Print

Judge David Yaffe of LA; serial scofflaw, greedy, moron and Il Duce Wannabee

Unfortunately for the good citizens of Los Angeles County, Judge David Yaffe has been sitting on the bench since 1987.
 
During his tenure on the bench in LA, Judge David Yaffe found it acceptable to consistently violate the California Constitution by accepting nearly $50,000 a year in County benefits when in fact the State of California was paying the same exact benefits on his behalf.
 
In the early 1990s, California unified its court system and assumed the financial responsibility of paying the wages and benefits for all of California’s nearly 2,000 judges. A California Court of Appeals recently ruled it was unconstitutional (illegal) for Judge Yaffe and his cohorts (at least 500 of them) to accept dual benefits (aka, double-dipping).
 
It would be absurd for Judge Yaffe to assert that he was ignorant of the fact it was illegal to collect nearly $50,000 a year from LA County for the same benefits he received from the State. I suppose Yaffe will argue that he was ignorant of the law. As we all know, ignorance of the law is not a valid defense; however, in many instances it is a stepping stone to higher office.
 
It has recently been reported that Judge Yaffe ordered that LA attorney Richard Fine be held in solitary confinement at the County jail for 14 months, even though he’s never been charged with a crime. (CNN – 5/24/10) Judge Yaffe’s confinement is based on his finding Mr. Fine in contempt for refusing to turn over financial documents and answer questions to pay an opposing party’s attorney fees.
 
Mr. Fine asserts that he is a political prisoner for having the audacity in exposing the illegal double-dipping involving Judge Yaffe and his cohorts on the bench in LA County. Put simply, Mr. Fine asserts that he’s being punished for so acting.
 
In investigating Judicial/Attorney Misfits over the past twenty or more years, I can assure that the quickest way for an attorney to loose his/her license is to expose and/or report the misconduct of a judge or judges.
 
Mr. Fine has in the past, asked Judge Yaffe to withdraw from his case due to his obvious bias and/or because of an inherent conflict of interest. The obvious conflict of interest is the fact that Judge Yaffe’s continued unconstitutional double-dipping was and continues to be exposed by Mr. Fine.
 
Now, because I’m not privy to all of the relevant facts, I cannot intelligently opine on whether Judge Yaffe was legally correct in finding Mr. Fine in contempt. However, I can tell you that I’m unaware of a similar case. In fact, I’ve personally reviewed and/or documented numerous cases wherein attorneys perpetrated egregious frauds on various courts by giving perjured testimony, suborning perjury and/or submitting fabricated evidence to unjustly enrich themselves. None of the judges on those cases ever found the offending attorney in contempt nor did they report the criminal conduct to the local DA or prosecutor.

I am apt to give more weight to Mr. Fine’s claims that he’s a political prisoner for exposing corruption involving Judge Yaffe, et al. than I would to the efficacy of Yaffe or any other LA County judge sitting in judgment of Mr. Fine. I’m not in possession of all of the facts surrounding the matter of finding Mr. Fine in contempt for allegedly failing to respond to discovery matters; however, I can assure that I’m not aware of anyone being sentenced to “solitary confinement” for so acting.
 
Unfortunately for Mr. Fine his sole remedy is to seek redress from another judge, a proposition that in and of itself doesn’t pass the involuntary laugh test.
 
As we speak (ca. May 2010) Judge Yaffe and those of his ilk (FYI: Judge Yaffe, ILK is not defined as a male ELK!), are receiving around $57,000 annually in duplicate benefits from LA County that are also being paid by the overburdened taxpayers of California. And Judge Yaffe has the chutzpah to accept this unconstitutional gratuity with a smile on his face. Is Los Angeles County a great country or what?
 
Finally, when a defendant who wrongfully collected worker’s compensation while actually working appeared before Judge Yaffe, do ya think he gave him/her a pass for illegally double-dipping like he has for years?