Sacramento Family Court Report

22 February 2013

Divorce Attorneys Hal Bartholomew and Diane Wasznicky Sacramento Firm Kills Public Access To The Family Law Counselor - Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter

Bartholomew & Wasznicky End Online Public Access To SCBA Family Law Section Newsletter

Judge Robert Hight – Judge Bunmi Awoniyi – Judge Steven Gevercer – Judge Tami Bogert – Judge James Mize – Vance Raye - Victoria Henley CJP - Judge Thadd Blizzard -Child custody - child custody and visitation - child support - child custody law - spousal support – alimony - child custody, domestic violence, child support services – child support payments – child custody California – child custody law – child support payment – child support law – Divorce – attorney divorce – attorneys divorce – divorce attorney – divorce lawyer – divorce lawyers – lawyer divorce – lawyers for divorce – lawyer for divorce – domestic violence – Sacramento Federal Court Eastern District of California – United States Courts, US District Court Sacramento, Judge William B. Shubb, Judge Edmund F. Brennan, Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr, Judge Carolyn K. Delaney, Judge Morrison C. England Jr, Judge Gregory G. Hollows, Judge John A. Mendez, Judge Kendall J. Newman, Judge Troy L. Nunley, Judge Allison Claire, Judge Dale A. Drozd, Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner, Judge Kevin R. Culhane – Hon. Kevin R Culhane – Judge Kevin Culhane -

Family law firm Bartholomew and Wasznicky has stopped providing online public access to the Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Section newsletter The Family Law Counselor.

Prominent Sacramento family law firm Bartholomew & Wasznicky has cut off the public from online access to The Family Law Counselor, a monthly newsletter published by the Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Section. The firm website previously provided the only online, downloadable access to the newsletter, which Sacramento Family Court News often uses in reporting on family court issues.

Family court watchdogs have pointed out that many articles in the Counselor reveal an overly collegial relationship between for-profit family law attorneys and family court judges and employees, who are paid by taxpayers to serve the public interest.

About 70 percent of family court users cannot afford to hire a lawyer and are unrepresented, but, as the newsletters often reflect, superior court judges regularly provide important family court policy, procedure and staffing updates and other information only to the attorneys who represent the 30 percent. The same information is rarely made available to the 70 percent without lawyers, many of whom face an opposing party represented by a Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Section member.

Family court Judge Matthew J. Gary regularly offers the family law bar "Bench Tips" in The Family Law Counselor on family law, law and motion tactics, and courtroom procedure. Unrepresented parties seeking the same advice and information from the Family Law Facilitator Office - which ostensibly serves the needs of pro per litigants - are told the subjects are beyond the scope of the services the office provides, or, worse, given inaccurate information.

To continue reading, click Read more >> below.

Sacramento Superior Court Clerks File Illegal, Non-Conforming Documents for Judge Pro Tem Attorneys

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra R. Kruger, Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Justice Goodwin H. Liu, Justice Carol A. Corrigan, Justice Ming W. Chin, Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar, Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye -

Court watchdogs assert that local divorce lawyers receive
preferential treatment from Sacramento Superior Court
judges, clerks and court employees.

Friday Document Dump

As the whistleblower leaked document embedded at the bottom of this post details, Sacramento Superior Court clerks file paperwork for SCBA Family Law Section attorneys which, by law, they are required to reject for filing.

The document details multiple violations of the state law requirements for filing documents in all California courts committed by attorney and Sacramento Superior Court temporary judge Paula Salinger.

The California Rules of Court specify the format of papers filed with every court in the state. The rules are mandatory, not optional. Under rule 2.118, court clerks must reject any papers that do not comply with court rules. Click here to view the rule.

For example, under rule 2.108, line numbers must be placed in the left margin of papers filed with a court.

The line numbers are critical because in order to make written objections to false or inadmissible evidence contained in a declaration filed by an attorney, by law the opposing party must specify the line numbers to show exactly which portions of the declaration contain defective evidence. If inaccurate evidence is not objected to it is by law considered accurate.

