Div. Five announced, at an oral argument session, that he was retiring from the court….Shirley M. Hufstedler, who left the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to become the first U.S. secretary of education, died at the age of 90.

April

4—The California Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot deny a worker a place to sit just because they prefer the person stand. The court also said it must consider the employee’s work station, not their overall duties, when determining whether to provide a seat... The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by suspended Woodland Hills attorney Marilyn Scheer to the constituitonality of the State Bar’s disciplinary procedures—including the adjudicatory role of the State Bar’s administrative review tribunal and the lack of mandatory review in the state Supreme Court.

6 —Immigration attorney Annaluisa Padilla is chosen by the Nominating Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for the position of vice president. That puts her on the leadership ladder and, if the committee’s choices do not draw opposition, she will become president in 2019-20.... Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye named Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dalila Corral Lyons as a voting member of the Judicial Council of California. She replaces retiring Judge Emilie Elias. Judge Scott Gordon replaces Lyons as an advisory member.

7—Judge Christina Snyder of the Central District of California permanently enjoined Los Angeles County from including a cross on its county seal.

8—Arbitrator Edward L. Infante dismisses all of former Executive Director Joseph L. Dunn’s claims against the State Bar. Infante said Dunn’s allegations that the State Bar terminated him in violation of the Labor Code whistleblower provision, and that it breached fiduciary duties and the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in his employment contract, were deficient but could potentially be cured by amendment.

11—Steve Kim, a regional managing director of Stroz Friedberg, LLC, was formally appointed and sworn in as U.S. magistrate judge for the Central District of California. He succeeds Judge Carla M. Woehrle, who retired.

13—Loyola Law School announces Michael Waterstone will become dean and senior vice president of the school, effective June 1. The previous dean, Victor Gold, served from 2009 to June 2015, when he retired and returned to fulltime teaching. Paul T. Hayden served as the interim dean.

14—Gov. Jerry Brown named Stacie Spector of San Diego a public member of the State Bar of California Board of Trustees.

14—Education Code provisions entitling teachers to tenure after two years of employment, and enacting procedural hurdles to the discharge of ineffective teachers, are constitutional, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled.

15—A judge determining a claim of attorney-client privilege cannot review the contents of a communication in order to determine whether the privilege applies, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled.

17—Robert H. McNeill Jr., a Los Angeles lawyer and name partner in the law firm of Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, died at the age of 75.

21—Funeral services were held for Justice Richard Mosk, who died April 17 at the age of 76.

29—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jane Luecke Johnson left the bench in anticipation of her retirement May 23. She was appointed to her seat in 2000 by then-Gov. Gray Davis.... It was also the last day of work for Judge Emilie Elias, who was to officially retire May 9. She joined the court in 1989 as a commissioner and was appointed to a judgeship by Gov. Davis in 2000.

May

2—Funeral services were held for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Roberta W. Lee, who died April 29 at the age of 77.... The state senate passed SB 1065, by Sen. Bill Monning, D-Santa Cruz, which bars appeals from orders denying petitions to compel arbitration when the plaintiff raises a statutory elder abuse claim and has been granted a trial preference on the ground that he or she is over 70 years of age or terminally ill.

5—A lawsuit charging a hospital with negligently contributing to injuries that a patient suffered in a fall in her room is subject to the special statute of limitations for medical injury suits, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled. Reversing Div. Three of this district’s Court of Appeal, the court threw out Catherine Flores’ suit against Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. Justice Leondra R. Kruger said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvonne T. Sanchez was correct in holding that the suit was untimely.

6—The Los Angeles County Bar Association released the official list of officer and trustee candidates for 2016-2017, which includes the first contested election of a president-elect in 35 years. Michael K. Lindsey, a corporate and transactional lawyer at Steinbrecher & Span downtown, will face Michael E. Meyer, a real estate attorney who is a former vice president of LACBA and chairs the Los Angeles offices of DLA Piper. The current president-elect, Margaret Stevens, becomes president July 1.

9—Carrying a loaded gun in a backpack strapped to the body is no different from carrying it in the clothes a person is wearing, for purposes of a state law making it illegal to carry a gun “on the person” in a public place, the state Supreme Court ruled.... State election officials release a list of 169 prospective delegates from California to the Republican National Convention which includes Los Angeles attorney William Daniel Johnson—a white supremacist who ran for the Los Angeles Superior Court eight years ago as “Bill Johnson.”

11—Los Angeles attorney and avowed racial supremacist William D. Johnson confirms he has resigned from the slate of Republican National Convention delegate candidates pledged to Donald Trump. The Trump campaign released a statement blaming a “database error” for the inclusion of Johnson on its delegate list, saying he had been rejected and removed from the campaign’s list in February 2016.

