Pro Pers & Whistleblowers Take Down Family Court's Most Powerful- Who will GO TO JAIL ?

Over  the past 20 years, Santa Clara County has received hundreds of complaints related to judges who  routinely acted with bias, incompetence and impropriety in divorce and probate cases,

​Santa Clara County's Judge Persky caused global outrage and brought attention to the conduct of judges in Santa Clara County when he  sentenced Stanford Rapist Brock Turner to just 6 months in jail.. 

​After Santa Clara Courts came under global fire for hosting Judges like Persky , the county moved Persky down to civil court, where he is now scheduled to hear long cause divorce trials, which is bringing attention to how problematic judges in the county's family law cases truly are.
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Not only has Santa Clara County Courts  ignored complaints regarding judicial misconduct, the Commission on Judicial Performance , CJP has ignored these out of control judges as well.

INVESTIGATION EXPANDS TO UNFAIR COURTS  IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY INVOLVING  PRO PER PARENTS IN DIVORCE CASES

​Contra Costa County has received  an alarming number of  complaints against Judge Bruce C. Mills, most of which that  county ignored, even after the CJP had disciplined Mills for five separate acts of misconduct spanning a dozen years.  Judge Mills is the judge who clearly engaged in judicial retaliation against Joe Sweeny, court reform whistleblower .

In early  2016, Joe Sweeney,  frustrated by the family court process in Contra Costa County , formed Court Reform LLC, and set out to show CJP was not  protecting the public from judges run amok,.

In  August 2016 Joe, along with other activists and non-profit groups, finally got the attention  of  California's state legislature , and an audit of  CJP was finally demanded. An audit  will reveal why judges like Judge Mills  have not been disciplined or removed from the public payroll,

​Immediately following  vote for the CJP audit,  Joe Sweeney returned to Contra Costa County   and faced what was clearly  blatant and flagrant  judicial retaliation , imposed by Contra Costa County Judge Mills,  This blog has followed Joe's case  and has obtained a copy of the criminal complaint Joe Sweeney filed with Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson.

​See a copy of the Criminal Complaint Filed Against Judge  Mills  and Clerk Lori Bogdan for Violation of Government Code 6200 ( Alteration of Court Record by Public Officer) , Violation of Penal Code 470  ( Forgery on Court Judgement ) and Violation of Penal Code 182 (a)(1) and (5) .

Pro Pers and Whistleblowers  in Contra Costa County  have been demanding the district attorney act on issues involved in family court cases for decades, all have been largely ignored. This time county residents and honest court employees will insist on an investigation not only by the DA, but by the Department of Justice.

JUDGE-ATTORNEY CRONIES STEALING MONEY IN DIVORCE CASES AND THOSE WHO AID AND ABET THEM

The family court community in Santa Clara County is abuzz after pro per litigant Susan Bassi got attorney Nat Hales to admit to engaging in professional misconduct , lying to the State Bar and violating California's Judicial Code of Ethics, while acting as a Referee/ Special Master in a complex divorce case.  Mr. Hales' misconduct shows just how the legal community can aid and abet in destroying families for ill gotten gain.

 The most senior family law advocates  in Santa Clara are stunned that a  pro per mom got a 50 year family law veteran to admit to the State Bar that he had engaged in misconduct,   something no attorney or state watchdog agency had ever accomplished. .

​The mom also reported Nat Hales  to Santa Clara County's presiding Judge Rise  Pichon back in 2015. The county's supervising judge would have been obligated to report Hales to the Commission on Judicial Performance, No such report has appeared to have been made and the county appears to have left Nat Hales and the financial havoc he imposed on tax payers and the parties in the Bassi case appears to have been left to continue for over another year.

​Ironically , the Bassi case was before Mary Ann Grilli for nearly four years, then the county abruptly transferred the case to Judge James Towery.. Towery, the former Senior Trail Counsel at the State Bar, was run out of the Bar in a flurry of ethics complaints and as he failed to  address misconduct of his peers. In the Bassi matter it appears Towery has known of Hales' misconduct since January of 2015, and in pure violation of Canon 3 of the California Judicial Code of Ethics, he ignored that conduct which could cost county tax payers millions.

