California Divorce and Family Law

Calififornia Judge Tossed Out for Delay, Neglect

California's Commission on Judicial Performance on Tuesday ordered an incorrigible clutter bug removed from the Riverside County bench.

Superior Court Judge Robert Spitzer's "inexcusable delays, failure to act and gross neglect of court orders demonstrates an unwillingness or inability to perform judicial functions," commission Chairman Frederick Horn wrote in the unanimous order.

Spitzer, a 17-year veteran of the Riverside courts, was charged with eight counts of judicial misconduct stemming from accusations that he backdated court orders, failed to dispose of cases promptly, filed "at least" 70 false salary affidavits and conducted improper ex parte conversations.

The judge's courtroom and chambers were routinely "in shambles," and because files were "strewn about without any discernible organization," they were often lost or misplaced, the commission found.

In hearings before a panel of special masters and the commission earlier this year, Spitzer conceded that he had trouble organizing his work but insisted that he was undergoing therapy and changing courtroom procedures to fix the problems.

But commissioners noted that, after they had threatened him in 2003 with a public admonishment for similar troubles, Spitzer had assured them that he would change his ways.

"We have no confidence in his ability to conform to standards of judicial conduct," the commission said.

Spitzer's attorney, Reginald Vitek of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek in San Diego, did not return a phone call Tuesday.

Presiding Judge Richard Fields of the Riverside County Superior Court said Spitzer left his courtroom Tuesday morning after learning of the commission's order.

"He is absolutely one of the hardest-working judges I've ever met," Fields said. "The loss of such an experienced judicial officer at this very critical point in this court's history is going to be felt by many people."

Fueled by Riverside County's enormous population growth, the courts have a backlog of civil cases and officials have struggled to keep up with the criminal calendars. Chief Justice Ronald George recently dispatched two dozen judges from around the state to Riverside to help process felony cases.

Fields said he's asked the Administrative Office of the Courts for an assigned judge to take on Spitzer's courtroom.

Spitzer, 58, cited the county's crushing caseload as one of the reasons he fell behind in his work. But commissioners said it was more than the judge's "chronic state of disorganization" that led to his troubles.

Investigators said Spitzer appeared to backdate his signature on numerous orders before giving them to his clerk for processing. The commission found that in one case, City of Moreno Valley v. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), Spitzer received a proposed judgment on May 6, 2003 but didn't act until June 9, 2004, when he signed the judgment, backdated the document July 3, 2003 and file-stamped it July 7, 2003.

An appellate court tossed out SCAG's appeal in August 2004 on the grounds that agency leaders had waited too long -- 13 months according to Spitzer's signature -- to file. SCAG has not resubmitted their appeal.

In another case, Spitzer forgot to file a decision entirely. The judge heard a small claims case in 1996 and, despite numerous complaints from the parties involved, never issued a ruling. It was only after the plaintiff's mother, a potential juror in an unrelated case, complained to Spitzer in 2002 that Spitzer conducted a new trial and finally issued a ruling.

Commissioners said Spitzer's delays in closing cases led him to file false affidavits saying that he had no cases outstanding for more than 90 days, something judges must do regularly to receive their paychecks.

The commission also criticized Spitzer for improper behind-the-scenes meddling in cases. In 2004, the judge lobbied prosecutors to charge a defendant with manslaughter and not murder in a DUI case. The district attorney declined and after a jury deadlocked, Spitzer brought the victim's mother into his office and, according to investigators, encouraged her to persuade the DA to pursue manslaughter charges.

Spitzer told the special masters that he was only trying to comfort and to educate the mother and that he never meant to suggest that she lobby the prosecutor for reduced charges.

"Attempting to convince a mother whose child was killed by a drunk driver that her child's death was unintentional by reference to Penal Codes, legal terminology, and sentence calculations reflects an alarming lack of sensitivity in addition to being extraordinarily inappropriate and unjudicial," Horn wrote on behalf of the commission.

Spitzer is the third judge the commission has ordered removed from office in the last 10 months. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Diana Hall was ousted in December 2006 after the commission found that she had violated campaign finance laws, received two misdemeanor convictions for DUI and improperly questioned a prosecutor's motives. And commissioners removed Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jose Velasquez in April for denying defendants due process, making inappropriate comments in court and improperly issuing bench warrants.

From Law.com.

DIY divorces hit snags in California--Paperwork and court procedures leave many less than legally single

When Yanic Chan and Vanessa Van split up in 1995, they could not afford a lawyer. So, like thousands of other people without money, they filled out the divorce paperwork themselves, with help from a friend and courthouse staff.

