End of the Month

Bar Court Judge, Three Prosecutors Win Judicial Runoffs...Klausner Confirmed As U.S. District Judge...State Bar Initiates Proceedings Against Former Judge Patrick B. Murphy

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Patrick B. Murphy
Attorney and former Superior Court judge

Murphy, who resigned from the Los Angeles Superior Court in May of last year while on the verge of being removed from office, reinstated his State Bar membership on July 1 of this year and became the subject of a State Bar disciplinary proceeding on Nov. 15.

MURPHY

The proceeding largely tracks the action taken against Murphy by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which censured him and barred him "from receiving any assignment, appointment, or reference of work from any California state court."

The State Bar's notice of disciplinary charges accuses Murphy of "committing acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption," in violation of Business & Professions Code Sec. 6106.

Those charges parallel those which were found by the commission to be true: excessive absenteeism over a four-year period, engaging in outside activities when he should have been on the bench, lack of candor with the presiding judge of the Citrus Municipal Court (on which he sat prior to unification), creating administrative problems by virtue of his absences, and malingering.

The notice recites that Murphy was absent from Sept. 20, 1999, until April 3, 2000; stopped working as of June 8, 2000; and resigned on May 4, 2001. Largely drawn from the commission's May 10 decision, the notice chronicles Murphy's activities during the time he was supposedly too sick to work: teaching one or two night law classes a week, completing pre-med physics and chemistry courses at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, and attending classes at a school of medicine on the Island of Dominica in the West Indies from January to April of 2000.

Murphy is also charged with lying about his state of health to Rolf Treu, the presiding judge of the Citrus court, falsehoods which he caused to appear on a health certificate, and inconsistencies in his testimony before the CJP.

Judicial Elections

Four Los Angeles Superior Court judges were elected Nov. 5 in runoff elections.

Deputy District Attorney Hank Goldberg defeated Santa Monica lawyer Joseph Deering for the seat of retired Judge Michael Pirosh.

Deputy District Attorney Richard Naranjo defeated Craig Renetzky, also a deputy district attorney, in a runoff for the seat of Judge Richard Spann, who did not run for reelection.

State Bar Court Judge Paul Bacigalupo defeated Deputy District Attorney David Gelfound for the seat of retired Judge David Finkel.

Deputy District Attorney Richard Walmark outpolled Workers' Compensation Judge John C. Gutierrez for the right to succeed Judge Reginald Dunn, who did not seek re-election.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are four vacancies on the court, the most recent being a result of Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez taking senior status June 1.

Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1 of last year, Judge Procter Hug Jr. on Jan. 1 of this year, and the late Judge Charles Wiggins on Dec. 31, 1996.

The nominations of Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl to the court were returned to the president when Congress adjourned Nov. 25, but both nominations are expected to be resubmitted in January.

President Bush on May 23 nominated Bybee, a former law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, to succeed Hug. He has not yet had a confirmation hearing.

Kuhl was tapped by Bush last year to succeed Browning. Kuhl has not received a confirmation hearing, as Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will not sign a "blue slip." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., declined to schedule confirmation hearings for judicial nominees without the approval of both senators from a nominee's home state.

With the Republican takeover of the Senate as a result of the Nov. 5 elections, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will become chairman of the Judiciary Committee and is expected to revise, if not eliminate, the blue-slip policy.

Kuhl, 48, is a seven-year veteran of the Superior Court bench. She previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, and worked in the office of the solicitor general during the Reagan administration. She is married to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger.

She clerked for Anthony J. Kennedy, then a Ninth Circuit judge, after graduation from Duke University School of Law.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner was confirmed Nov. 14 and is expected to be sworn in next Friday. Klausner was nominated July 18 to succeed Judge William Keller, who took senior status Oct. 29, 1999.

President Bush on July 18 also nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judge S. James Otero to succeed Judge Richard Paez, elevated to the Ninth Circuit in March 2000. Otero has not yet had a hearing, but received a highly favorable rating from the American Bar Association, as well as the support of Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and is likely to be confirmed.

The president nominated Orange Superior Court Judge-and former UCLA football star-Cormac J. Carney on Oct. 10 to fill the vacancy resulting from Carlos Moreno's confirmation as a California Supreme Court justice Oct. 17 of last year.

There is one other vacancy, a result of Judge J. Spencer Letts taking senior status Dec. 19, 2000. A new judgeship was created by the Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act signed into law last month, but it cannot be filled until July 15 of next year.

There are no vacancies.

This District (Second District)

Presiding Justice Mildred Lillie of Div. Seven, California's longest-serving jurist, died Oct. 27 at age 87. Justice Earl Johnson Jr. is the acting presiding justice.

JOHNSON

There is one vacancy in newly created Div. Eight. The names of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Charles Lee, Richard Rico, and Aurelio Munoz have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as potential appointees to the post.

Fourth District

Divs. One and Div. Two each have a vacancy created by SB 1857, which took effect Jan. 1 of last year. Div. Three has a vacancy created by the June 1, 2001 retirement of Justice Thomas Crosby.

Sixth District

Presiding Justice Christopher Cottle retired Aug. 31 of last year. Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian is the acting presiding justice.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

There are eight vacancies on the court.

Judge Alban I. Niles retired Oct. 4, Judge William Garner Sept. 24, Judges David Horowitz and Robert Letteau Sept. 4, Judge Theodore D. Piatt July 31, Judge Thomas Simpson July 1, Judge Michael Pirosh in February, and Judge David Finkel in January.

Four judges elected on Nov. 5, and another who won outright in the March primary, are scheduled to take office Jan. 6. Deputy District Attorney Hank Goldberg will succeed Pirosh, State Bar Court Judge Paul Bacigalupo will replace Finkel, Deputy District Attorney Richard Naranjo will succeed Judge Richard Spann, and Deputy District Attorney Richard Walmark replaces Judge Reginald Dunn.

Lauren Weis, who retired from the District Attorney's Office after defeating three opponents for the seat of Judge Michael Kanner in the March primary, will also take office Jan. 6.

Dunn was originally scheduled to retire Dec. 17 to become a private judge, but will now serve out his term, a court official said.

Judge Keith Groneman has scheduled retirement for Jan. 31.

The court is without the services of Judges Pamela Rogers and Reginald Yates, who have applied for disability retirement, and Judge David W. Perkins, who is expected to return in February following a successful liver transplant.

Guillermina Byrne, formerly a referee, and Roger Ito, formerly a deputy district attorney, were elected commissioners this month. Ito is expected to take the bench on Monday.

The two fill vacancies resulting from Judge Deborah Christian's appointment as a judge and from Commissioner Eugene Siegel's retirement.

Byrne is the wife of Judge J. Michael Byrne. Ito is not related to Judge Lance Ito or Commissioner Patricia Ito.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

Legislative elections were held this month. Bill introductions for the 2002-2004 term will begin when lawmakers convene on Monday.