Stench from the Bench: Judge Torribio Frames Innocent Attorney

by Scott Zwartz

April 22, 2015

With September 20, 2015 Update

   First The Update:

    When this article was first written in April 2015, this writer was unaware that Judge John Torribio and Justice Paul Turner had a parallel agenda.  It would not be for several more months, that this writer and others  learned that Judge Torribio and Justice Turner would claim a constitutional right to frame innocent attorneys, who “refused Jesus Christ.”   See http://bit.ly/1DTh6XG where the Supreme Court adopts the rule that California judge’s have a constitutional right to discriminate against Jews and others “who refuse Jesus Christ.”

    Judge’s Bad Reputation Gets Worse

     Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Torribio, who is already the  winner of the worst Attorney Award, has outdone himself by framing an innocent attorney.

     Generally, it is the prosecutor who frames innocent people.  See LA Times article where Federal court said that perjury and setting up people was epidemic and the three judges blamed the California judges for looking the other way. http://lat.ms/1znOjpN

   Judge Torribio has taken it another step; he is personally doing the framing.  He alters evidence, invents non-existent evidence and conceals evidence he does not like.

     Of course, Judge Torribio has a good motive.  He needs to cover up the $1/4 Million extortion from The City of Los Angeles by his buddy and fellow jurist Judge Allan Goodman.  The theory seems to be: Since the public needs to have faith in the impartiality of the court system, the court needs to attack anyone who stumbles across information of corruption.  As the three federal judges indicate, stopping the epidemic of misconduct is not an option which the California Chief Justice has found appropriate.  When the three federal judges blame the California judiciary for an epidemic of misconduct, they are clearly pointing at the Chief Justice herself.  Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye has been Chief Justice since 2011. If the three federal judges had seen signs that she had been combating misconduct, it is unlikely that they would have focused on the California judiciary itself rather than use the standard mantra, “It’s a few bad apples.”

      But Let’s Cut to the Chase to See Judge Torribio in Action

The legal question for Judge  Torribio to decide was: Who represented Petitioner SaveHywd in the Hollywood Community Plan case.

      In 2011, Attorney Richard MacNaughton with two associates started SaveHywd, an unincorporated association, in order to submit documents and comments to the City during the administrative phase concerning the Update to the Hollywood Community Plan.  Attorney MacNaughton had started working on the Hollywood Community Plan litigation on behalf of co-petitioner, Hollywoodians Encouraging Logical Planning [HELP] in spring of 2005, when he had drafted and submitted 133 pages explaining the defects in the Hollywood Community Plan. He worked on the case continuously since Spring 2005.

       Over the advice of the L.A. City Attorney, on June 19, 2012 Councilmember Garcetti insisted that the City Council unanimously approve his Update to the Hollywood Community Plan.  Litigation followed.

     A month later on July 18, 2012, SaveHywd (and HELP0 officially hired Attorney MacNaughton to be its attorney and later that day, Attorney Mac Naughton filed the Petition with the Superior Court based on the work and legal theories which he had developed over the prior seven (7) years. 7-18-2012 SaveHyd- MacNaughton Contract

Notice that SaveHywd expressly hired Attorney MacNaughton to be its CEQA attorney and to handle all its appellate work.

    Weeks later on August 25, 2012, Attorney MacNaughton hired Frank Angel as a consultant on CEQA, which is the name for this type of lawsuit.  CEQA means California Environmental Quality Act.  Frank Angel was also an attorney, but he was not hired to act as an attorney on this case, but rather to provide Attorney MacNaughton extra CEQA advice at Attorney Mac Naughton’s request. 8-25-2012 SaveHyd – Angel Law Contract

Notice That Frank Angel was hired to be a consultant and the contract expressly denied Frank Angel the right to represent SaveHywd at the appellate lever unless there was a subsequent contract.  Not only was there no subsequent, but 18 months after he had been retained a a consultant on February 14, 2014, SaveHywd fired Frank Angel for breach of fiduciary duties and breach of duties of faithfulness and loyalty. SaveHywd’s Termination Letter

     A few months later after filing the July 2012 Petition, Attorney MacNaughton came down with cancer and was unable to appear in court, but otherwise he was able to perform all his functions as SaveHywd’s attorney.  Since he had a law license, Frank Angel was permitted to appear in court solely to set forth SaveHywd’s position.  Frank Angel never was given any authority over the nature or course of the litigation itself.

    A year later in September 2013, Frank Angel decided that he wanted to be the only attorney and that SaveHywd should fire Attorney MacNaughton.  Petitioner SaveHywd refuses.

   Frank Angel then went to another organization, a corporation with an extremely similar name, savehollywooodorg, a 503(c)(3)(1) fund raising corporation.  Frank Angel pretended that the corporation was SaveHywd.  In January 2014, with the corporation’s backing, Frank Angel requested that Judge Goodman remove Petitioner SaveHywd from the litigation and replace SaveHywd with the corporation so that it could make Frank Angel the sole attorney.

