Wednesday, March 4, 2026
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LASC Judge Draper, Facing CJP Charges, Perfects Candidacy for Reelection
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Beleaguered Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert S. Draper, the subject of a probe by the Commission on Judicial Performance that could result in his removal from office for misconduct or placement on a disability retirement, has filed his nominating petition and will face at least one challenger in the June 2 primary.
Draper, 83, filed the petition late Monday, perfecting his candidacy. Also filing that day for Draper’s seat, Office No. 2, was Deputy District Attorney Tal K. Valbuena.
Private practitioner Allan L. Dollison has filed a declaration of an intent to run for that office and has taken out a nominating petition, but had not filed it by mid-afternoon yesterday. The deadline is Friday.
There had been speculation that Draper might drop out to spare himself increased public attention to the charges against him that would be occasioned by an election contest. Had Draper not returned his nominating petition, the period for filing would have been extended by five days, allowing others to enter the race.
Charges Against Draper
The commission on Jan. 14 notified Draper:
“[Y]ou are charged with willful misconduct in office, persistent failure or inability to perform your duties, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute, and improper action….”
The notice says that Draper’s conduct has contravened canons of ethics but adds:
“In the alternative, your conduct constitutes evidence of a disability that seriously interferes with the performance of your duties and is, or is likely to become, permanent.”
Appellate Court Decision
Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal on Draper on April 7, 2025, reversed a $10 million judgment based on comments at trial by Draper which then-Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes, now retired, described as “extreme and bizarre.”
She said of his rulings:
“[W]hile we do not know whether, as defendants contend, Judge Draper’s ‘persistent racial and gender bias’ motivated his rulings at trial, we cannot rule out that possibility….We need not decide whether bias was the reason for his arbitrary and capricious evidentiary rulings; the rulings were an abuse of discretion irrespective of his motivations. One thing we can say for sure is, the rulings were not motivated by a devotion to the law of evidence.”
Dollison Remains Silent
Dollison has been declared by the Army to be a disabled veteran. However, he has declined to discuss the nature of his disability and why it would not affect his fitness to perform judicial duties. On Jan. 22, 2001, the State Bar publicly reported that Dollison had “stipulated to 16 counts of misconduct in four consolidated cases: three counts each of failing to perform legal services competently or respond to client inquiries and improperly withdrawing from representation, and two counts each of failing to return client files, refund unearned fees and cooperate with the bar’s investigation.”
It noted that he had been under the care of a psychiatrist.
The candidate will not reveal when such treatment ended or if it is continuing.
Draper is one of two Los Angeles Superior Court judges facing challenges, and one other judge faces a potential contest. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Pat Connolly and Deputy District Attorney Paul A. Thompson will do battle in the primary.
Thompson cites Connolly’s run-ins with the Commission on Judicial Performance, leading to one private admonishment and two public scoldings. There was no misconduct of a major nature.
Dan “Z-Man” Kapelovitz, whose law firm is called “The Radical Law Center” and is located in no office, has taken out a nominating petition to run against Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Walgren. He has also taken out a petition for an open seat and has declared candidacy for the post of state attorney, but most recently has said he is leaning toward running against Walgren, whom he accuses of being pro-prosecution.
Copyright 2026, Metropolitan News Company