12—Justice James A. McIntyre of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, announced his intention to retire June 30.... Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth Black died at the age of 66.

13—Judicial Council finance director Zlatko Theodorovic told the council’s Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee that California Gov. Jerry Brown is budgeting $12.4 million to help several courts update their case management software. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza is named director of the Los Angeles County Office of Diversion and Reentry.

16—The Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jaime R. Román for abuse of his authority and violation of due process rights in connection with contempt proceedings, imposition of sanctions, and other actions on four occasions between 2010 and 2012.

17—California Women Lawyers announced its selection of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Fujie as this year’s recipient of the Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award.

18—The Los Angeles County Bar Association Elections Committee restores attorney Philp Lam as a candidate for senior vice president, and Edwin Summers III as a candidate trustee.

19—Deputy District Attorney Alfred Coletta launched his campaign for election to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2018.

23—The California Judges Association announced that it had worked out a deal with the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown under which efforts will cease to gain the Legislature’s repeal of a statute providing for automatic pay hikes for judges based on the average salary increase of other state employees.

24—The Court of Appeal for this district found an attorney in contempt based on insults he hurled at the justices—termed by him the “Grandads of Anarchy”—in a petition for rehearing.Div. Six, in an unpublished opinion by Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert, said it was imposing a $1,000 fine on Douglas J. Crawford and was reporting him to the State Bar for possible disciplinary action.

June

1—The California Supreme Court adopted rule changes under which published or partially published Court of Appeal opinions will not be automatically decertified upon the granting of review, but will have persuasive value only.

2—The Los Angeles Superior Court named Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Kristen Byrdsong, Deputy Public Defender Cherol Nellon, Deputy District Attorney Steven Ipson, Deputy District Attorney Maria Santos, and Long Beach attorney Angela Villegas as commissioners.

4—Funeral services were held for Philip L. Goar, a long-time judicial staff attorney for this district’s Court of Appeal. He died May 26 at the age of 73.

8—The California Supreme Court issued an alternative writ of mandate in the case of Ventura Superior Court Judge Nancy Ayers. The high court, without dissent, ordered the Commission on Judicial Performance to either withdraw the “stinger” letter that it issued to Ayers for keeping a service dog she was training in her courtroom, or to explain by July 7 why it should not be ordered to do so.... Los Angeles Superior Court judges James Kaddo, Ray Santana, and Kathryn Solorzano won re-election.... A former Los Angeles Superior Court candidate incarcerated for smuggling drugs to a client in jail agreed to be disbarred. Stephen Beecher, 64, had been on interim suspension since April of last year, following his conviction on the drug charge.

12—Attorney fees that an insured expended in order to obtain benefits that the insurer denied in bad faith are an item of compensatory damages for the purpose of calculating the ratio of compensatory to punitive damages, even if they were added to the award after the jury verdict, the state Supreme Court ruled.

13—Michael E. Meyer was elected president-elect of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Meyer headed a slate of candidates backed by the recently formed Council of Sections, all of whose candidates were elected.The senior vice president for the 2016-2017 term will be Philip H. Lam, intellectual property counsel to Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Feuer. He defeated David K. Reinert, a deputy district attorney and the current vice president. Tamila Jensen, a sole practitioner and former San Fernando Valley Bar Association president defeated Annaluisa Padilla, an immigration attorney, for the post now held by Reinert. Members elected council-backed candidates Bradley Pauley, chairman of the Appellate Courts Section, and Ronald Brot, who chairs the Family Law Section, as at-large trustees. Also elected was litigator Diana K. Rodgers, who was a Nominating Committee choice. Elected to represent sections were John F. Hartigan and Marc L. Sallus—both of whom were Nominating Committee choices also endorsed by the council—and William L. Winslow. Nominating Committee choice Roxanne Wilson was defeated. Elected to represent affiliated bar associations were Angela Reddock, a Nominating Committee selection, and Richard Lewis and Edwin Summers, who were nominated by petition.

17—Arbitrator Edward L. Infante revived claims brought against the State Bar by its former executive director, Joseph L. Dunn. Infante dismissed all of Dunn’s claims in April but granted leave to amend with respect to three of them. As amended, Infante found Dunn had alleged viable claims that the State Bar terminated him in violation of the Labor Code whistleblower provision, and that it breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in his employment contract.

21—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 not to appeal a permanent injunction barring the county from including a cross on the county seal.

22—The Los Angeles County Bar Association Board of Trustees voted to approve incoming president Margaret Stevens’ selections of Duncan Crabtree-Ireland as treasurer and Sarah Luppen Fowler, Annaluisa Padilla, and Roxanne Wilson as assistant vice presidents.

