Prosecutor Misconduct: Failure to Prosecute White Collar Crimes by Divorce Lawyers in Santa Clara County Triggers Recall Against DA Jeffrey Rosen

A taxpayer group frustrated by unprosecuted white collar
and public corruption crimes is considering a recall
campaign against Jeff Rosen, district attorney of
Santa Clara County. Rosen's wife is Judge Amber Rosen.

From Campbell Patch: "The red, star shaped plastic magnets were seen this week around the Santa Clara County Civic Center on newspaper racks, parking meters, traffic signs, and even a Sheriff's Department van parked in front of the county jail.

The small text on each reads "RECALL DA JEFF ROSEN," and includes a website URL, recallrosen.org...."

Read the full article at Campbell Patch.

From recallrosen.org:

A group of Santa Clara County taxpayers are exploring the feasibility of a campaign to recall Jeff Rosen, the district attorney for the county. The group alleges that Rosen has engaged in waste, fraud, abuse of authority, and violation of law, as those terms are defined in the California Government Code.

Among other issues, Rosen has failed or refused to prosecute public corruption and white collar crime, has failed to comply with crime victim laws, and has botched rape and domestic violence cases. Rosen’s office is rife with sexism, he protects his personal friends who work in the office from accountability, and he retaliates against whistleblowers.

Sacramento County family court watchdogs say they are considering a recall against district attorney Anne Marie Schubert for the same reasons. "Schubert has ignored white collar crimes by lawyers and public corruption crimes by judges for a long time," said court reform advocate Ulf Carlsson. "The Sacramento County district attorney effectively has given lawbreaking attorneys and judges immunity from prosecution. We need to seriously consider this recall option."

The Santa Clara County campaign has a website at recallrosen.org.

"RECALL DA JEFF ROSEN" star magnets were distributed around
Santa Clara County government offices by an anonymous taxpayer group
considering a recall of the controversial district attorney. 

Judge James Towery Santa Clara County 2018 Family Court Judge of the Year - Worst Family Court Judge in Silicon Valley

FCAC Sunday Satire: The votes are in and counted. Family court victims from throughout Silicon Valley have named James Towery the worst family court judge in 2018. Towery won for bias against pro per litigants who can't afford a lawyer, cronyism with all his lawyer buddies, and failure to follow state law, including the California Family Code and Code of Judicial Ethics.

Congratulations Jim! Your award will be presented by Santa Clara County Presiding Judge Deborah Ryan, and Assistant Presiding Judge Ted Zayner. The Family Court Accountability Coalition has commissioned a portrait to be presented at the awards banquet. We hope the judge will hang the portrait in his courtroom. A photo of the portrait is below. 

Judge James Towery will receive his [worst] Judge of the Year Award 2018 from Santa Clara County Presiding Judge Deborah Ryan and Assistant Presiding Judge Theodore Zayner. 

Tani Cantil-Sakauye Still Unaccountable, Unpunished for Alleged Misuse of State Funds, Financial Fraud Against Taxpayers

Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court and Chairperson of the California Judicial Council.

Watch the ABC news report video:

Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Caught Using Highway Patrol as Personal Limo and Security Service from Sacramento Superior Court News on Vimeo.

Liar Liar: Santa Clara County Judge Erica Yew Condemns Self to Eighth Circle of Hell in Testimony to Legislature

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Judge Erica Yew believes
the California Commission on Judicial Performance "has done a great job."

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Santa Clara County Judge Erica Yew has made the demonstrably false claim that the California Commission on Judicial Performance is effective at its mission to oversee and hold accountable judges in the state. 

To the legislature.

On video.

To be precise, Yew said this:

"[The Commission on Judicial Performance] has done a great job of making sure that judges who shouldn't have that job are removed from office, or are disciplined, or receive some indication that what they're doing is not proper, privately, so that they can readjust."

Seeing is believing: With your own eyes, watch Yew make this statement - incredibly, with a straight face - in the video at the bottom of this post.

In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of the Divine Comedy, Malebolge is the eighth circle of Hell. In Dante’s version of hell, categories of sin are punished in different circles, with the depth of the circle (and placement within that circle) symbolic of the amount of punishment to be inflicted.

Sinners placed in the upper circles of hell are given relatively minor punishments, while sinners in the depths of hell endure far greater torments. As the eighth of nine circles, Malebolge is one of the worst places in hell to be. It is where the souls of alchemists, impostors, counterfeiters, and liars are sent.

