Judge Manuel L. Real http://www.clr.org/Real-Manuel-L.

html

Federal Judge
Judge May Face Sanctions
Federal jurist improperly took over bankruptcy case, judicial
panel says
By Henry Weinstein
LA Times Staff Writer
January 18, 2004
A veteran federal judge faces disciplinary proceedings after he improperly seized control of a bankruptcy
case in an effort to protect a woman whose probation he had decided to oversee personally, according to
a federal judicial disciplinary council.
Penalties for District Judge Manuel L. Real, 79, who has been a controversial member of the federal
judiciary in Los Angeles since 1966, could range from a private reprimand to loss of the authority to hear
cases.
The proceedings in the case have largely taken place out of the public eye. The judicial council of the U.S.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which supervises federal judges in California and eight other Western states,
handed down its ruling on Real in mid-December, but the decision has never been formally published and
has not been placed on the court website.
The decision, cryptically titled "In Re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct," does not mention Real by name,
but his identity is revealed in a court opinion referred to in the disciplinary panel's ruling.
Legal experts say that although the next steps in the case are up to the chief judge of the 9th Circuit, the
council's ruling means
that some sort of penalty against Real is highly likely.
That alone would make his case rare. More than 99% of the complaints filed against federal judges around
the country are
dismissed out of hand. The 9th Circuit council has reprimanded only two jurists in the last decade, while
rejecting hundreds of
complaints, according to official records.
Beyond that, Real's opponents say, the case provides a textbook example of the way a federal judge —
holder of a lifetime
appointment — can abuse his power on behalf of an individual he favors.
Real did not respond to requests for comment.
The judge has a reputation for being charming outside court but cantankerous and peremptory on the
bench. He is famous
among lawyers for telling attorneys who appear before him: "This isn't Burger King. We don't do it your
way here."
Real has "created a courtroom of terror," said Victor Sherman, a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer.
The case involves one of Real's idiosyncrasies: For the last 25 years, he has personally supervised
numerous cases of criminals
on probation, according to a statement he made to the judicial council. The judge said he had taken pride
in helping criminals
rehabilitate themselves by getting directly involved in their activities.
One of those people on probation was Deborah M. Canter, who pleaded guilty in April 1999 to one count
of loan fraud and
three counts of making false statements.
Real sentenced Canter, who was 42 at the time of her plea, to five years' probation and community
service and put her under
his personal supervision, meaning that he met with her and her probation officer at 120-day intervals.
Two months before Canter pleaded guilty, she and her husband, Gary — a member of the family that
owns Canter's Deli on

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Fairfax Avenue — had separated. He moved out of the house on Highland Avenue where the couple had
been living with their
daughter.
The home was owned by a trust established by Gary Canter's parents. While the couple were living
together, Gary sent rent
checks to his father, Alan. But after the couple split up, Deborah Canter apparently fell behind in the rent.
In October 1999,
Alan Canter filed suit against her, seeking to evict her from the house and to collect $5,000 in back rent.
Twenty-four minutes before a trial was to begin on the eviction, she filed for bankruptcy, which had the
effect of stopping the
eviction proceedings.
A few months later, in February 2000, she signed an agreement to move out. But just days before she was
scheduled to leave
the house, a secretary for her lawyer drafted a letter from Canter to Real, "asking for his help in
preventing her eviction,"
according to the judicial council's findings.
Shortly afterward, Real used his power as a federal judge to take control of the bankruptcy case away
from U.S. Bankruptcy
Judge Alan Ahart. Real then reinstated an order blocking the eviction that Canter and her attorney had
earlier agreed to.
Real's ruling came "a day or two after" Canter delivered the letter, according to the statements from the
secretary who drafted
the letter.
"The next time they saw each other" Canter told the secretary the letter had "worked," according to the
judicial council's
decision. Canter could not be reached for comment.
Real twice denied motions filed by the Canter trust that would have permitted it to evict Deborah Canter.
When Herbert Katz,
an attorney for the trust, asked why, Real's only explanation was, "Because I said it," according to court
records.
Real's order surprised Deborah Canter's lawyer, Andrew E. Smyth. In an interview, he said that months
later he told his
secretary he was still perplexed about what had happened. Then the mystery was solved.
"She said Real acted 'because me and Debbie wrote a letter and Debbie took it down to him,' " Smyth
said, adding that he was
"shocked and aghast…. It was a complete no-no going to a judge secretly without talking to the other side.
No one should do
that. That's forbidden."
Smyth described his former client as "cute, pixie-like" woman who "acts like a helpless waif."
Katz, the lawyer for the other side, also said he had been stunned by Real's actions. He remained
mystified about what had
happened until he read the recent decision of the judicial council.
Katz, who served as a bankruptcy judge in San Diego for a decade, said that in 40 years as a member of
the bar, he had never
seen a judge do what Real had done.
"I would never in my wildest dreams have believed" that a federal judge "would simply take a case away
from another judge so
that he could affect the outcome of the case," Katz said. "I guess it was naive on my part."
Although he did not know the reason for Real's actions, Katz appealed the judge's decision, and in August
2002, the 9th
Circuit sided with him. The federal Bankruptcy Code allows a district judge to take control of a case away
from the
Bankruptcy Court, but the judge has to provide valid reasons for doing so, the appeals court said. Real
never did so.

