June
30,
2014

A report on where
things
stand



Scott Yun Becomes Newest Bankruptcy Judge in Central District of California...Two Judicial Contests Go to Runoffs, as Incumbent Judge James Pierce Loses Seat..Justice Marvin Baxter Says He Will Not Seek New Term



Judicial Elections

Thirteen new judges were elected—three without opposition—on June 3, with two contests going to runoffs:
•Office No. 22, Amy Carter (Sex Crimes Prosecutor) defeated Pamala F. Matsumoto (Litigation Attorney) for the seat last held by Judge Michael Solner, who retired in February.
•Office No. 48, Carol Rose (Child Molestation Prosecutor) defeated Charles M. Calderon (Retired Lawmaker Assemblymember), for the seat last held by Judge Ronald Sohigian, who retired in April..
•Office No. 54, Shannon L. Knight (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) defeated Debra L. Losnick (Superior Court Commissioner), for the seat now held by Judge Lance Ito.
•Office No. 61, Dayan Mathai (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) and Jacqueline H. Lewis (Superior Court Commissioner), qualified for a runoff, eliminating B. Otis Felder (Los Angeles Prosecutor). The winner will succeed Judge Michael Nash.
•Office No. 72, Chris J. Frisco (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), was elected without opposition to the seat now held by Judge Joseph DiLoreto.
•Office No. 76, Alison Matsumoto Estrada (Government Corruption Prosecutor) defeated Helen Kim (Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat now held by Judge Harvey Giss.
•Office No. 82, Ann H. Park (Criminal Prosecutor) was elected unopposed to the seat now held by Judge Arthur M. Lew.
•Office No. 87, Andrew M. Stein (Gang Homicide Attorney) and Tom Griego (Criminal Gang Prosecutor) qualified for a runoff, eliminating Steven P. Schreiner (Gang Homicide Prosecutor). The winner will succeed Judge Rex Heeseman.
•Office No. 90, Serena R. Murillo (Sexual Predator Prosecutor) was elected unopposed to the seat now held by Judge Daniel Lopez.
•Office No. 97, Teresa Pineda Magno (Gang Murder Prosecutor) defeated Songhai “Sunny” Armsted (Supervising Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat formerly held by Judge David Milton, who retired in February.
•Office No. 107, Joan M. Chrostek (Major Narcotics Prosecutor) defeated Emma Castro (Superior Court Commissioner) for the seat now held by Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr.
•Office No. 113, Stacy Wiese (Criminal Homicide Prosecutor) defeated Steven Klaif (Superior Court Referee) for the seat last held by Judge R. Bruce Minto, who retired in March.
•Office No. 117, Carol Najera (Violent Crimes Prosecutor) defeated James B. Pierce (Judge of the Superior Court).
•Office No. 138, Donna Hollingsworth Armstrong (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) defeated Marc A. Gibbons (Trial Attorney) for the seat formerly held by Judge Carlos Uranga, who retired in April.
•Office No. 157, Andrew Cooper (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) defeated Arnold William Mednick (Retired Court Referee) for the seat formerly held by Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers, who retired in February.


Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

David Tamman
Suspended Attorney

Tamman, a former partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, has a reply brief due today in his appeal from his conviction and seven-year prison sentence for obstructing two Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
The Santa Monica resident was convicted on Nov. 13, 2012 in U.S. District Court of all 10 counts of an indictment charging him with trying to prevent the SEC from discovering that his client was running a Ponzi scheme.
Following a two-week bench trial, Tamman was found guilty of one count of conspiring to obstruct justice, five counts of altering documents, one count of being an accessory after the fact to his client’s mail and securities fraud crimes, and three counts of aiding and abetting the client’s false testimony before the SEC.
The client, former fund manager and radio personality John Farahi, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for running the scheme, which involved false promises that investors’ money—more than $24 million was collected, prosecutors said—would be invested in corporate bonds backed by the Troubled Assets Relief Program.
Tamman, who had left the firm while the SEC was investigating, is suing Nixon Peabody, contending that he was “thrown under the bus” by the firm, so that his partners could get their hands on his $1.5 million book of business.
The firm contends that it acted properly in firing him when it learned that he was under investigation by the SEC and had not disclosed that fact to the firm, and in cooperating with the SEC.
Tamman’s interim suspension from the State Bar took effect Feb. 18 of last year. An additional suspension for not paying bar dues took effect last July 2.


Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments




Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

A ceremonial investiture for the court’s newest judge, Michelle T. Friedland, was held in San Francisco June 13. Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, for whom Friedland once worked as a law clerk, administered the oath of office.

 

U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. was nominated April 3 to succeed Judge Gary Feess, who took senior status March 13.
Scott Yun, a shareholder at the law firm of Stutman, Treister & Glatt, was sworn in as a bankruptcy judge June 23.
Services were held June 9 for retired Bankruptcy Judge Arthur M. Greenwald, who died June 4.




Justice Joyce L. Kennard retired April 5. Justice Marvin Baxter announced June 18 that he will not seek retention in November’s election.


First District

Presiding Justice James Marchiano retired from Div. One March 15 of last year. Justice James Lambden retired from Div. Two July 31 of last year.

Second District

Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein of Div. Three is not seeking retention. Her term will end Jan. 5.
Presiding Justice Robert Mallano retired from Div. One and Justice Steven Suzukawa from Div. Four Feb. 28.
Justice Frank Jackson retired from Div. Seven June 30 of last year. Justice Orville Armstrong retired from Div. Five July 31 of last year.
Justice Kathryn Doi Todd retired from Div. Two Jan. 22 of last year. Justice Paul Coffee retired from Div. Six Jan. 31, 2012.
Among those whose names have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Ventura Superior Court Judge Tari Cody; Los Angeles Superior Court Judges John Segal, Luis Lavin, Helen Bendix, Brian Hoffstadt, Lee Edmon, and Sanjay Kumar; U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins; and Southwestern Law School professor Christopher Cameron. Also, the name of Justice Frances Rothschild has been sent to the commission as a nominee for elevation to presiding justice in Div. One.

Third District

There has been a vacancy since Tani Cantil-Sakauye became chief justice in January 2011. Those whose names have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation reportedly include San Joaquin Superior Court Judge George Abdallah and Sacramento Superior Court Judges Thadd Blizzard, Helena Gweon, David Abbott, David DeAlba and Kevin Culhane.

Fifith District

Justice Rebecca Wiseman retired Oct. 31 of last year.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed eight new judges July 18—former County Bar President Richard J. Burdge Jr., civil attorneys Rupert A. Byrdsong and Christopher K. Lui, Superior Court Commissioner David J. Cowan, former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Brian S. Currey, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherilyn P. Garnett, and Deputy Public Defenders Enrique Monguia and Gustavo N. Sztraicher.
Burdge succeeds Judge Shari K. Silver, who retired Aug. 1 of last year. Byrdsong and Garnett fill vacancies created by conversion of court commissioner positions last year.
Lui succeeds Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell, who joined the federal bench April 30. Cowan fills the vacancy created when Judge Diane Wheatley retired April 16 of last year.
Currey replaces Judge Lawrence Mira, who stepped down last July 24. Monguia is the successor to Judge Dewey L. Falcone, who retired May 8 of last year and died Aug. 15.
Sztraicher succeeds Judge John Reid, who retired June 2 of last year.
Judge Janice Croft retired Feb. 18, Judges David Milton and Michael Solner Feb. 19, Judge Jessica Silvers Feb. 20, Judge John Meigs March 7, Judge R. Bruce Minto March 31, Judge Candace Beason April 15, Judge Ronald Sohigian April 16, Judge Carlos Uranga April 30, and Judge Wendy L. Kohn June 6.
Vacancies created last year that have not been filled include the seats of Judge Charles W. McCoy, who retired Sept. 1, and Judge Cynthia Rayvis, who took disability retirement Aug. 22 and died Dec. 28.
There is a vacancy in a position that the Legislature authorized but has never funded, and five commissioner positions have been converted to judgeships that have not yet been filled. Presiding
Judge David Wesley said he will ask the Legislature to convert seven more commissioner vacancies—resulting from the retirements of Commissioners James Endman, Anthony Jones, John Green, Carol Halowitz, and James Copeland, as well as the appointments of Joel Wallenstein and Lloyd Loomis to judgeships—to judgeships. Another commissioner, Louise Halevy, is on long-term sick leave.
A more recent commissioner vacancy, resulting from the judicial appointment of Commissioner David Cowan, will be filled by electing a new commissioner. Also, Commissioner Mitchell Block is retiring today.
Earlier this month, the court elected three new commissioners—Nancy Ramirez, western regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Deputy Public Defender William L. Sadler; and Robert Palazzolo of the Glendale firm Holmes & Holmes.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible judicial appointees to judgeships are Court of Appeal staff attorneys Frank J. Menetrez, Kenneth E. Roberson and Kim Nguyen; Superior Court Commissioners Collette Serio, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, Dennis Mulcahy and Kenneth Taylor; Deputy District Attorneys Candace Foy Smith, Leonard Torrealba, Kathleen Tuttle and Brentford Ferreira; State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn; Deputy County Counsels Terry Truong and Julie Ann Silva; Deputy Public DefenderJohan ElFarrah; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; 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.
Funeral Services were held June 15 for retired Judge Reginald A. Dunn, who died May 29. Services were to be held this past weekend for retired Judges Juleann K. Cathey, who died May 29, and Raymond Cardenas, who died June 22.


Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

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

AB 296 by Assemblymember Donald Wagner, R-Tustin, which, as passed last year in the Assembly, would have permitted a lawyer with a military spouse or domestic partner to receive a provisional license permitting the practice of law as long as the spouse or partner remains on active duty in the state, subject to various conditions. The bill was amended in the Senate June 13 by deleting all of the Assembly-passed language and replacing it with unrelated content.

AB 515 by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento. The bill would codify procedures for writ review in cases under the California Environmental Quality Act. It passed the Assembly in January by a vote of 64-4. It was amended in the Senate June 5 to eliminate an unfunded mandate on local governments. A Senate committee hearing set for June 15 was cancelled at the request of the author.

AB 2098 by Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, which would provide that a military veteran’s service-connected mental illness be treated as a mitigating factor in whether to impose the low, middle, or high base prison term under the Determinate Sentencing Law. A provision of the original bill that would have made such illness a mitigating factor in death penalty cases was eliminated in the Assembly by amendment. As amended, the bill passed the Assembly 73-0 April 7. The bill, with amendments, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee June 10 by a vote of 6-0.

AB 2171 by Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, which would grant residents of residential care facilities for the elderly many of the legal protections now given to residents of nursing homes. The bill passed the Assembly May 28 by a vote of 42-20 and was sent to the Senate, where it was amended June 15 to add additional enforcement provisions.

AB 2746 by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the State Bar dues bill for next year. As amended in the Assembly, the bill increases the voluntary contribution for legal services for low-income persons. The bill passed the Assembly May 15 by a vote of 76-0. As amended in the Senate June 18, dues would be increased by $7 in order to pay administrative costs.

AJR 1 by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, which would request that a federal constitutional convention be convened to consider an amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, limit corporate personhood, and allow limitations on spending for political purposes. The measure, which passed the Assembly last year, passed the Senate June 23 by a vote of 23-11, making California the second state to call for such a convention. The Constitution requires that a convention be held if approved by two-thirds of the states.

SB 406 by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, the Tribal Court Civil Judgment Act, passed the Senate Jan. 23 by a vote of 33-0, passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee June 17 by a vote of 10-0, and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.


SB 794 by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which would reduce the number of peremptory challenges in misdemeanor cases. The bill passed the Senate Jan. 28 by a vote of 21-11 and was sent to the Assembly. A hearing set to take place in the Assembly Public Safety Committee June 24 was cancelled at the author’s request.

SB 1010 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, which would eliminate disparities in sentencing for crimes involving crack cocaine and those involving the same amount of powder cocaine. The bill passed the Senate May 28 by a vote of 21-12 and passed the Public Safety Committee in the Assembly June 17 by a vote of 5-1, and was sent to the Appropriations Committee.

SB 1058 by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. The bill would expand the definition of “false evidence,” for purposes of obtaining habeas corpus relief, to include expert opinion that has been repudiated by the expert or disproven by technological advances. The bill passed the Senate in April, was amended in the Assembly June 4 to specify that it does not expand civil liability that might be imposed on any such expert beyond that which exists under present law, passed the Assembly June 23 by a vote of 61-7, and was sent to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments.

SB 1188 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would expand the definition of fraud or deceit in the Consumer Legal Remedies Act to include the suppression or omission of a material fact by one who is bound to disclose it or who gives information of other facts that are likely to mislead for want of communication of that fact, and would provide that a fact is material if a reasonable person would attach importance to its existence or nonexistence in determining a choice of action in the transaction in question. The bill was amended May 20 to clarify that it does not “expand or restrict warranty rights or obligations,” and was passed May 28 by a vote of 21-14 and sent to the Assembly, where a Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for June 24 was cancelled at the request of the author.



 

 

 


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