23—The California Supreme Court said a rule that protects manufacturers from liability, when their products have been incorporated into a new product that is held defective, is inapplicable when it is the component part that causes injury.

27—Gov. Jerry Brown signed a $122.5 billion state budget that includes more than $600 million for the state’s courts.

28—Gov. Jerry Brown named 18 new judges to the state’s trial courts. His appointments included Maria Davalos, Dean Hansell, David E. Hizami, Lisa R. Jaskol, Andrew C. Kim, LaRonda J. McCoy and William L. Sadle for the Los Angeles Superior Court.

July

1—U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips succeeds George H. King as the new chief judge of the Central District of California.

6—Los Angeles attorney Peter R. Navarro was elected as the Superior Court’s newest commissioner.... The National Center for the State Courts announced its selection of Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Officer/Clerk Sherri R. Carter as the 2016 recipient of its NCSC Distinguished Service Award.

12—The Los Angeles County Bar Association posed a financial statement indicating its total net assets have dropped from $4.6 million as of the end of 2014 to $3.6 million as of last Dec. 31.

13—The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was set to holds a hearing on U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh’s nomination to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.... The California Supreme Court formally dismissed the pending disciplinary charges against Ventura Superior Court Judge Nancy Ayers for keeping a service dog she was training in her courtroom.

19—Gov. Jerry Brown reappointed Coby A. King, a former Los Angeles attorney turned lobbyist and public affairs strategist, to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.

20—Funeral services are held for Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ralph Dau, who died July 14 at the age of 78.

22—The State Bar Board of Governors elected James P. Fox as president for 2016-17. Fox will be its 46th president, succeeding David Pasternak Oct. 1. Fox will be succeeded as vice president by Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers, and Jason Lee of Los Angeles, an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission, will be treasurer.

26—County Bar President Margaret Stevens nominated Chief Bankruptcy Judge Sheri Bluebond of the Central District of California as one of the organization’s assistant vice presidents. If confirmed by the Board of Trustees at its retreat/orientation meeting, Bluebond would succeed Sarah Luppen Fowler.

27—The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of a suspended Sacramento-area attorney on multiple tax-related charges. Donald M. Wanland Jr., 58, is serving a 46-month sentence for crimes that included tax evasion, failing to file tax returns, and removing, depositing, and concealing assets from the IRS in defiance of a levy.

30—Retired Court of Appeal Justice Jack E. Goertzen died at the age of 85.

August

2—The Governance in the Public Interest Task Force, headed by State Bar President David Pasternak, issued a report recommending that the State Bar have no lawyer-elected members. The Task Force also suggested increasing the number of non-lawyers on the board—there are now six—and trimming the overall size of the board.

15—A bill that would require all law students to complete 50 hours of supervised pro bono service before admission to the State Bar passed the state Senate.

18—A prosecutor’s alleged failure to correct a grand jury witness’s false testimony does not entitle a now-disbarred San Jose lawyer to a new trial on money laundering charges, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The panel affirmed the convictions of Jamie Harmon, also known as Jamie Harley, on five counts of money laundering.

24— Arguments took place before the Commission on Judicial Performance in the case against Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund W. Clarke Jr. Clarke is accused of having demeaned potential jurors who were seeking to be excused from sitting in a four-defendant, gang-related murder case.... The California Supreme Court ordered the disbarment of a San Diego attorney who brought pepper spray and a stun gun—which he discharged near opposing counsel—to a deposition. Douglas J. Crawford also called a trial judge “sick and demented,” among other insults, in court papers.

25—Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye announced that Supreme Court Clerk/Administrator Frank A. McGuire will be retiring at the end of September.... Beverly Hills attorney Benjamin Lawson Adams pled not guilty to criminal charges stemming from allegations he had sex with a 14-year-old boy.

September

1—The State Bar announced that it will seek an order assessing fees on California lawyers to support the organization’s 2017 operations, since the Legislature adjourned without approving its due authority.

7—Justice Alex C. McDonald of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Div. One, died at the age of 79....Southwestern Law School announced that Michael Carter will becomes its vice president and chief operating officer on Oct. 10. Carter had held the same positions at the California Institute of the Arts.

8—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Henning retired.

14— Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye announced the selection of Jorge E. Navarrete as the new clerk/administrator for the Supreme Court, effective Oct. 1.....Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Kevin Brazile, 58, and Michael Vicencia, 52, submitted nomination forms to be the next assistant presiding judge.

17— Funeral services were held for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sherman W. Smith Jr. He died Sept. 4 at the age of 72.