    Undertaking representation of a second client which is adverse to the interests of an existing client is strictly forbidden and is grounds to be disbarred and to be denied any attorney fees.  Flatt v Superior Court

  Rather than enforce California law about not permitting attorneys to undertake dual representation, Judge Goodman tries to help Frank Angel kill off SaveHywd.  Yes, SaveHywd is in court represented by attorney Richard Mac Naughton and it is vigorously objecting to Frank Angel’s conduct on several grounds:

1.  .     Frank Angel is SaveHywd’s attorney and he cannot come into court and take a position adverse to his own client.  Judge Goodman said he saw nothing wrong with that.
2.  .     Frank Angel even admitted that his goal was to be made the attorney so that he could get paid as the sole attorney on the lawsuit, despite the fact that  Attorney MacNaughton had done the work on the case starting in 2005.
3.  .     Judge Goodman gave Frank Angel detailed step by step instructions how to get his client SaveHywd kicked out of the case and replace SaveHywd with the corporation.
4.  .     Since there was not a scintilla of truth in Frank Angel’s claim that the corporation was the real petitioner, he did not have a single piece of the evidence that Judge Goodman told him to bring to the court.
5.  .     Instead, Frank Angel produced declarations from Fran Reichenbach and George Abrahams testifying that SaveHywd had ceased to exist on August 29, 2012.  They testified that among other things, they had abolished the Legal Committee, which was the name of the group that ran Petitioner SaveHywd.
6.  .     SaveHywd fired Frank Angel on February 14, 2014 and then asked Judge Goodman to have the court cease to accept filings from Frank Angel since he had been fired for breach of duty of loyalty to SaveHywd, for disclosing SaveHywd’s confidential information and for disclosing Attorney MacNaughton work product information.
7.  .     On March 25, 2014, Judge Goodman denied the motion and ordered SaveHywd and its attorney not to again bring up Frank Angel’s transgressions.  Judge Goodman’s exact words were: “the motion to recuse or disqualify is denied with prejudice.”  By these terse words, Judge Goodman covered up Frank Angel’s treachery of representing the corporation in an attempt to become the sole attorney and throw SaveHywd out of its own lawsuit.  “With prejudice” are legalese which forbid SaveHywd to raise the matter again.
8.  .    On March 28, 2014 Judge Goodman signed another court clearing the way for Frank Angel to collect $1/4 Million in attorney fees.

     Why Don’t People Do Anything About the Court Corruption?

     No one does anything about judicial extortion due to Judicial Immunity.  Judges are immune for any behavior while they are sitting on the bench, and there is no denying that both the March 25th and the March 28th orders were done while Judge Goodman was making decisions on a case which was properly before him.  The result was that the City had no choice but to pay Frank Angel $1/4 Million.

     This should have been the end of the saga and no one would have been any the wiser about Judge Goodman’s role in Frank Angel’s getting the $1/4 Million.  While Judge Goodman had ordered SaveHywd and Attorney Mac Naughton not to mention anything, he did not issue the same order to Frank Angel.

    Apparently not happy with his ill-gotten loot, Frank Angel showed up at a later court hearing on September 18, 2014.  Judge Goodman clarified his cryptic March 25, 2014 court order, saying Frank Angel represents the non-party corporation and not the Petitioner SaveHywd and that Richard MacNaughton represents the Petitioner SaveHywd.  Frank Angel then claims that he is the real attorney for the Petitioner SaveHywd and insisted that Judge Goodman remove Attorney MacNaughton and make him SaveHywd’s sole attorney.

Update As was recently learned in September 2015, Justice Turner and Judge Torribio have not stopped shoving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Frank Angel.  Meanwhile, they were also penalizing Attorney MacNaughton over $100,000 for speaking about about the corruption.

    After ordering briefing, on September 24, 2014, Judge Goodman denies Frank Angel’s request and does not replace Attorney MacNaughton as SaveHywd’s attorney of record, and he leaves Frank Angel as attorney for the corporation.

    On December 8, 2014, Frank Angel filed a motion before another judge, the now infamous John Torribio, Department G, saying that Judge Goodman had removed Attorney MacNaughton as SaveHywd’s attorney on March 25, 2014, and therefore, Attorney MacNaughton should pay Frank Angel $27,600.00.

    Frank Angel neglected to tell Judge Torribio about Judge Goodman’s statements that Frank Angel represented the corporation and not the Petitioner and that Attorney MacNaughton represented the petitioner.

