There is one vacancy, in the seat of Judge Stephen Trott, who took senior status in 2004. Judge Raymond Fisher is taking senior status April 1.

There are no vacancies.

There are no vacancies.

Judge John Reid retired June 2, bringing to 22 the number of judicial vacancies on the 469-judge court.
One of the vacancies is a position that the Legislature authorized but has never funded.
The vacant seats were last occupied by Judges Gary E. Daigh, who retired July 16 of last year; Lyle M. MacKenzie, who retired Sept. 7 of last year; Charles Sheldon, whose last official workday was Nov. 13 of last year; Joseph DeVanon Jr, who retired this past Jan. 31; Phillip Hickok, who retired Feb. 4; Jan Greenberg Levine, who retired Feb. 13; and Dudley Gray, who retired Feb. 19.
Also Judges John S. Fisher, who retired Feb. 22; Peter Meeka, who stepped down March 29; Richard Adler, who left April 1; Stephanie Sautner and Linda K. Lefkowitz, both of whom retired April 5; Diane Wheatley, who retired April 16; and Beverly Reid O’Connell, who joined the federal bench April 30. Additionally, there are six vacancies resulting from the conversion of commissioner positions to judgeships.
Judge Dewey L. Falcone is retiring but does not have an official date.
Judge Edward A. Ferns is sitting on assignment in Div. Two of the Court of Appeal, Judge Rex Heeseman in Div. Three, and Judge John Segal in Div. Seven through the end of July. Judge Sanjay Kumar is sitting on assignment in Div. Five and Judge Brian Hoffstadt in Div. Six through the end of August.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible judicial appointees to the court are State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Beverly Bourne; Superior Court Commissioners Nicole Bershin, Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, David Cowan, Lloyd Loomis, Dennis Mulcahy and Kenneth Taylor; Referee Terry Truong; Deputy County Counsel Julie Ann Silva; Deputy Public Defenders Enrique Monguia, Lee W. Tsao and Johan ElFarrah; Deputy District Attorneys Teresa Tracy Sullivan, Kathleen Tuttle and Brentford Ferreira; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; Court of Appeal staff attorneys Kenneth E. Roberson and Kim Nguyen; Los Angeles attorneys Timothy Martella and Angel Navarro; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu.
The name of Ed Chau was sent to the commission prior to his election to the state Assembly.
There are three commissioner vacancies that have not been converted to judgeships. In addition, Commissioner Thomas Grodin is retiring tomorrow, Commissioner John Green on July 31, and Commissioner James Copelan on a date not yet determined.
Retired Judge George Dell died June 14 at the age of 88.

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

•AB 65, by Assemblymembers Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Los Angeles, which would extend the rape-by-impersonation statute to include one who deceives the victim into believing the defendant is the victim’s fiancÈ, fiancÈe, or cohabitant. As amended Feb. 20 and Feb. 25, the bill would extend to certain other sex crimes. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0. As amended in the Senate June 25, it would apply only to rape and sodomy, and not to oral copulation or to sexual penetration not amounting to rape.

•AB 140, by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which would supplement the definition of “undue influence” in both the Probate Code and the criminal elder abuse statutes. The bill passed the Assembly May 16 by a vote of 57-10 and was sent to the Senate, where it passed the Judiciary Committee June 25 by a vote of 6-1 as amended, and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 157, by Assemblymember Nora Campos, D-San Jose, which would allow a court issuing a protective order against domestic violence or harassment to include a provision barring the defendant from impersonating the plaintiff, operative July 1, 2014. The bill, which passed the Assembly May 2 by a vote of 75-0, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee June 4 by a vote of 6-0.

•AB 161, by Campos, D-San Jose,, which would specifically authorize a court in a domestic violence proceeding to issue an ex parte order restraining any party from cashing, borrowing against, canceling, transferring, or disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage held for the benefit of the parties and their child or children, if any, for whom support may be ordered. The bill passed the Assembly April 11 by a vote of 75-0, and was sent to the Senate, where it passed the Judiciary Committee June 4 by a vote of 6-0 and was amended June 10 to postpone the operative date to July 1 of next year.

•AB 184, by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, which would establish an extended statute of limitations in which to prosecute hit-and-run cases. The bill passed the Assembly May 29 by a vote of 76-0, passed the Senate Committee on Public Safety June 25 by a vote of 7-0, and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 246, by Assemblymember Steven Bradford, D-Inglewood, which would amend the Brown Act to allow local legislative bodies to meet with the governor in secret to discuss issues of “public security.” The bill, which passed the Assembly April 15 by a vote of 69-5, passed the Senate June 3 by a vote of 32-4 and was signed by the governor June 24.

•AB 307, by Campos, which would expand the list of crimes that may result in a 10-year protective order, in addition to penalties provided by law upon conviction, to include specified sex crimes, including rape, spousal rape, and crimes for which a person is required to register as a sex offender. The bill passed the Assembly April 25 by a vote of 76-0, and passed the Senate Public Safety Committee June 18 by a vote of 6-0.

•AB 381, by Assemblymember Ed Chau, D-Alhambra, which would expand the definition of elder of dependent-adult financial abuse and add reasonable attorney fee awards to the remedies available in civil actions regarding such abuse. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 15 by a vote of 77-0, was amended and re-referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it passed June 4 by a vote of 6-0.

•AB 499, by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which, as amended, would permit an anti-harassment injunction to be entered, or renewed, for a maximum of five years, rather than three years as under current law. It would also provide that such an injunction is valid for five years if the court does not specify a shorter period. The bill passed the Assembly April 18 by a vote of 76-0 and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee June 4 by a vote of 6-0, and was amended in the Senate June 18 to postpone the operative date to July 1 of next year.

•AB 1401, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which, as amended in the Senate June 10, would allow aliens who are lawful permanent residents to serve on juries. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 25 by a vote of 45-26, was re-referred to the Judiciary Committee following its amendment by the Senate.

•SB 55, by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, which would establish requirements regarding installation of ignition interlock devices by repeat drunk drivers. The bill passed the Senate May 29 by a vote of 38-0, and was referred to the committees on Public Safety and Transportation in the Assembly June 14.

•SB 59, by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as introduced, would extend the rape-by-impersonation statute to include one who deceives the victim into believing the defendant is the victim’s “intimate sexual partner.” As amended in the Senate Feb. 14, the bill would be expanded to other crimes involving sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration and would apply to any person who impersonates the victim’s “sexual partner,” defined as any individual with whom the victim has had consensual sexual contact. The bill passed the Senate April 22 by a vote of 38-0, and was sent to the Assembly, where it passed the Public Safety Committee June 18 by a vote of 4-0 and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•SB 315, by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which would expand the circumstances under which a party in a civil case may appear by telephone to include all conferences, hearings, and proceedings other than trials or trial readiness conference. The court could still order personal appearances on a hearing-by-hearing basis. The bill passed the Senate May 20 by a vote of 36-0 and was sent to the Assembly, where a Judiciary Committee hearing was postponed June 5.

•SB 649, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which would reduce penalties for possession of some controlled substances. The bill passed the Senate May 2 by a vote of 23-14 and was sent to the Assembly, where it passed the Public Safety Committee June 12 by a vote of 5-2.