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His actions improperly permitted Deborah Canter to stay in the house "rent-free for almost three years,
resulting in a $35,000
loss of rental income" to the Canter trust, the court said in its 3-0 ruling.
Real's actions were an "excursion outside the confines of [his] lawful jurisdiction" and showed a
"persistent disregard of the
federal rules" of civil procedure, 9th Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson said in the court's opinion.
Soon after the ruling, Deborah Canter and the Canter Family Trust reached an out-of-court settlement,
and she moved out of
the house.
The case might have ended there, but for the fact that Real over the years has made some determined
enemies. One is Venice
attorney Stephen Yagman.
In 1984, Real fined Yagman $250,000, a penalty that was later dismissed on appeal. The judge said the
lawyer had filed a libel
suit in bad faith. Yagman retorted by saying Real suffered from "mental disorders" and compared him to
Tomas de
Torquemada, the leader of the Spanish Inquisition.
A decade later, a special disciplinary panel of the federal court in Los Angeles suspended Yagman for two
years for making
intemperate comments about another federal judge. Yagman successfully appealed that move as well, and
he asserted that Real
had played a key role in instigating it.
When Yagman learned about the dispute involving Canter, he filed a misconduct charge against Real,
suggesting that the judge's
actions stemmed from a relationship with Canter, whom Yagman characterized as an "attractive female."
"Real violated the most important ethic of a judge," Yagman said in a recent interview, adding that the
judge had acted
"according to his own good pleasure," rather than "according to the laws."
The case went initially to the 9th Circuit's chief judge, Mary M. Schroeder of Phoenix. She dismissed
Yagman's complaint,
saying he had not provided "any objectively verifiable proof" of his charge.
Moreover, Schroeder said, the Court of Appeals had already ruled on Real's actions, and there was no
cause for further
proceedings.
Under federal law governing complaints of judicial misconduct, "a complaint will be dismissed if it is
directly related to the
merits of a judge's ruling or decision," Schroeder ruled.
Yagman pressed ahead, taking his case to the 10-judge Judicial Council, which launched its own inquiry.
Real told the council that he believed his actions would help Deborah Canter's rehabilitation. But the
council said he had acted
improperly.
"A judge may not use his authority in one case to help a party in an unrelated case," the council said in a
6-4 decision. "Exercise
of judicial power in the absence of any arguably legitimate basis can amount to misconduct."
The council also said it was "well established" that a judge could not act on the basis of a secret
communication or take over a
case for the purpose of affecting the outcome of a case. The council said Real had done both of these
things.
"The judge here … assigned the case to himself for the very purpose of granting [Canter] relief from her
imminent eviction," the
council ruled.
The fact that the judge's ruling had been "subject to appellate review does not automatically insulate the
judge's conduct from
disciplinary proceedings," the council majority added.

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The council is made up of five appeals court judges and five trial court judges. All five appellate judges on
the council — Arthur
L. Alarcon, William A. Fletcher, Alex Kozinski, M. Margaret McKeown and Sidney R. Thomas — joined
the majority. They
were joined by Marilyn H. Patel, the chief federal trial judge in San Francisco.
Four of the trial court judges — John Coughenour of Seattle, Terry J. Hatter Jr. of Los Angeles, Marilyn
L. Huff of San Diego
and Jack D. Shanstrom of Billings, Mont. — sided with Real. They did not write an opinion explaining
their dissent.
The council sent the case back to Schroeder, who said in an interview that "it is on my agenda to study the
matter with some
care and determine what action is appropriate."
Four legal experts, after reading the council's order and related material, said further action against Real
was warranted.
"Taking a case for the purpose of affecting the result is the antithesis of impartial judging," said Stephen
Gillers, vice dean of the
New York University Law School and author of a legal ethics textbook.
"These alleged transgressions deserved serious attention," he said.
USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky agreed. "I think it is important for the 9th Circuit to say a judge
should not behave this
way," he said.
Although the council's order is not the end of the matter, the professors said it was so strong that it would
be very difficult for
Real to escape a reprimand.
"Schroeder obviously can't dismiss the case again," Chemerinsky said. "The only question is what sanction
to impose."

email: clr@clr.org

Home Page

Posted January 20, 2004

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House Moves Toward Impeaching Judge Manuel Real http://www.metnews.com/articles/2006/real071906.htm

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Page 1

House Moves Toward Impeaching Judge Manuel Real

From Staff and Wire Service Reports

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis, filed a

resolution yesterday which could lead to the impeachment of Manuel L. Real, U.S.
District Judge for the Central District of California.
Real, 82, allegedly seized control of a bankruptcy case involving a defendant he
knew, then allowed the defendant to live rent-free for years in a house she’d been
ordered to vacate.
Sensenbrenner said in a statement:
“When the judicial branch has failed to address serious allegations of judicial
misconduct, as the Ninth Circuit arguably has in this matter, the Constitution
provides the Congress only one course of action: opening an impeachment inquiry.”
The congressman apparently was referring the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council’s
decision last October to end its inquiry into a complaint filed against Real regarding
the bankruptcy case, and the Judicial Council of the United States’ 3-2 decision in
April that it could not sanction Real because Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary M.
Schroeder did not properly investigate the complaint.
Rush to Judgment
Real’s attorney, Donald Smaltz of Spiegel, Liao & Kagay in Rancho Palos
Verdes, condemned Sensenbrenner’s resolution as “an obvious rush to judgment” and
described Real’s record of public service as “unblemished and exemplary.”
Smaltz responded, “Damn right,” when asked by the MetNews if Real was
surprised by the resolution, adding that Real was given no advance notice of it.
“We look forward to these proceedings and are confident that they will
demonstrate overwhelmingly that Judge Real has committed no criminal violations
and that there is absolutely no basis for this inquiry whatsoever,” he said.
The allegations against Real arise out of the bankruptcy case of Deborah M.
Canter, the estranged wife of an owner of Canter’s Deli in the Fairfax District.
Real placed Canter on probation in 1999 after she pled guilty to loan fraud and
making false statements under oath. One of the conditions of probation was that
Canter and her probation officer meet personally with Real every four months.
Canter and her husband Gary had separated two months before the plea, and Gary
Canter had moved out of the family’s Los Angeles home, which was owned by a trust
set up by his parents. Deborah Canter continued to live in the home, but did not pay
rent to the trust, which sued to evict her.
Deborah Canter filed for bankruptcy on the day of trial, thereby temporarily
halting her eviction. She later agreed to move out, but just days before her scheduled

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departure, she sent a letter to Real asking for his assistance in keeping her in the
house.
Stayed Eviction
Real denied ever receiving the letter. But he subsequently exercised his statutory
authority to assume jurisdiction over Canter’s bankruptcy case, which had been
assigned to Bankruptcy Judge Alan Ahart, and reinstated the previous order staying
the eviction.
After the Canter Family Trust appealed, the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that
Real lacked good cause for taking control of the case and re-imposing the stay.
Soon after the ruling, Deborah Canter and the Canter Family Trust settled, and
she moved out of the house.
Venice civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman, who has been feuding with Real for
years, then filed a complaint against the judge under the Judicial Council Reform and
Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980. The act allowed Yagman, who once
accused Real of suffering from “mental disorders,” to file a complaint regarding the
judge’s actions in Canter’s bankruptcy case, even though Yagman played no part in
those proceedings.
Yagman, who earlier this month pled not guilty to federal charges of tax evasion,
money laundering and bankruptcy fraud and awaits an August trial, accused Real of
having placed a “comely” defendant on probation “to himself, personally” and of
having taken over her bankruptcy case because he wanted to “benefit an attractive
female.”
The majority on the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council accepted Real’s
acknowledgment that he should have explained his reasons for taking jurisdiction
over the bankruptcy and staying the eviction, and his assurance that “[h]e does not
believe that any similar situation will occur in the future.” It explained that the
purpose of the statute is not to punish judges, but to assure the fair administration of
the laws.
Impeached Judges
Federal judges, who are appointed for life, are subject to the same type of
impeachment proceedings for “high crimes and misdemeanors” as presidents: if
impeached by a majority vote of the House of Representatives, a trial would take
place in the Senate, which could remove the judge from office by a two-thirds vote.
Thirteen federal judges have been impeached over the years, according to the
Federal Judicial Center. The first was in 1803, when John Pickering, serving in the
District of New Hampshire, was impeached on charges of mental instability and
intoxication on the bench.
Most recently, Alcee L. Hastings of the Southern District of Florida was
impeached in 1989 on charges of perjury and conspiring to solicit a bribe. The same
year, Walter L. Nixon of the Southern District of Mississippi was impeached on
perjury charges. Both were convicted by the Senate and removed from office.
Hastings is now a Democratic congressman from Florida.

Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company

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Yagman sentenced to 3 years - Convicted of fraud and tax evasion, the ... http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/28/local/me-yagman28

California | Local
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Archive for Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Yagman sentenced to 3 years - Convicted of fraud and tax

evasion, the lawyer known for taking on the LAPD says
government wants to destroy him.
By Scott Glover
November 28, 2007 in print edition B-1

Stephen G. Yagman, a pugnacious lawyer who made a career of suing the Los Angeles Police Department and
other law enforcement agencies, was sentenced Tuesday to three years in federal prison for tax evasion, money
laundering and bankruptcy fraud.

He did not go quietly – or quickly.

In an unusual courtroom hearing that spanned three days, Yagman and his attorneys painstakingly went over the
evidence in the case and accused the U.S. attorney of targeting him because of his long and confrontational history
with the federal government.

“A cage went in search of a bird,” Yagman told U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, quoting from Franz Kafka’s
book “The Zurau Aphorisms.” “I’m the bird, and they got me.”

Wearing a blue suit and a sailboat-decorated tie, Yagman also quoted from, or referred to, Woody Allen, Abraham
Lincoln and Socrates during more than four hours of oration. At times, he was remorseful, but for the most part, he
was defensive.

Government officials, he said, “want to scorch everything around me … destroy me.”

Yagman’s sentence, which includes an additional two years of supervised release after his prison term, was
significantly less than the nine years that prosecutors had recommended. He is scheduled to surrender to
authorities and begin serving his sentence Jan. 15.

The convictions, in all likelihood, mark an end to Yagman’s work as a litigator. It was a career in which he
occasionally broke new legal ground and antagonized some of L.A.’s most powerful leaders, often while
representing gang members and other criminals who allegedly had been abused by the police.

Before imposing the sentence, Judge Wilson said he approached the case as he does all others, with a healthy
skepticism of the charges. But after presiding over the trial, he said he became convinced of Yagman’s guilt.

“The jury was right,” he said.

Nonetheless, Wilson said, he allowed the hearing to carry on for three days so both sides could essentially
re-argue evidence in the case “to make sure I wasn’t missing something.” At times, Wilson engaged Yagman in
several prolonged question-and-answer sessions.

Ultimately, the judge said he concluded that Yagman had not only committed the crimes, but also lied and fabricated

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evidence to cover his tracks.

“Frankly, I was shocked by his testimony,” Wilson said, calling it “transparently untrue in so many areas.”

Thomas P. O’Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said he was pleased with the judge’s sentence.

“In the end, justice was served,” O’Brien said. “Mr. Yagman, who as an attorney had a special obligation to follow
the rules, chose not do so. As a result, he is going to spend a substantial amount of time in prison.”

Yagman, who intends to appeal the verdict, took another view:

“Three years is six years less than nine years, and that speaks for itself,” he said in a brief telephone interview
shortly after being sentenced.

The government’s investigation spanned five years and centered on a tax liability totaling more than $100,000.
Yagman was indicted in June 2006 on 19 counts of tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering.

According to prosecutors, Yagman transferred his Venice Beach home into his girlfriend’s name, hid money by
depositing his income into her bank account – from which he wrote checks – and declared bankruptcy in New York
without disclosing his assets in California.

Shortly after claiming he was broke, prosecutors said Yagman spent $2,000 on clothes and shoes on New York’s
Madison Avenue, then had a $260 dinner.

Yagman and his attorney, Barry Tarlow, spent much of the hearing trying to explain or minimize his conduct in the
case before Wilson imposed the sentence. They said innocent explanations or honest mistakes accounted for
everything he had done wrong.

“Quite frankly, I’d always been financially sloppy and/or irresponsible,” Yagman said at one point. Later, he said
he didn’t know it was a crime to fail to pay his taxes.

“I was mistaken, and seriously so,” he added.

Over the last 25 years, Yagman has earned a reputation as a combative and unpredictable attorney. He never
seemed afraid of challenging those in power.

He compared one federal judge to the head of the Spanish Inquisition and accused another of being anti-Semitic.
He called former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates “the personification of evil.”

Yagman began representing alleged victims of police abuse in 1980, often focusing his efforts on the LAPD. He has
said he won about $2.5 million a year in judgments, totaling more than $65 million dollars.

A favorite target was the LAPD’s Special Investigations Section, or SIS, an elite group of detectives who would
follow suspects until they committed a crime and then attempt to arrest them. The unit’s tactics often led to
shootouts. Yagman likened the unit to “a death squad.”

In the mid-1990s, Yagman was appointed as a special prosecutor and pursued charges against an FBI sniper who
killed the wife of white separatist Randy Weaver in the Ruby Ridge standoff in Idaho. A decade later, he filed the
first federal lawsuits challenging the Bush administration’s policy of imprisoning terrorist suspects at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba.

Though his work has won him respect and admiration among some fellow civil rights attorneys, Yagman’s critics
scoff at his image as a noble crusader defending the downtrodden against the state. They cast him as a mean and
greedy opportunist looking to get rich by nitpicking the police and exploiting their mistakes.

He twice was suspended by the state bar for charging clients “unconscionable” fees.

During the sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Alka Sagar dismissed Yagman’s argument that he was singled
out because of his battles with government agencies. She said the outspoken attorney was prosecuted because he
committed crimes.

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“This is not because of who he is, but because he’s a lawyer,” Sagar said. “He knew full well what he was doing,
and he used his knowledge of the law to commit the crimes in this case.”

scott.glover@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

A look back

June 2007: A federal jury convicts Yagman on all 19 counts.

November 2006: Responding to Yagman’s 2003 complaint, a judicial discipline panel orders public reprimand for
U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

June 2006: Yagman indicted on federal charges of tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering.

2003: Yagman files complaint accusing Judge Real of improperly intervening on behalf of an “attractive female” in a
bankruptcy case.

2002: Yagman and others, including law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, become the first group to file court
challenge to the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

1997: Deputized as a special prosecutor, Yagman pursues charges against the FBI sniper who killed the wife of
white separatist Randy Weaver in the Ruby Ridge shootings.

1994: A rarely convened disciplinary panel of the District Court suspends Yagman from practicing in federal court
for calling Judge William D. Keller an anti-Semitic bully. The suspension was later overturned as unconstitutional.

1989: The State Bar of California hands Yagman a six-month suspension for being “aggressive, hostile and
forceful” with his clients.

1988: Yagman wins suit on behalf of family whose house was ransacked by LAPD anti-gang officers. Police Chief
Daryl F. Gates is ordered to personally pay more than $170,000 after saying a family member whose nose was
broken in the raid was “probably lucky that’s all he had broken.”

1984: Judge Real slaps Yagman with a $250,000 fine for his courtroom behavior. The lawyer later tells The Times
that the judge suffered from “mental disorders” and compares him to the head of the Spanish Inquisition.

1982: Yagman represents Signal Hill Police Officer Jerry Lee Brown, once a suspect in the jail-cell death of Cal
State Long Beach football star Ron Settles, earning the ire of fellow civil rights lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who
was representing the Settles family.

From Times Reports

Related Articles
Sentencing is again delayed for L.A. civil rights attorney Nov 27, 2007
Civil rights attorney’s sentencing is delayed Nov 22, 2007
2 lawyers punished in worker visa case Mar 12, 2008
Yagman found guilty of tax evasion, fraud Jun 23, 2007
Yagman Indicted by Federal Grand Jury Jun 24, 2006

More articles by Scott Glover

More articles from the California | Local section

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Stephen Yagman 1

Stephen Yagman
Stephen Yagman, (born December 19, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York)
is a federal civil rights lawyer.
Over his legal career, Yagman developed a reputation for being
combative, unpredictable, and never being afraid of challenging those
in power. In County of Los Angeles v. U.S. Dist. Ct. (Forsyth v.
Block), 223 F.3d 990 (9th Cir. 2000), U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said of Yagman: "[C]ounsel,
Stephen Yagman, has a formidable reputation as a plaintiff's advocate
in police misconduct cases; defendants in such cases may find it
advantageous to remove him as an opponent."
In a case in which Yagman prevented the nationwide cessation of all
federal civil jury trials, Armster v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 817 F.2d 480 (9th
Cir. 1987), U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen R.
Reinhardt said of Yagman: "Yagman's vigilance in the protection of his
clients' constitutional rights served all citizens. His fortitude and
Stephen Yagman
tenacity in the service of his civil rights clients exemplifies the highest
traditions of the bar. As Justice [Louis D.] Brandeis noted,'[t]he great
opportunity of the American bar is and will be to stand ... to protect the interests of the people."
In 2007, Yagman was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. [1] [2]

Youth, education and early career

Yagman was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York into a working class family, where he attended Lincoln High
School, in Brighton Beach. After attending the State University of New York at Buffalo, he then graduated from
Long Island University in Brooklyn. He received a B.A. in American History, with minors in philosophy and
political science. He then received a M.A. in philosophy from New York University, where he studied under former
Trotskyite Sidney Hook, who supervised his master’s thesis on the self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Hook encouraged Yagman to drop out of the Ph.D. program and begin law school. Yagman then attended Fordham
University School of Law from which he received a J.D. degree in 1974.
During graduate school and law school, both of which he attended in the evenings, Yagman taught (English,
remedial reading, social studies, economics, and Spanish) in the New York City public school system in Harlem and
Bedford Stuyvesant from 1967 to 1974. In 1967, Yagman married Marion R. Yagman (from whom he was divorced
in 1994) with whom he continues to practice law, along with his other partner, retired United States Magistrate Judge
(1980-96) Joseph Reichmann.[3]

Legal career
Yagman began his legal career the year before he graduated from Fordham Law School, as an attorney intern with
the New York City Legal Aid Society, where he was mentored by late-Judge Martin Erdmann. His first job after
graduation was as a New York State Special Assistant Attorney General assigned as an Assistant Special Prosecutor
to the Manhattan office of the Office of Special Prosecutor for Nursing Homes, run by now Brooklyn District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes. He then began private practice in Los Angeles and since then has specialized in police
misconduct, civil rights in federal courts, and has tried to verdict more than 200 federal police misconduct cases and
has argued over 150 federal appeals.
Stephen Yagman 2

After the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, Yagman represented the family of Emil Matasareanu, one of the robbers
killed in the incident. In the wrongful death claim filed against the LAPD, it was asserted that the LAPD let Emil
Matasareanu die on the street instead of providing him with necessary medical attention that potentially could have
saved his life [4] . The lawsuit was declared a mistrial due to a hopelessly hung jury. The Matasareanu family agreed
not to retry the case, provided the officers involved signed a waiver not to sue for malicious prosecution. Ultimately,
the city of LA paid $50,000 to the police involved in the matter in order to cover the legal expense incurred in
Yagman's suit[5] .
In November, 1997, he was appointed Special Prosecutor for the State of Idaho to prosecute FBI sniper Lon T.
Horiuchi in the August 22, 1992 Ruby Ridge killing of Vicki Weaver and served in that position pro bono until
2001, when he won a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declaring that federal law
enforcement agents did not enjoy sovereign immunity and could be prosecuted criminally for state law homicide.
Idaho v. Horiuchi, 253 F.3d 359 (9th Cir. 2001)(en banc). In January, 2002, Yagman brought the first case seeking
habeas corpus relief for Guantanamo Bay detainees, and in December, 2003, won the first case in which it was
declared that Guantanamo detainees were entitled to seek habeas corpus relief in United States courts. Gherebi v.
Bush & Rumsfeld, 374 F.3d 727 (9th Cir. 2004).[6]

Writings
Yagman has written two nationally-important legal practice books and one play, and hundreds of newspaper
columns for the Los Angeles legal newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Section
1983 Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, West Publishing, 1998; Police Misconduct and Civil Rights, Federal
Jury Practice and Instructions, Thomson West Publishing, 2002; Guantanamo-Act IV, a play, Beyond Baroque
Foundation, 2004.[7]

Trivia
Yagman did not learn to read until he was 12 years old[8]
From 1962-66, Yagman was a lifeguard in Coney Island.[9]
Yagman was mentored by former N.Y. City Legal Aid Society director Martin Erdmann, Black Panther attorney
Charles Garry, and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.[8]

Awards
2005, California Lawyer Magazine, CLAY Award, Yagman chosen as one of California’s top 41 lawyers for
“extraordinary achievements, making a significant impact on the law, work [that] has had a profound, far-reaching
impact, and whose achievements are expected to have such an impact in coming years, and have changed the law,
broken new ground, and substantially influenced public policy.”
2002, California Lawyer Magazine, CLAY Award, Yagman chosen as one of California’s top 25 lawyers for “cutting
edge work that helps the state maintain its reputation as a [legal] trendsetter, that shaped the law, the profession, and
the way the law affects industry and the public, and who left a lasting impact on the way those who follow them will
practice.”
2000, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Yagman chosen as one of “Top 100 Most Influential California Lawyers.”
1999, Los Angeles Times, Yagman chosen as one of “Top 103 Most Influential People” in Los Angeles.
1996, People’s College of Law Clarence Darrow Award: “for renowned progressive legal advocacy, commitment to
pro bono work, and tireless involvement in diverse political and human rights efforts at local, national, and
international levels. Throughout the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s, Yagman has been engaged in progressive legal
advocacy and has established legal precedent that has secured benefits to us all. The legal community across the
Stephen Yagman 3

nation can be grateful for the dedication and hard work that has been the hallmark of Stephen Yagman’s practice.”
1993, Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Ass’n, President’s Award, “In recognition of [Yagman’s] zealous and
dedicated advocacy and protection of his clients’ rights he has battled courageously against abuse of governmental
power at the risk of great personal sacrifice and loss.”[7]
1974, Guild of Catholic Lawyers, Jurisprudence Award.[7]

Sources
• Los Angeles Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1
• Los Angeles Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1
• Los Angeles Herald Examiner, “Attorney Tops Cops’ Most Wanted List,” Dec. 19, 1988, p. 1
• Los Angeles Reader, “L.A.P.D. Death Squad,” April 10, 1992, cover
• Los Angeles New Times, “Cop Cruncher,” Oct. 2, 1997, cover
• Los Angeles Times Magazine, “One Angry Man,” June 28, 1998, cover
• California LawBusiness, “Sympathy for the Devil,” Nov. 6, 2000, cover
• Police Misconduct and Civil Rights, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (Thomson West Publishing, 2002),
XLVII - LV
• Jerome Herbert Skolnick and James J. Fyfe, Above the Law, Police and the Excessive Use of Force (Free Press,
1993), pp. 17, 18, 146- 64, 203

External links
• Stephen Yagman [10] - Official website

References
[1] Los Angeles Times, "Yagman sentenced to 3 years", http:/ / articles. latimes. com/ 2007/ nov/ 28/ local/ me-yagman28
[2] http:/ / losangeles. fbi. gov/ dojpressrel/ pressrel07/ la062207usa2. htm
[3] yagmanlaw.net; Yagman, Police Misconduct and Civil Rights, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (Thomson West Publishing, 2002),
XLVII - LV, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1; Los Angeles Herald Examiner, “Attorney Tops Cops’ Most Wanted List,”
Dec. 19, 1988, p. 1
[4] http:/ / www. cbsnews. com/ stories/ 2000/ 03/ 15/ national/ main172527. shtml
[5] http:/ / www. goldbergandgage. com/ important_cases_north. html
[6] yagmanlaw.net; Yagman, Police Misconduct and Civil Rights, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (Thomson West Publishing, 2002),
XLVII - LV, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1; Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, “Attorney Tops Cops’ Most Wanted List,”
Dec. 19, 1988, p. 1
[7] yagmanlaw.net (http:/ / www. yagmanlaw. net)
[8] Los Angeles Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1
[9] Police Misconduct and Civil Rights, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (Thomson West Publishing, 2002), XLVII - LV, Los Angeles
Daily Journal, Profile, Oct. 26, 1987, p. 1
[10] http:/ / www. yagmanlaw. net
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

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Piano non troppo, Pimpy543, Pinkadelica, Postcard Cathy, Reader wiki, Rich Farmbrough, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Rjwilmsi, Skilow 2001, Stephen yagman, TFOWR, Tangerines,
Tassedethe, The Obento Musubi, WadeSimMiser, Wiki 09232001, Will Beback, 81 anonymous edits

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