        The Manufacturing of Evidence:

    Judge Torribio shows how he won the award for California’s worst judge.  He falsifies evidence, he invents evidence, and he hides evidence so that his decisions appear to flow from the facts of the case.  In reality, the facts are fictions manufactured by Judge Torribio.  Let’s look at Judge Torribio’s March 9, 2015 Order:

1.  In his March 9, 2015, Judge Torribio falsified the July 18, 2012 contract where Attorney MacNaughton was officially hired to be SaveHywd’s Attorney.  According to Judge Torribio, SaveHywd hired Frank Angel on that date to be its CEQA Attorney.  Judge Torribio never has to show anyone the contract.  As the judge, whatever he says the facts are become the facts.  Thus, the official record now states as an “Undisputed Fact” that SaveHywd hired Frank Angel and not Attorney MacNaughton.

     Judge Torribio’s words were: “July 18, 2012 the legal committee hires Frank Angel as its CEQA attorney.”  (March 6, 2015 order page 2)

2.  The August 25, 2012 contract where Frank Angel had been retained as consultant disappeared.  Of course, Judge Johnny cannot admit that this August 25, 2012 contract exists after Judge Johnny had already falsely declared that Frank Angel had been hired on July 18, 2012.

     Then Judge  Torribio’s hubris becomes overwhelming.  Not only does he make Frank Angel SaveHywd’s attorney, he but also pretends that a member of SaveHywd, Ziggy Kruse, is the authority for his pretending that Frank Angel was hired on July 18, 2012.  Again, no one gets to see what Ziggy Kruse actually said.  They only see what Judge Torribio pretends she said.  Ziggy Kruse had sign a declaration which said that on July 18, 2012, SaveHywd hired Attorney Richard MacNaughton.

      In California, Facts are Whatever the Judge Pretends Them to be

    This highlights a little known aspect of the law.  Truth is what the judge says it is.  If the contract really states “Richard MacNaughton,” judges have the power to change that to “Frank Angel.”  If a declaration says “Attorney MacNaughton was hired,” a judge can change the the declaration to read “Frank Angel was hired.”  Appellate courts seldom look beyond what the judge said the evidence showed.  The evidence is whatever the judge said it was – end of inquiry.

     Oh boy, when Judge Torribio goes on a rampage to destroy evidence, nothing is safe.  Totally gone is Frank Angel’s representation of the corporation – Zap! It no longer exists.

      Then out of nowhere, JudgeTorribio seems to manufacture a new Legal Committee, which strangely has the same members of the corporation Board which had tried to kick Attorney MacNaughton out of the lawsuit.  In order to accomplish this feat of deception, Judge  Torribiot ignores the fact that members of this bogus Legal Committee had expressly abandoned the SaveHywd’s Legal Committee back in September 2013. They even voted to abolish the Legal Committee and they refused to participate in any of  the Legal Committee’s meetings. Instead, they swore under penalty of perjury in multiple declarations that there was no Legal Committee and that there was no SaveHywd; there was only the corporation which Frank Angel represented.  Now, Judge Torriobio  finds that the real Legal Committee has evaporated into some unknown mist and all we have left is the Corporate Board which has changed its name to Legal Committee.

    So, now Judge Torribio’s order is on appeal, but not to worry.  Judge Torribio is no fool.  There is no doubt that he got an ironclad guarantee from the very tippy top, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, that he will be protected all the way.  Without such protection, Judge  Torribio’s transgressions in this particular case would be too gross and too transparent, and his March 9, 2015 Order would be a career ender.

UPDATE:  Justice Turner despite his conflict of interest has indicated his willingness to dismiss HELP’s appeal on the grounds that his prior order, which was devoid of jurisdiction and due process and was totally silent about HELP’s representation at the trial court, is res judicata and that Attorney MacNaughton should pay Frank Angel an additional $77,000.00 because SaveHywd appealed Judge Torribio’s order.  Justice Turner is making this ruling without taking the time to read SaveHywd’s appeal itself.  This behavior closely tracks the judicial misconduct which trails in the wake of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

     What happened to Judge Allan Goodman after assisting Frank Angel to extort $1/4 Million from the City?  He was promoted to sit on the appellate court – in the very same Division that hears the appeals on the Hollywood Community Plan case.  Mirable dictu! Will wonders never cease?

    Epilogue: The Dexter Jacobson Option

   Here’s the  most important thing that Goodman, Torribio, Paul Turner or Chief Justice  want anyone to know.    Because Attorney MacNaughton will not knuckle under to their perfidy is zero, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye  has apparently authorized the Dexter Jacobson Option.  It seems that to their minds,  all attorneys and wayward judges who have proof of their judicial corruption in Division 5, in Orange County, and especially in family Court in Sacramento, should realize the extent of the real world sanctions which may await them.

Read and Learn About The Dexter Jacobson Option

http://lat.ms/1aviYYj    August 22, 1990,  Dexter Jacobson, Attorney in Bankruptcy Inquiry Slain, by Dan Morain, Times Staff Writer

http://bit.ly/1aSYokG    Sausalito Police Dept re Dexter Jacobson, 1990

http://bit.ly/1DC2uF0    website with info on Dexter Jacobson

updated: 10-12-2015