In November 1997, Van went to the Riverside County Courthouse to enter a final judgment. "The clerk put the stamp on it," Van said. "I asked, 'Everything finished?' She said 'Yes.' "

Chan returned to his native Cambodia, fell in love and married again. Then, in 2006, he tried to bring his new wife to this country. That's when Van and Chan got a nasty surprise, one that court officials fear could be awaiting thousands of other former California couples: Their divorce had not gone through.

Driven by rising legal fees, a shortage of legal-aid lawyers and a do-it-yourself philosophy, about 80 percent of people in California handle their own divorces.

Accidental bigamy

Many of them are not quite as divorced as they think they are. Some, like Chan, are even accidental bigamists. Tens of thousands of others have some understanding that their divorces are not done. But stumped by complex paperwork and court procedures and unable to afford thousands of dollars for attorneys, they simply let their cases languish. Court officials suspect the problem is vast.

In Los Angeles County, perhaps more than one-third of all divorce petitions filed have not been finalized, according to Kathleen Dixon, who heads the Los Angeles County Superior Court's programs for self-represented people. Officials don't have statistics because they don't monitor cases to make sure they are finished.

One Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, Mark Juhas, found that about one-third of the roughly 3,600 divorce cases filed in 2001 and 2002 and assigned to his courtroom remained open. Some of those couples may have reconciled, but Juhas suspects that many more are stuck or may even think they are divorced when they are not.

At one legal services center in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, officials say they see 20 people a month who wrongly thought they were divorced. "They come in screaming," said Norma Valencia, a paralegal at the center operated by Neighborhood Legal Services. "They say, 'You don't understand my situation. I want a divorce right now.' "

In California, getting divorced takes at least three steps: filing divorce papers, serving them upon the spouse, and then writing and processing a judgment with the court. The process can be more complicated if there are children, or fights over assets. A divorce cannot become final until at least six months after the papers are served.

Increase in trend

Increasingly, across California and the nation, people are handling their own civil court matters. In San Diego County, one of the few counties where statistics are available, 46 percent of people represented themselves in divorces in 1992, but by 2000 that figure had climbed to 77 percent. One reason: increasing fees for lawyers combined with decreasing legal-aid services for poor people, said Richard Zorzo, who coordinates a national network of organizations working on self-representation. Also a factor, he said, is a "Home Depot philosophy of people feeling they can do things on their own."

But the legal system wasn't organized with a do-it-yourself approach. Juhas said the problem was brought home to him a few years ago, when a couple came before him on a routine matter. They had filed for a divorce a few years earlier, and both husband and wife had since remarried. Juhas said he looked down at their file and then back up at the couple. "I said, 'Do you realize your judgment was never entered?' " Luckily for the couple — and their new spouses — Juhas finalized their divorce without invalidating their new marriages.

From the Houston Chronicle.

Courtroom rudeness leads to 30-day jail sentence

Darren W. Hatfield left his divorce hearing by slamming open a courtroom door, and it earned him a month in the slammer.

The 40-year-old Marlette man's bad manners on Thursday morning offended Tuscola County Circuit Court Judge Patrick R. Joslyn, who sent Hatfield to jail for 30 days for rude behavior.

After Hatfield made his noisy exit from the venerable courtroom by shoving open a wooden door, bailiff Richard Harrington detained him and brought him back before the judge.

''I don't know what your problem is, Mr. Hatfield. Why do you have to exhibit this kind of behavior?'' Joslyn asked.

''I was under the impression, sir, that I would have a chance to ... speak my piece in this (divorce) matter,'' Hatfield replied.

''You will,'' Joslyn said. ''I'll sentence you to 30 days in the county jail. You're in direct contempt of court. ... We'll make sure you'll get a chance to speak your piece in your divorce proceedings.''

Hatfield and his estranged wife, Deborah K. Hatfield of Clifford, appeared before Joslyn on Thursday morning in an attempt to reach a judgment outlining details of their divorce.

The couple failed to reach an agreement, however, after Deborah Hatfield refused to pay her husband $20,000 in return for her ownership of the couple's home. ''I do not want to walk away from this marriage with nothing,'' Darren Hatfield told the judge, minutes before Hatfield loudly left the court. Deborah Hatfield told the judge she didn't want to pay $20,000 to her husband when the couple's debt exceeds the value of their home.

A Circuit Court official said Joslyn jailed Hatfield to send a message to those who show disrespect in the courtroom. It's not the first time someone has shoved open the courtroom door with a thud, the official said. The judge also ordered Hatfield to pay $200 in fines and costs. Harrington also made Hatfield open and close the door - politely - before hauling him back into court to face the judge, the official said.

This lesson in courtroom decorum brought to you by The Bay City Times.