Legal News

A nervous moment for Kozinski and the 9th Circuit conference

By Jason Siegel

The cocktail party at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference had a nervous moment Monday when a Beverly Hills, Calif., attorney and critic of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, was escorted from the outdoors reception after getting too close to the chief judge.

Cyrus Sanai, who gained press credentials on assignment from the LA Weekly, said he was waiting to talk with Judge Richard Clifton, the conference chair, when Kozinski passed within a few feet. That was enough to trigger U.S. marshals to ask Sanai to leave.

It was Sanai who leaked word to the media in June that Kozinski had a Web site that contained sexually explicit materials; that news touched off a discipline inquiry of Kozinski, currently pending in the 3d Circuit. Sanai said he also plans to file his own, broader misconduct complaint next month against Kozinski, stemming from the materials on the Web site.

The cocktail party was at the opening night reception held outdoors on the grounds of the Sun Valley resort and was described as "open to all" by Clifton at the end of the first day's program. Sanai has been closely monitored by security at the conference.

Sanai said, "I was not trying to talk to Kozinski. He is not the reason I'm here." Sanai said his assignment from the alternative weekly is to write about the conference and not his personal dispute with the chief judge.

Kozinski, who scrapped his original plan of a Wednesday question-and-answer session with conference attendees, did take the stage Monday afternoon to welcome U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who is attending the conference.

Sanai said he convinced the marshals guarding Kozinski that he wanted to speak with Clifton and was eventually allowed to talk to him before being escorted out of the cocktail party by a member of the circuit staff.

Sanai said earlier, "I'm on my best behavior. They made it clear that if I interrupt or try to ask questions I can be bodily removed." There are plenty of U.S. marshals, who act as security for all circuit conferences, to make good on the promise.

Sanai said the LA Weekly is not interested in a story about him, so he'll be focusing on other aspects of the conference, which concludes Thursday.

Kozinski has indicated that his Web site was for private storage and that he did not know images could be seen by the public. The June 11 disclosure of the Web site came as he presided over the obscenity trial in Los Angeles of Ira Issacs, a filmmaker accused of distributing sexual-fetish videos.

Kozinski quickly recused himself from the case, and a mistrial was declared because a jury had already been seated. Kozinski called for an inquiry into his own potential misconduct, and the Web site was taken down. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. assigned the probe to the 3d Circuit.

-- Pamela MacLean

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 30, 2008 (boomark / email).