The objections also are critical in any subsequent appeal, according to veteran Sacramento family law attorney Stephen James Wagner. Family court watchdogs have documented that declarations filed by attorneys often contain false or otherwise inadmissible evidence - which becomes admissible if objections are not lodged.

To continue reading, and view the responsive declaration documenting serial court rule violations by SCBA Family Law Executive Committee officer and judge pro tem attorney Paula Salinger, click Read more >> below...

Sacramento Superior Court Controversy: Court Clerks Allow Part-Time Judge Lawyers to File Counterfeit Entry of Judgment Forms

Sacramento Family Court clerks file these counterfeit entry of judgment forms for local divorce lawyers who also work as part-time judges in the same court, according to a government whistleblower.

Color of Law: The Conspiracy to Discourage and Obstruct Pro Per Appeals
A Sacramento Family Court Report Special Investigation: Part 4.

Sacramento Family Court News has obtained court records indicating that family court clerks allow judge pro tem attorneys to file counterfeit "Notice of Entry" paperwork in place of the Notice of Entry of Judgment that court clerks are by law required to file and serve on all parties.

The sham notice conceals a critical appeal rights notification from indigent, unrepresented family court litigants, and at the same time ostensibly constricts the time frame for filing an appeal from 180-days to just 60-days, according to a family court whistleblower. The fake form also omits an important clerk's certificate of mailing, which the California Supreme Court has said is designed to avoid ambiguity in appeal time frames.

Andy Furillo Sacramento Bee Court Reporter - RoadDog Sunday Funnies

Sacramento Bee Reporter Andy Furillo and Beloved Anchor Ron Burgundy - Separated at Birth?

Sunday Satire by RoadDog

Dateline February 15, 2013:

"Furillo has a history of avoiding or whitewashing coverage of corrupt judges, court officials and lawyers in exchange for insider access and courthouse story leads. He writes over 200 stories a year, and you can't do that kind of volume without an army of sources," said family court watchdog Ulf Carlsson. "It's unethical but he gets away with it because his wife, Deb Anderluh, is one of his bosses at the Bee. Furillo was going to bury the Appelblatt story until the T.V. stations made it public and he had to write something, so he portrayed Appelblatt as just a rogue attorney, and covered up his status as a judge pro tem," Carlsson asserted. "Look at the [court whistleblower] Emily Gallup case. Furillo ignored the Gallup lawsuit - including the week-long trial and $313,000 verdict - which went on for more than a year in Sacramento County Superior Court. The government did not want that case in the news, and Furillo made sure it wasn't." The national family law website, familylawcourts.com also has called out the Bee and its reporters for protecting judges by refusing to identify them in its rare coverage of controversial cases. Click here and here.

"I love this great nation of ours, that's why I don't question our leaders. Haaaay, they got where they're at for a reason." Beloved Anchor Ron Burgundy.

Andy Furillo and Ron Burgundy - separated at birth? We report, you decide:

15 February 2013

Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee & Court Administrators Conceal Temporary Judge Status of Sexual Predator Family Law Attorney

Judge Pro Tem Attorney Gary Appelblatt Convicted of Sexual Battery Against Clients