Judge Erica Yew Misconduct Allegations: Meme Collection Commemorating Seven Years of Incompetence Released

Santa Clara County Judge Erica Yew in 2010 was appointed to the California Commission on Judicial Performance by the Supreme Court and controversial Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. The CJP is the independent state agency responsible for investigating complaints of judicial misconduct and for disciplining judges.

Yew was reappointed to the CJP in 2011 and 2015, and her current term ends in 2019. Court reform advocates assert that Yew has failed at the job, and instead of protecting the public from bad judges, Yew has protected bad judges from accountability for misconduct. Yew has played a critical role in maintaining the code of silence about the epidemic level of lawbreaking by judges in California, according to judicial branch whistleblowers.

In recognition of her commitment to concealing judge misconduct, in 2017 Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the Judicial Council of California gave Yew a "Distinguished Service Award."

In recognition of her seven years of disservice to the public as a member of the CJP, Anonymous Whistleblowers recently issued a special, limited edition set of memes featuring Judge Erica Yew.

The anonymous group monitors judges who fail to comply with section 3D(1) of the California Judicial Ethics Code. Section 3D(1) requires judges to self-police, and to report misconduct by other judges. Court reform advocates have documented that judges throughout the state routinely ignore the law. 

17 Years Later, Sacramento County Family Court Problems Persist - Whistleblowers Allege Court Operates as Racketeering Enterprise

The report embedded with this post is by investigative reporter and attorney Karen Winner, and is provided by the California Protective Parents Association. Court watchdogs assert that the problems highlighted 17 years ago in this 2000 report have not been corrected.

A subsequent audit by the California State Auditor found additional problems, many of which the court refused to fix, according to follow up reports from State Auditor Elaine Howle.

Whistleblowers allege that the Sacramento Family Court system continues to operate as what amounts to a racketeering enterprise which deprives the public of the federally protected right to honest government services.

Custody in Crisis: How Family Courts Nationwide Put Children in Danger

From 100 Reporters:
Custody in Crisis: How Family Courts Nationwide Put Children in Danger

Santa Clara County Family Court Controversy Continues Court History of Scandal: Judge-Attorney Cronyism Still To Blame, Say Whistleblowers

FBI probes $17 million missing from Santa Clara County trusts:

Court whistleblowers allege that Presiding Judge Patricia Lucas and 6th District 
Court of Appeal Justice Conrad Rushing ultimately are responsible for systemic
 family court judge misconduct that resembles prior scandals in the same court. 

County judges must impose tighter rules for managing vulnerable residents' estates:

Santa Clara judge reconsiders his early ruling on a trustee excessive fee case: 

State Auditor Files Response to Vexatious Litigation by Commission on Judicial Performance Director Victoria Henley

Commission on Judicial Performance
Director and Chief Counsel Victoria Henley

From the Daily Journal: 

Attorneys for the California State Auditor submitted a response Monday to a writ filed last month by the Commission on Judicial Performance challenging the auditor's jurisdiction.

The CJP sued Auditor Elaine M. Howle in San Francisco Superior Court in October, seeking to limit the scope of an audit ordered by the Legislature in August. The CJP is the state agency that investigates and disciplines judges charged with misconduct...

Myron Moskovitz, who represents Howle, said the CJP's arguments seek to sidestop decades of well-established law around the auditor's office and its functions.

"After they see the answer, if they still want to go to trial we will," said Moskovitz, legal director of the Moskovitz Appellate Team in Piedmont. "I don't know why they would want to. I don't think they have much of a case...

"This is the first time anyone has ever complained about their right to audit a public agency that gets public money and is supposed to serve the public," explained Moskovitz. "I don't know what they are afraid of."  

CJP Director/Chief Counsel Victoria Henley is paid $194,000 per year by California taxpayers. 

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6th District Justice Conrad Rushing Issues Sham Order for Divorce Lawyer Garrett Dailey: Indigent Pro Per Denied Right To Appeal

Justice Conrad Rushing

In an unsettling example of judge and attorney misconduct, indigent, self-represented Santa Clara County family court victim Catherine Raffa attempted to appeal a trial court order declaring her a vexatious litigant. Raffa successfully filed the appeal, # H043207, in the 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose.

