Hon. Michael T. Garcia Commission on Judicial Performance Transcript of 2009 Confidential Character Witness Testimony for Judge Peter McBrien

Judge Michael Garcia CJP Testimony for Judge Peter McBrien - Whistleblower Leak

Wednesday Document Dump

Confidential court reporter transcript of Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael T. Garcia 2009 character witness testimony for family court Judge Peter McBrien, with McBrien's felony indictment document from 2000. In 2009, McBrien was facing removal from the bench by the Commission on Judicial Performance for violations of the Code of Judicial Ethics for his misconduct in the Carlsson case. This was McBrien's second prosecution by the CJP. 

Aware of McBrien's misconduct, Garcia was required by Canon 3D(1) to "take or initiate appropriate corrective action" against McBrien. Instead, Judge Garcia testified as a character witness on McBrien's behalf. The testimony was cited by the CJP as a mitigating factor which reduced McBrien's ultimate punishment, allowing the controversial judge to keep his job. Click here for more information about the McBrien CJP proceedings and the effect of Garcia's testimony. Click on the labels below the document for additional reporting on the people and issues in this post.    

Sacramento Superior Court Controversy: Family Law Facilitator Office Disseminates False Information to Indigent, Self-Represented Pro Pers Without Lawyers

Lollie Roberts, the Sacramento County Superior Court Family Law Facilitator has directed her staff to dispense false information about the state law mandated Notice of Entry of Judgment FL-190 form, a whistleblower charges. 

Color of Law: The Conspiracy to End Pro Per Appeals 

A Sacramento Family Court News Exclusive Investigative Report. Part 2

• This story is part of an ongoing investigation and was updated in September, 2013.

In a scheme allegedly coordinated with family court administrators, Sacramento Superior Court Supervising Family Law Facilitator Lollie Roberts has directed her staff to dispense false information to unrepresented family court litigants. 

Roberts' objective is to help conceal systemic violations of the Code of Civil Procedure and state court rules by family court employees, according to court records and other information leaked by a family court whistleblower to Sacramento Family Court News. Another objective of the alleged plan is to obstruct pro per appeals by concealing a critical, state law mandated appeal rights notification from unrepresented, indigent or financially disadvantaged family court litigants, according to the whistleblower, who provided the information on the condition of anonymity because they could be subject to retaliation for the disclosure. 

The appeal notice is part of a mandatory Judicial Council form, FL-190, which under state law court clerks are required to file and serve after a family court judge issues an appealable order. As SFCN previously reported, court administrators have instructed court clerks not to issue the FL-190 paperwork for appealable orders issued at law and motion hearings. 

Roberts and her staff are conveying the same inaccurate information by instructing pro per parties that the FL-190 is only issued when a divorce is finalized, and that appealable law and motion orders are not judgments requiring issuance of the form. The falsity of the information has been verified by both the California Supreme Court and Third District Court of Appeal.      

To continue reading Part 2 of our series Color of Law, click Read more >> below.

Judge Jaime R. Roman Misconduct: Orders Appealed in Divorce Attorney Charlotte Keeley Case - Temporary Judge Preferential Treatment Alleged

Appeal Filed of Unprecedented Orders Issued by Judge Jaime Roman for Judge Pro Tem Charlotte Keeley

Tuesday Document Dump

An appeal of orders issued without a court hearing by Judge Jaime Roman for Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Section attorney and family court judge pro tem Charlotte Keeley was filed on Jan. 10. The appeal will cost the parties substantial sums and taxpayers between $8,500 and $25,500, according to recent appellate court decisions. Court watchdogs assert the case is an explicit example of the overt cronyism between full-time judges and temporary judges of the same court. Click here for the complete Sacramento Family Court News coverage of the case.     
   

Sacramento Superior Court Employee Misconduct: Family Court Whistleblower Alleges Systemic Code of Civil Procedure and Court Rule Violations by Court Administrators & Clerks

Sacramento Family Court Chiefs Julie Setzer and Colleen McDonagh Responsible for Serial State Law Violations, Whistleblower Charges

Color of Law: The Conspiracy to End Pro Per Appeals
A Sacramento Family Court News Exclusive Investigative Report. Part 1.