Sacramento Bee Whitewashes Coverage

Sacramento Family Court News Exclusive

Hon. Robert C. Hight – Hon. Bunmi O. Awoniyi – Hon. Steven M. Gevercer – Hon. Tami R. Bogert – Hon. James M. Mize – Vance Raye - CJP Victoria B. Henley – Hon. Thadd A. Blizzard -Andy Furillo - Sacramento Bee - Bar Association Sacramento, Family Law Attorney Gary Appelblatt, Temporary Judge, Judge Pro Tem, Divorce Lawyer - Sacramento Bee - Joyce Terhaar Editor and Senior Vice President – Deb Anderluh Senior Editor for Investigations and Enterprise – Sacramento Bee - Marjie Lundstrum Reporter-Investigations – Ken Chavez Senior Editor-Local News – Maury Macht Team Leader II-Local News – Kim Minugh Reporter-Crime – Charles Piller Reporter-Investigations – Cynthia Hubert Reporter-Social Services – Sacramento Bee – Tom Knudson Reporter-Investigaions – Denny Walsh Reporter-Federal/State Supreme Courts – Phillip Reese Reporter-Investigations – Anthony Sorci Team Leader-Local News – Steuart Leavenworth Editorial Page Editor – Gary Reed Forum Editor – Dan Morain Senior Editor – Sacramento Bee – Ginger Rutland Associate Editor – Foon Rhee Associate Editor – Brian Blomster Online News Editor - Elaine M. Howle State Auditor Bureau of State Audits - Victoria B. Henley Director Chief Counsel Commission on Judicial Performance – Steven Jahr Administrative Director of the Courts - Phillip J. Jelicich Principal Auditor Bureau of State Audits - Janice M. Brickley Legal Advisor to Commissioners Commission on Judicial Performance - Judicial Council and Court Leadership Services Division Jody Patel Chief of Staff - Doug D. Cordiner Chief Deputy State Auditor Bureau of State Audits - Bradford L. Battson Senior Attorney III Commission on Judicial Performance - Judicial and Court Operations Services Division Curtis L. Child Chief Operating Officer – Donna L. Neville Staff Counsel IV Bureau of State Audits- Sei Shimoguchi Senior Attorney III Commission on Judicial Performance - Judicial and Court Administrative Services Division Curt Soderlund Chief Administrative Officer - Sacramento Federal Court Eastern District of California – United States Courts, US District Court Sacramento, Judge William B. Shubb, Judge Edmund F. Brennan, Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr, Judge Carolyn K. Delaney, Judge Morrison C. England Jr, Judge Gregory G. Hollows, Judge John A. Mendez, Judge Kendall J. Newman, Judge Troy L. Nunley, Judge Allison Claire, Judge Dale A. Drozd, Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner, Judge Kevin R. Culhane – Hon. Kevin R Culhane – Judge Kevin Culhane -

The criminal defense lawyer for Judge Pro Tem Gary
Appelblatt argued that the alleged sexual battery by
his client was consensual.

The first sexual battery victim of Sacramento Family Court Temporary Judge Gary Appelblatt contacted the Sheriff's Department on Feb. 17, five years ago today.

The then-prominent Sacramento Bar Association Family Law Section attorney ultimately was charged with 13-criminal counts including sexual battery and penetration with a foreign object. The victims were Appelblatt's divorce clients and potential clients.

"[A]ppelblatt invited the clients into his American River Drive law office and drew the blinds. He shooed out any visitors and locked the door. Then, testimony showed, the 57-year-old divorce lawyer moved the women over for physical exams on what the judge described as the attorney's 'convenient couch.' Some had their tops removed, and he reached into the pants of some of the other women...[Deputy District Attorney Keith Hill] said the lawyer's perversions took advantage of weakened victims who sought his professional services at 'terrible emotional' times in their lives," Sacramento Bee reporter Andy Furillo wrote in 2008.

In 2008 and 2009 the Bee published four stories about the Appelblatt case - three with the byline of Furillo - a veteran reporter on the courthouse beat. None of the stories disclosed that Appelblatt held the Office of Temporary Judge.

To continue reading, click Read more >> below...

Sacramento Superior Court Scandal: RoadDog Announces Sacramento Family Court 2012 Public Service Awards - Sunday Funnies

Sacramento Superior Court Clerk Wins RoadDog Efficiency In Government Award, Facilitator Locks 1st Runner Up Spot

Sunday Satire by RoadDog

Court Executive Officer Chris Volkers and other court supervisors
are invited to the annual RoadDog Family Court Public Service
Awards ceremony held at the Dante Club in Sacramento.

P.R. Brown, my esteemed colleague on the news and analysis side of the newsroom, has recently published a series of articles that some readers may have found unsettling.

Court administrators flagrantly ignoring state law, the Family Law Facilitator dispensing less-than-accurate advice to indigent, unrepresented litigants, family court judges concealing conflicts of interest, and an appeals unit clerk unlawfully rejecting appeals by lawyer-less, financially disadvantaged litigants. And the ongoing Color of Law series is particularly compelling. Bravo, P.R. Brown.