Earlier this year, the opposing attorney, veteran family law lawyer Garrett Dailey, filed a motion to dismiss the appeal because, he claimed, Raffa was a vexatious litigant and required to get permission "from the presiding justice permitting the appeal to proceed."

But a litigant appealing a vexatious litigant order issued by a trial court doesn't need permission to appeal the order. If they lose the appeal, thereafter they need permission from a presiding judge to file anything in any court. They don't need permission to appeal the initial VL order, according to both case law and statutory law, CCP § 904.1(a)(6).

Free Speech Experts Discredit Controversial Attorney Keri Evilsizor in High Conflict Divorce Case

From the East Bay Times: 

MARTINEZ — In a decision First Amendment experts have dubbed “outrageous,” a Contra Costa Superior Court judge jailed a San Ramon man for writing about his divorce on the internet — even though his writings were based on material publicly available in court files.

The judge, Bruce C. Mills, insisted in his decision that “matters that are put into court pleadings and brought up in oral argument before the court do not become public thereby” — a position that lawyers say fundamentally misunderstands the nature of court records.

Joseph Sweeney, a judicial reform advocate, served 13 days in County Jail in August after Mills’ ruling, which found that Sweeney’s web postings had violated another judge’s restraining order not to disclose the contents of his ex-wife’s cellphone or computer. The postings described Sweeney’s realizations about her medical history and contact with others that led to the collapse of the marriage.

Read the full article at the East Bay Times.

Bay Area Divorce Lawyer Brad Baugh Facing Fraud on the Court, Fee Churning Allegations

New Santa Clara County Superior Court: Judge-Attorney Collusion Alleged

Parental Alienation Controversy: Stepmother of Audrie Pott Allegedly Berated by Judge in Michael Lazarin Paternity Action

Documents leaked to the media reveal stepmother of Audrie Pott allegedly berated by judge in Michael Lazarin paternity case. Parental alienation advocates assert that this is part of the untold story from the Audrie & Daisy Netflix documentary. 

Judge Aaron Persky Coworkers Embroiled in New Santa Clara County Superior Court Scandal

The State Bar of California has disciplined attorney Nat Hales in
connection with a family court dispute. 

BREAKING NEWS: Four Santa Clara County judges have been implicated in a new scandal involving providing preferential treatment to a local attorney, and collusion to cover up misconduct by the same lawyer. 

The judges, James Towery, Mary Ann Grilli, Mark Pierce and Vincent Chiarello, were all notified of alleged misconduct by attorney and court appointed "referee" Nat Edward Hales during the course of proceedings in a high conflict family court case. 

Audrie & Daisy Netflix Documentary Controversy: Whistleblower Leaked Motion to Close Courtroom and Seal Reporter's and Clerk's Transcripts

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Institutionalized Socioeconomic Bias Revealed in Traffic Courts Scandal: Judges Still Unaccountable for Systemic Code of Judicial Ethics Violations

Statewide traffic courts scandal news reports expose institutionalized socioeconomic bias against the poor by California courts and judges. Over two years later, no disciplinary action taken against a single judge by the California Commission on Judicial Performance.  

Damning Report Cataloging Career Spanning Misconduct by Judge Bruce C. Mills Leaked by Whistleblower Group

Judge Bruce C. Mills

A report cataloging serial acts of misconduct spanning more than 10 years by Judge Bruce C. Mills has been leaked to the public by a court watchdog and whistleblower group.

The 51-page dossier collected both public and "secret" discipline prosecutions against the judge by the Commission on Judicial Performance, the state agency responsible for judge oversight and accountability. The report is embedded at the end of this post.

The report reveals that in addition to two well known public disciplinary actions taken against the veteran Contra Costa County jurist, Mills was also found guilty in three additional incidents where the type of discipline and name of the offender were "private" and not revealed to the public.

The group identified Mills as the offending judge in the secret proceedings by reverse engineering details from the public disciplinary actions and cross referencing the information with old CJP annual reports. The acts of public and private misconduct occurred in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2013.

Judge Bruce Clayton Mills was appointed to the bench by Governor Pete Wilson in July, 1995. Mills worked as a Contra Costa County prosecutor from 1985-95, and was in private practice from 1984-87. The judge is a 1984 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

Attorney Brad Baugh Whistleblower Leak: Olivier Garbe Winnov Founder Divorce Case Past Due Attorney Fee Invoice

San Jose divorce attorney Brad Baugh.

