Sacto 9-1-1: Panel finds that Placer judge O'Flaherty violated judicial canons

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July 6, 2010

Panel finds that Placer judge O'Flaherty violated judicial canons

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Placer County Judge Joseph O'Flaherty likely will be disciplined again after a three-judge panel formally charged him with violating three judicial canons.

The panel held an evidentiary hearing April 27 and 28 in Sacramento and made public its finding on June 30.

The matter will now be heard by the State Commission on Judicial Performance. Acting in an appellate function, 11-member commission could do anything from dismissing the charges to removing O'Flaherty from the bench. The earliest it could take action is late August.

O'Flaherty will remain on the bench as the process moves forward, said Victoria Henley, chief counsel for the commission.

O'Flaherty was admonished by the commission in 2004 for inviting potential jurors who might be racially prejudiced to lie about why they couldn't serve.

Over the last decade, the commission has initiated 34 formal proceedings against California judges.

The latest charges stem from December 2008 small-claims case between Golden 1 Credit Union and car dealer Scott Herold. At the conclusion of the hearing, O'Flaherty issued a no contact order without proper due process.

In his response to the panel, O'Flaherty stated "that he does not believe he issued any type of restraining order ... but instead issued an admonishment" base on Herold's behavior.

Henley said the commission can take his earlier discipline into account.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

Previous coverage:

Placer judge testifies in disciplinary hearing - April 28, 2010

Placer judge faces inquiry into abuse-of-authority claims - Feb. 11, 2010

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Q: In 1998 my friend Angela Elise Dvorsky was murdered. Her body was discovered in the river by Howe ave. To my knowledge there was never an arrest and I can find no information on the case at all. Not even from the original incedent. Please help thank you.

A: The body 18-year-old Angela Dvorsky was found May 1, 1998 floating in the American River near the Watt Avenue bridge. Sheriff's officials said she had been stabbed numerous times in the upper torso and was believed to have been in the water for about two weeks.

According to stories in The Bee, her parents said she had been a straight-A student, but they started noticing signs of drug use and the next thing they knew she was pregnant.

Dvorsky was described as a chronic runaway who often hung out on Croetto Way in Rancho Cordova. Her parents said she survived on the streets by running with robbery gangs.

Friends said they had last talked to her in mid-March 1998. They said she was holed up in a motel and seemed paranoid over the phone. She told them she had been involved in a robbery where somebody got hurt and that her "crew" was concerned about her being a witness.

Dvorsky died leaving a 2-year-old son.

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