But while these muckraking revelations may disturb the Constitution-huggers among our readership, RoadDog's exclusive access to the Sacramento Family Court News newsroom allows the Dog to go behind the news to retrieve the exposé within the exposé. A superficial review of the meticulously documented facts reported by P.R. Brown may convey to the gullible the impression of rampant illegality, cronyism, hometowning, fraud, corruption, malfeasance, willful omission to perform duty, and gross misconduct, incompetency and inefficiency.

Several paranoid, tin foil hat wearing readers have even suggested that the totality of the evidence reported by SFCN suggests that Sacramento Family Court operates as an organized criminal enterprise, meeting the elements required for a federal RICO prosecution. However, on closer inspection, and with supplemental facts purloined by RoadDog from the encrypted SFCN servers, the complete factual record reveals a dramatically different picture.

To continue reading, click Read more >> below:

Sacramento County Superior Court Misconduct: Family Court Appeals Unit Unlawfully Refusing Appeals by Indigent, Pro Per Litigants

Family Court Appeals Unit Illegally Rejecting Appeals By Unrepresented, Financially Disadvantaged Litigants

Color of Law: The Conspiracy to End Pro Per Appeals
A Sacramento Family Court News Exclusive Investigative Report. Part 3

Sacramento Federal Court Eastern District of California – United States Courts, US District Court Sacramento, Judge William B. Shubb, Judge Edmund F. Brennan, Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr, Judge Carolyn K. Delaney, Judge Morrison C. England Jr, Judge Gregory G. Hollows, Judge John A. Mendez, Judge Kendall J. Newman, Judge Troy L. Nunley, Judge Allison Claire, Judge Dale A. Drozd, Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner, Judge Robert Hight – Judge Bunmi Awoniyi – Judge Steven Gevercer – Judge Tami Bogert – Judge James Mize – Vance Raye - Victoria Henley CJP - Judge Thadd Blizzard -3rd District Court of Appeal – Sacramento -Justice Vance W. Raye - Justice Cole Blease – Justice Ronald B. Robie – Justice William J. Murray Jr. – Justice George Nicolson – Justice M. Kathleen Butz – Justice Elena J. Duarte – Justice Harry E. Hull Jr. – Justice Louis Mauro – Justice Andrea Lynn Hoch – Third District Court of Appeal California - Family Relations Courthouse, Sacramento Superior Court, Appeals Unit, Notice of Appeal, Judge Laurie M. Earl Presiding Judge County of Sacramento: Superior Court, William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse -Benjamin B. Wagner – Melinda Haag – Jayne Kim – Victoria B. Henley – Elaine M. Howle - Judge Kevin R. Culhane – Hon. Kevin R Culhane – Judge Kevin Culhane -

This actual notice of appeal was filed by an unrepresented, indigent family court litigant and then unlawfully unfiled by a family court clerk. The clerk's conduct violates state law and constitutes unlawful interference with court of appeal proceedings. Click here to view the full image.

Sacramento County Family Court clerks are unlawfully refusing to file appeals by unrepresented, financially disadvantaged family court litigants, according to a family court whistleblower. The policy constitutes an unlawful interference with court of appeal proceedings under California Rules of Court rule 8.23.

The rejection occurs when a pro per party attempts to file a notice of appeal for child custody, support and other immediately appealable orders more than 60-days after order after hearing paperwork is filed. By law, the time frame to take an appeal from the orders is 180-days.The longer time frame applies because in family court cases, the court clerk must give the parties notice of entry of judgment using the Judicial Council FL-190 Notice of Entry of Judgment form.

As policy, Sacramento Family Court does not issue the FL-190 form for appealable orders from motion and OSC hearings. When the form is not issued, the appeal time frame is 180-days. When the form is issued, the appeal time frame is 60-days. In Sacramento Family Court, all appealable motion and OSC orders are appealable for 180-days, yet court clerks are illegally rejecting the appeals after 60-days.

To continue reading Part 3 of our series Color of Law, click Read more >> below.