Nat Hales was additionally appointed by Judge Erica Yew in the Marriage of Brooks, as the county now knows  Nat Hales held no certification or legal qualifications to act in divorce or probate  cases , as required by law.  The appointment of Hales was made in the Brooks case as  Ms. Yew served as the Chairperson for the Commission on Judicial Performance, leaving many to wonder how deep misconduct spreads throughout California's judiciary, and how many are involved in the cover-up.

​Nat Hales, while authorized  by Santa Clara County ,  has caused millions of dollars to be incurred in expert fees, and costs . Public funds incurred while Hales engaged in misconduct may  cost  county  and state tax payers billons.
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​PRIVATE JUDGE/ REFEREE TAINTS DIVORCE CASES IN AGRICULTURE AND TECH INDUSTRIES

Nat Hales' tainting of just the Brooks and Bassi matters may prove to cost tax payers more than the county's annual court budget, given the depth and scope of misconduct imposed on these cases. 

Not surprisingly Brad Baugh represents the husband's in these cases, where there is more than an appearance that the husbands engaged in fraud and tax evasion in the tech and agricultural industries. These cases are complex because the wives in both cases were not silent about their ex husband's criminal like conduct related to community property  and financial matters. The wives now appear to be suffering from retaliation spewing from Judge Grilli and Towery that simply can not be ignored and that has sparked a deep media investigation.

​COURTS RETALIATE AGAINST MEDIA AND WHISTLEBLOWERS 

​Santa Clara County court insiders report that judges and administrators are retaliating and attempting to cover up just what Hales, and others like him, have cost litigants and tax payers. Insiders report they have been instructed to " lose " paperwork, and " make mistakes " that make it harder for whistleblowers to come forward. Most insidious is that court insiders report they have been instructed to delay or obstruct appeals in many of Grilli's and Towery's cases.

Investigative reporters connected with mainstream media began to make media requests in both the Bassi and Brooks cases in early 2016, an unusual request in divorce cases. 

Reporters have since indicated  they are  investigating misconduct imposed in divorce cases by seasoned judges and lawyers. The cases being widely  investigated include suspects  : Heather Allan,  Denise Dirks, Ricard Roggia, Valerie Houghton, BJ Faden,  Brad Baugh, CPA James Butera , Judge Grilli, Judge Towery,  Judge Pierce, Judge Chairello, Judge Persky,  Judge Folan, Judge Rise Pichon,  Court CEO David Yamasaki, vocational examiner Tim Harper and realtors Patty Filice and Terry Houghton of Intero Real Estate. The County's Public Information Officer and other Court Staffers are also being exposed in the investigation.

Santa Clara County appears to be attempting to retaliate against those who complain, in an effort to  cover up the misconduct of Nat Hales and others like him,.

Susan Bassi was sanctioned nearly $200,000 for what appears to be her efforts to file complaints with the State Bar and California Board of Accountancy, despite those complaints now proving to be valid,

Violet Brooks and Susan Bassi both appear to be suffering from retaliation after speaking out about the injustice observed during complex divorce cases in Santa Clara County.  

​Media requests first granted in early 2016 are now being systemically denied by all judges and public information requests are not being produced, as required by law.

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​WHO  SHOULD  GO TO JAIL ?

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​​An  investigation that began in Santa Clara  now  turns to  Contra Costa County where Joe Sweeney has been victimized by the juridical corruption and misconduct that appears to be systemically imposed in the State of California.

​Joe's complaint to the DA includes not only Judge Mills, but his clerk Lori Bogdan.

​While it is rare that judges ever serve jail time, public outcry over what has been happening in family courts for the past 20 years may change that. The days of public and private discipline being sufficient to address the harm a judge can do to  in a case before them are over.  Such discipline is not only insufficient and unacceptable to today's litigants,  such responses are being called BULLSHIT across social media forums.

​Court staff including clerks, and court reporters are also susceptible to civil and criminal charges, where immunity and governmental protections would not apply .

​Further investigation shows that the judges and lawyers are not the only ones who may face civil and criminal charges, but realtors, CPAs and vocational examiners who are negligent, corrupt or who conspire against one party in a divorce may also be exposed to legal claims, and return  of ill gotten gains. Criminal charges for aiding and abetting, or conspiring to take community property in divorces ,or  private property in probate matters is now in the realm of possibilities given what is found to be going on in Santa Clara County Courts.