MORE ON: courts

State judges who were elected, worked in smaller communities or had been previously disciplined were more likely to be sanctioned for misconduct during the past two decades, according to figures from the California Commission on Judicial Performance. California imposed 878 disciplinary actions... + read more

Two California appellate court justices may have violated state conflict-of-interest rules by hearing a multimillion-dollar case involving Boeing Co. while they owned stock in the company, according to court documents and financial disclosure forms obtained by The Bay Citizen. ... + read more

The program that monitors lawyers recovering from drug and alcohol abuse at times fails to take action when attorneys skip lab screenings or even test positive, the California State Auditor has found. A report, published last week, details how the California State Bar’s Lawyer Assistance... + read more

An Orange County man wrongfully convicted of assaulting police officers with a deadly weapon must prove his innocence anew to receive compensation for the five years he spent in prison. The California Attorney General’s Office is contesting Ernest Benefiel’s claim for $188,000 from... + read more

Ernest Benefiel was wrongfully convicted twice for the same crime and spent more than five years imprisoned. Worse than that, the crime (assaulting police officers with a deadly weapon) prosecutors and juries in Orange County said he committed never technically took place. Released from... + read more

Family courts in Sacramento and Marin counties could not show whether mediators and other appointees handling child custody disputes met minimum qualifications and training requirements, according to a long-awaited report released yesterday by the state auditor. The audit, which covered... + read more