29—The Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund W. Clarke Jr. for comments made to and about potential jurors during jury selection. The commission said Clarke’s comments to four venire members were “discourteous and undignified,” and that he had acted improperly in requiring one of them—who had criticized her treatment by the courtroom clerk—to remain in the hallway after excusing her from service in that trial. Charges related to a fifth prospective juror were rejected, in accordance with the findings of a panel of special masters.

October

5—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile was elected as the court’s next assistant presiding judge....The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the convictions of Sangjin Miller Oh — a former City Council member and mayor of Buena Park — for perjury in connection with obtaining a second driver’s license, in a different name, in order to evade his child support obligations.

6—The State Bar reported that its Board of Trustees has adopted a proposed new ethics rule regarding the special duties of prosecutors, specifically addressing their responsibility to disclose evidence to the defense.

8—Funeral services were held for attorney D. Michael “Mike” Lyden. He died of cancer on Sept. 16 at the age of 75.

13—Funeral services were held for retired California Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas. He died Sept. 28 at the age of 89....The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was investigating former State Bar President Anthony P. Capozzi—but it declined to say what for.

14—The Commission on Judicial Performance filed misconduct charges against San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep. The judge is accused of engaging in partisan political activity after becoming a judicial candidate; violating campaign finance laws; practicing law after becoming a judge; making racist, sexist, crude, and demeaning remarks in court; and improperly asking a prosecutor to have a police officer investigate an allegation made in a civil case.

16—Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael P. Farrell died at the age of 78.

19—The Commission on Judicial Performance brought misconduct charges against Alameda Superior Court Commissioner Taylor Culver. The commission alleged that Culver, who presides over traffic court in downtown Oakland, routinely speaks to defendants in a sarcastic manner, and sometimes giving an appearance of a pro-police bias.

20—Beverly Hills Bar Association Chief Executive Officer Marc R. Staenberg, attorney/civic leader Alan Skobin and state Treasurer John Chiang were chosen as the Metropolitan News-Enterprise 2016 “persons of the year.”

25—Retired Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer died at the age of 96. Spencer led this district’s Div. One for 27 years and was the first African American woman appointed to the bench in California.

November

1—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen retired.

4—Funeral services were held for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Harold Vites, who died Oct. 28 at the age of 73....The state Attorney General’s office announced that charges have been brought against Mary Yehlen Brooks, a disbarred Kansas attorney, for defrauding immigrants seeking citizenship by not performing services for which she had been paid....The Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association announced they will be phasing out the group’s Civil Mediation Project.

7—The State Bar is not required to release personal and academic data on bar exam applicants to a UCLA law professor, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled. Judge Mary E. Wiss said releasing the data to Richard Sander would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

9—Deputy District Attorneys Debra R. Archuleta, Efrain Matthew Aceves and Susan Jung Townsend won election to the Los Angeles Superior Court, as did Deputy Attorney General Kim L. Nguyen.

13—Funeral services were held for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab. He died of heart failure on Nov. 10, at the age of 74.

17—Funeral services were held for Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Barry D. Kohn. He died Nov. 6 at the age of 73....Authorities in Colombia announced the safe rescue of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Benny Osorio. The judge had been kidnapped almost a week prior while on vacation in the South American nation....LACBA Chief Executive Officer Sally Suchil announced her resignation, effective Jan. 13.

18—The California Supreme Court ordered the State Bar’s 187,551 active members to pay a $297 assessment next year in the wake of the Legislature not passing an annual dues bill.

22—Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Soussan Bruguera announced her plans to retire on Dec. 15.

December

3—A memorial tribute to retired Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer was held at her alma mater, Southwestern Law School.

9—The Fourth District Court of Appeal rules that sanctions may not be imposed on an attorney for advising his client not to answer specific questions at a judgment debtor examination.

19—The Commission on Judicial Performance closed its investigation of Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in connection with his sentencing of a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus.

20—The Commission on Judicial Performance approved a settlement with former Alameda Superior Court Commissioner Taylor Culver, who agreed never to again seek election or appointment as a bench officer, or to sit as a judge pro tem or referee, resolving misconduct charges brought by the CJP two months ago.

23—A statute permitting a party to recuse a judge on remand following a successful appeal, even if it has previously used its one allowed peremptory challenge against another jurist, only applies where the appeal was from a final order, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled....Gov. Jerry Brown named 22 lawyers and court commissioners to superior court vacancies, including six to the Los Angeles Superior Court. Appointed here were Firdaus F. Dordi, Mark H. Epstein, Ruben N. Garcia, Gary I. Micon, Kevin S. Rosenberg and P. Tamu Usher. Brown also elevated San Diego Superior Court Judge William S. Dato to the Fourth District’s Div. One; Riverside Superior Court Judge Richard T. Fields to the Fourth District’s Div. Two; and Fresno Superior Court Judge Kathleen Meehan to the Fifth District.