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Hall loses bid to dismiss charges (Dec 10 2004) - Diana Hall |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 10 December 2004 |
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[b]Hall loses bid to dismiss charges[/b]
By Quintin Cushner/Staff Writer
Judge Diana Hall is headed for trial March 21 after losing her bid to have campaign-finance-related charges dismissed at a Thursday hearing.
The 54-year-old jurist, who hears civil cases in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, is facing eight misdemeanor charges stemming from alleged violations of the Political Reform Act.
However, the Attorney General's Office indicated at a two-hour hearing Thursday that it might reduce the charges to four counts.
Hall has pleaded not guilty to charges that she deposited $20,000 from domestic partner Deidra Dykeman into her personal account, then included the money as part of a $25,000 transfer into her campaign fund.
She also has denied lying on campaign financial statements that she contributed the transferred money herself.
Defense lawyer Michael Scott argued that all counts against Hall should be dropped because the county District Attorney's Office was [b]discriminatory and vindictive in prosecuting the judge after she prevailed in a previous domestic-violence case. He pointed out that Hall is the only person ever prosecuted in Santa Barbara County for alleged violations of the Political Reform Act.
Scott also alleged prosecutorial misconduct in that previous criminal case. [/b]With Hall on the witness stand, a prosecutor asked Hall about the allegedly illegal loan, without informing the defense first.
"(Prosecutors) wanted to get past bad acts in front of the jury," Scott said. "And to dirty up Judge Hall in the process."
Deputy Attorney General Sharon Loughner argued that prosecutors acted appropriately, and that no case was ever dismissed on such grounds.
"It's a get-out-of-jail-free card," Loughner said of the potential dismissal.
Superior Court Judge Jack Ryan, a retired jurist from Orange County who has been assigned the Hall case, denied the dismissal motions.
Ryan said that prosecutors had no vendetta against Hall, and that there was no prosecutorial misconduct in the previous or current case.
Ryan also granted a prosecution request to quash defense subpoenas of several employees of the district attorney's office and ruled that prosecutors need not turn over records of any other officials prosecuted for campaign-finance violations.
The judge also rejected a defense attempt to move the trial to Santa Barbara because of local media interest in the case.
Hall faces a possible sentence of six months in jail and a fine of $60,000 for each of the eight misdemeanor charge against her. If convicted, she would not be permitted to run for public office for four years. Her term expires in 2006.
Short of being convicted of a felony, Hall can only be removed from the bench by the State Commission on Judicial Performance.
The commission does not comment on investigations until they are concluded, according to staff counsel Cynthia Dorfman.
* Staff writer Quintin Cushner can be reached at 739-2217 or by e-mail at
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Dec. 10, 2004
Source: http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2004/12/10/news/local/news02.txt
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