The past due attorney fee invoice embedded at the bottom of this post is from the high-conflict Silicon Valley divorce case between Winnov Inc Founder Olivier Garbe and Diana Dong. The case is being heard by controversial Santa Clara County Family Court Judge Mary Ann Grilli.   

San Jose divorce attorney Brad Baugh represents Garbe in the trial court, and prominent appellate attorney Garrett C. Dailey represents Garbe on appeal. Dong has been represented by a string of attorneys or been self-represented due to denials of motions requesting attorney fee funds.  

Baugh is connected to a number of high-profile, high-conflict Santa Clara County divorce cases, including Richard and Laura Beauchesne, Janet and Kyle Bowers, Susan and Robert Bassi, and Evan and Violet Brooks. 

Court watchdogs allege that court records show Baugh deliberately generates conflict between divorcing couples who have substantial assets and income, unnecessarily drags cases out for years, and in the process churns exorbitant legal fees.  Whistleblowers also assert that Baugh fails to disclose conflicts of interest with Santa Clara County Superior Court judges, referees, special masters, judge pro tems, and child custody evaluators, who Baugh has had personal, social, or professional relationships with for more than 20 years. 

Court case file statistical sampling and anecdotal evidence suggest that Baugh obtains favorable outcomes for his clients at a statistically improbable level. Whistleblowers attribute the attorneys unusual success to alleged unethical conduct, serial moral turpitude misconduct, bad faith litigation tactics, and corruption within his network of judges and associates. 

Whistleblower Leak: Winnov CEO Olivier Garbe Past Due Invoice from Attorney Garrett Dailey of Elkins v. Superior Court

• Case: Marriage of Dong & Garbe 608-FL-000101
• Judge: Mary Ann Grilli Santa Clara County Superior Court

Sacramento Superior Court Corruption: Local Court Reform Group Logs 700 Followers on Facebook

A Sacramento County court reform group has announced that they have just surpassed 700 followers on Facebook. The Sacramento Family Court Corruption group posts information about incidents of judge and attorney misconduct, and an alleged Kids for Cash-style racketeering enterprise they contend operates in the family court system.

The court reform advocates also engage in direct action campaigns to raise awareness and compel enforcement of state judicial ethics laws. In the most recent action, the group published and mailed a letter to Sacramento County Presiding Judge Kevin Culhane demanding that he enforce the state Code of Judicial Ethics against Judge Matthew Gary. 

Gary reportedly is involved in an improper, personal relationship with his court clerk, Christina Arcuri. Under state law, a judge is not permitted to engage in a consensual relationship with a court employee under his supervision.

The group has compiled and posted on Facebook dozens of examples of what they contend is corruption throughout the court.   

"We continue to gain Facebook followers because every week a new victim of court corruption is created in Sacramento Family Court," said Susan Ferris, a group administrator. "At some point, oversight agencies who have ignored this for so long won't be able to ignore the sheer volume of victims." 

The group says they have been frustrated by inaction and indifference by the state Commission on Judicial Performance, responsible for oversight and accountability of judges in California, the State Bar, responsible for attorneys, and local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. 

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert has refused to enforce perjury, obstruction of justice, child abduction, court document counterfeiting, false arrest, and other laws, the group charges. 

"Our local DA has made clear she would rather be a judge. To be elected a judge you need the endorsement of other judges and prominent attorneys, and Schubert is not enforcing these laws because they implicate several local judges, along with attorneys who have aided and abetted client misconduct, including criminal child abductions," Ferris explained.

"This is all about politics and ambition. There are so many unprosecuted crimes that Schubert has all but issued a decree that local judges and attorneys are immune from criminal prosecution. This preferential treatment for the legal community should ensure her election or appointment as a judge," Ferris added. 

The 2014 documentary film Divorce Court cataloged corruption in family courts throughout the United States, and designated the Sacramento County system as one of the worst in the nation. 

Related links:

• Sacramento Family Court Corruption Group on Facebook. 
• Sacramento County Family Law Court Operates as RICO Racketeering Enterprise, Charge Whistleblowers
• Judge Thadd Blizzard and Matthew Gary, and Attorneys Who Aided Criminal Child Abductions Remain Unaccountable.  
• Sister of Prop 8 Mastermind Runs for Judge in Sacramento
• Prop 8's Schubert Supports Gay Sister's Bid for Judge
• Lesbian DA Ends Campaign to Become Judge