This story is part of an ongoing investigation and was updated in September, 2013

Sacramento County Family Court Director of Operations Julie Setzer and Manager
Colleen McDonagh have directed court employees to disregard state laws
mandating entry of judgment procedure, charges a court whistleblower.

A Sacramento County Family Court whistleblower has leaked to Sacramento Family Court News court records indicating that countless family court cases are missing critical paperwork required by state law. 

After any family court hearing which results in a judgment regarding child custody or visitation, spousal support, or any other judgment subject to immediate appeal, California Rules of Court rule 5.134 requires court clerks to enter, file and serve a Notice of Entry of Judgment. State court rule 8.104(e) defines "judgment" as any appealable order. 

By law, the court clerk must use Judicial Council Form FL-190 to provide the notice of entry to all parties. The notice provides an important notification regarding the right to appeal, and the destruction of exhibits on file with the court. In addition, two other components of the FL-190 form eliminate ambiguity in the time frame for an appeal, according to the California Supreme Court. 

In a 2007 decision, the high court noted that the title of the mandatory form and the clerk's certificate of mailing at the bottom of the notice were drafted specifically to eliminate miscalculations and disputes related to appeal time frames. Click here and scroll down to the highlighted text to view the relevant sections of the 2007 Supreme Court case.  

For appealable judgments in law and motion proceedings, Sacramento Family Court Director of Operations Julie Setzer, Manager Colleen McDonagh and Supervising Courtroom Clerk Denise Richards have directed court employees to simply ignore the law, according to the source, who provided the information on the condition of anonymity because they could be subject to retaliation for the disclosure. 

To continue reading Part 1 of our series Color of Law, click Read more >> below. 

Woodruff O'Hair Posner & Salinger Inc Malpractice Case: Settlement Conference and Trial Scheduled in $1 million Lawsuit Against Firm and Partner Tom Woodruff

Judge Pro Tem D. Thomas Woodruff and Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger $1 Million Legal Malpractice Case Set for Trial

Wei-Jen (Harrison) Luan is suing for legal malpractice family law attorney and Judge Pro Tem D. Thomas Woodruff and the firm Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger. The suit was filed in 2004 and claims more than $1 million in damages.

A settlement conference and trial have been calendared for the long-running legal malpractice lawsuit against family law attorney and Judge Pro Tem Thomas Woodruff, and the law firm Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner and Salinger, Inc. The settlement conference is scheduled for April 4, 2013, with trial set to begin on May 14 in Department 47 of the downtown Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse. 

Woodruff and the firm are being sued by Wei-Jen (Harrison) Luan, who alleges that Woodruff's malpractice during her divorce resulted in more than $1 million in losses in connection with the botched sale of real property held in a family trust. According to the 2004 lawsuit complaint: 

"Attorney Woodruff's breaches of duty, as alleged above, were a proximate and legal cause of substantial damage, loss and injury to plaintiff. Plaintiff's damages include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: the purchaser sued Wei-Jen for specific performance and damages, claiming in excess of $1 million in losses. Wei-Jen is threatened with suit from the brokers for commissions in excess of $100,000 that would have been paid had the sale and exchange been consummated."

Click here to read the complaint for legal malpractice filed against Woodruff and Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger. 

Click Read more >> below to continue reading.  

Sacramento Superior Court Misconduct: Court Employees Protected by State Whistleblower Law

Whistleblower Protection Act Shields Court Employees From Retaliation for Reporting Misconduct  

California State Auditor Whistleblower Hotline

Several family court users have asked Sacramento Family Court News to update our September, 2011 article about the expansion of the California Whistleblower Protection Act. 

At that time, the Act was revised to protect from retaliation court employees who report misconduct by judges or co-workers, including violations of the California Rules of Court. 

The 2011 law designates a violation of state court rules as an improper governmental activity, in the same category of misconduct as corruption, malfeasance, bribery, theft of government property, fraud, coercion, willful omission to perform duty, and similar types of misconduct. 

Court watchdogs allege that in Sacramento Family Court, a number of state court rules are routinely ignored by judges and court clerks. We're investigating the allegations, and will report our findings in the near future. We've also had reports that courtroom bailiffs are not enforcing the law, which one national family court website has documented is a common problem. Familylawcourts.com notes that some bailiffs act as "judicial puppets," and has called for bailiff education. 

To continue reading, click Read more >> below: