Attorney jailed on contempt charges freed after 1 1/2 years behind bars

A 70-year-old lawyer who was sentenced to jail “indefinitely” on contempt-of-court charges was abruptly released Friday evening after spending a year and a half behind bars.

Richard Fine was released from Los Angeles County Jail in downtown Los Angeles shortly after 9 p.m. but did not wish to speak to a Times reporter, said his daughter, Victoria.

Fine, an antitrust and taxpayer advocate attorney, was thrown in jail last year by  Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe for failing to answer questions about his finances and for practicing law without a license.

The contempt charges stemmed from a case Fine filed on behalf of Marina del Rey homeowners who sued local developers. Fine had been ordered to pay sanctions and attorneys’ fees in the case.

Fine contends he was being targeted by Yaffe because of his challenges to county-funded benefits that judges receive on top of their state pay.

Rather than comply with Yaffe’s orders and be released from jail, Fine vowed to take his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In May, however, the court declined to take up his petition, meaning he could have remained in jail indefinitely as Yaffe had ordered. The judge could not be reached for comment late Friday.

While in solitary confinement, Fine filed habeas corpus petitions for his release with the California Supreme Court, district court and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging that Yaffe was biased against him and should have recused himself from the contempt-of-court case.

His imprisonment was “the latest encounter in the 10-year campaign by Fine to restore due process in the California judicial system,” the attorney, who has been representing himself, wrote in his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Fine is the only attorney, of the approximately 208,000 California attorneys, with the courage to challenge the California judiciary,” he wrote.

In a telephone interview with The Times in May, Fine said the U.S. Supreme Court had made the wrong decision by allowing him to remain in jail. He said he would be filing another petition.

“I'm in fighting condition,” he said. “They haven't broken me down, and they won't break me down.”

-- Scott Glover

Comments

[TheBigPicture]

He's an idiot..

[Dereck]

The Los Angeles Superior Court system is a complete joke. Good for Mr. Fine for standing up to a thug Superior Court judge, of which there are a plethora within the L.A. County judicial system. Whomever said justice is blind is an idiot. It is for the rich, the well-connected, and the powerful. For the rest of us citizens, we are screwed.

[Dave]

Wow, may as well stick to your guns. I have never heard of a judge putting someone behind bars indefinately.

[witman]

Kellogg's isn't the only place with flakes

[Mio Pinion]

He could have 70,000,000 lawyers agreeing he was not in contempt and the 9th circuit judge would not have listened. Just like prop. 8

[WLA Tipster]

Richard Fine is NOT an attorney.

He is not entitled to practice law, ergo, you can call him a FORMER attorney, a DISBARRED attorney, but the term "attorney", without a modifier similar to those above, is misleading and journalistically inaccurate.

Fine is a fraud.

He was not in jail for tilting at the judicial windmill as he would have you believe; he was in jail because he refused to disclose his assets to a judgment debtor, a legal responsibility with which Fine would not comply, so the Judge told him that he could disclose or go to jail.

Fine CHOSE jail. he always had the key to his own release and could have used it at any time.

He has nothing else to do except play this game; he cannot practice law, so he creates a false impression and gets the press to buy in. Don't get suckered by this charlatan.

[Deborah Barclay]

Richard Fine is a TRUE American Hero who stood up to Corruption in our Government and its courts. Government whistleblowers have been similarly crim crinalized and povertized by our Government both Federally on the State Levels. Richard Fine was fortunate to know the Law; his decades of credibility, honesty and Integrity was well known and respected. His 'abuse of Authority' by the LA Judges speaks for hundreds of thousands of victims across America in the civil and family courts.

Our Government has grown Too BIG and TOO Authoritative with little to NO means for the Average Citizen to obtain relief.

VOTE THEM ALL OUT and lets take back our government and our courts.

[Bob Horner]

They had to put Fine in jail because they closed all the mental hospitals.

[caresident]

If he was practicing without a license, then he's not legally an attorney, is he?

[Ron D]

Judge David P. Yaffe also showed bias against me in a court case he presided over. He found in favor of the state although he said in court that is documented that his ruling in their favor did not make sense. His decision literally, obviously upset his secretary so much during the proceedings that she began tossing paperwork around and stormed out of court. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Fine

[SERICM]

Lindsey Lohan spends 13 days in jail for breaking her terms of probabtion on DRUG CHARGES because of overcrowding and this guy spends a year and a half for contempt of court.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS SCENARIO!

[mr CHRIS]

WHY NOT JUST SEND HIM TO REHAB IN NEWPORT BEACH OR COSTA MESA LIKE THEY DO WITH THE REST OF THE CRIMINALS????????

[Barry Cohen]

Mr. Fine is among the finest, honorable and fully unselfish attorney in America. For those of you unaware, FINE is an activist tax fighting force doing the work of Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann. His latest battle revolved around the FACT, Los Angeles County Judges are secretly enriched above and beyond published set salaries by almost $100,000 annually by L.A. County taxpayers.

Mr. Fine used this knowledge to seek exclusion of Los Angeles County Judges from considerations of legal issues involving Los Angeles County in which conflicts of interest obviously exist.

The immediate Judge and a disproportionate number of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges and their friends have criminally conspired
to protect their selfish self interests and further the goals of their conspiracy of silence... is similar to the actions by the former "leaders" of BELL.

The people of the State of California owe deep gratitude to the wrongs sufferred by RICHARD FINE. Hopefully, we will get closer to the truth.

[Greg]

A year and a half in jail without being convicted of a crime! This is insane and shows how outta touch our judicial system (and country) has become.

Fine has been disbarred and cannot practice law. He has no history of violence. Why are we paying for his incarceration for all this time if all he owes is money for attorney fees for the private sector in Marina del Rey? The LATimes has done numerous articles on the MdR developers in Fine's legal battles making a killing off of public money. With all of the political corruption in Marina del Rey and several politicians sent to prison for getting into the MdR leases, someone should thoroughly examine Yaffe's involvement in the Marina

[Walter]

Relative to comments of "WLA Tipster," -- "creates a false impression and . . . "

What?

Are you suggesting that Mr. Fine put forth "False Allegations?"

Are you suggesting that Mr. Fine should not have elaborated with concerns of "Corruption"?

OR,

Are you, perhaps and instead, . . . of an affiliation with or even co-dependent with "IV-mainliners"?

That fact that the judiciary is susceptible to the critic and much needed open discussion regarding even the possibility of "corrupt" influences undermining our otherwise more honorably regarded "pillar of justice" speaks volumes -- even if it did take a "quack" (as you have tagged) to

"bring it to light."

And, yes as you may likely now appreciate, I presently side with your noted "quack" that perhaps "IV-mainliners" and like other worms within the now emphatically preferred "lucrative fruits" do need to be brought forward to further light.

[Derk]

Richard Fine is nothing less then a HERO, those who can;t accept this are frauds. They won't stand up to a judge who was caught red handed taking bribes. Wake up US citizens our courts are run by many corrupt judges such as Aviva K. Bobb and Ronald George, if you've had the nightmare to appear in the court of one you'll understand what is going on. I appeared before Candace J. Beason who refused to act on Perjury, Elder abuse, frau, mail fraud and embezzelment all proven with evidence. She totally ignored everything. Google Aviva K. Bobb for the full story a which who is treatingt our seniors as holocost victims, stripping them of every dime, even killing some for cash. She has no good within her.

Richard Fine is the start of a trend to speak out, STOP the scum judges who are bought and paid to rule against the public. Anyone who is against right and wrong would obviously not want Richard Fine around and would be threatened by him.