Legal Rivals Ask $79,000 in Sanctions Against Aguirre Over Court Conduct

Court rivals charged Tuesday that attorney Michael Aguirre, a San Diego City Council candidate, engaged in outrageous conduct in a civil trial this summer--from “bullying” the judge to formally protesting the conduct of the court clerk and attacking the integrity of a courtroom bailiff.

Attorneys Louis Goebel and James Caputo, who represented the estate of a deceased real estate agent whom Aguirre was suing on behalf of 133 investors, alleged in documents filed in San Diego County Superior Court that the flamboyant lawyer’s conduct resulted in the premature termination of the trial after 5 1/2 costly weeks. They ask that Aguirre be ordered to pay $79,000 in sanctions.

Denying the allegations, Aguirre claimed Tuesday that the legal proceedings were a political ploy conceived by supporters of Bob Filner, one of his opponents in the race for the 8th District council seat. Aguirre said that Cheryl Shensa, one of Goebel’s law partners, has a Filner placard on her lawn, and he termed the court filing “dirty campaigning” on Filner’s part.

Filner said Tuesday that he did not know Shensa, had nothing to do with the filing of the court charges and knew nothing about the lawsuit. Both Shensa and Caputo denied that the court filing was politically motivated.

Hearing Scheduled

A hearing on the misconduct allegations is scheduled for Sept. 16--one day after the primary election in which Aguirre, Filner and seven other candidates are jockeying for the seat being vacated by City Councilwoman Celia Ballesteros.

Court transcripts, sworn statements and other papers filed in the real estate case indicate that the proceedings in Allee et al vs. Lind-Maurice Development Co. were anything but ordinary.

On June 29, the first day of trial in the case, Superior Court Judge Artie Henderson crossed swords with Aguirre during a closed-door conference, the transcripts show. Aguirre complained that Henderson had demonstrated a bias against his clients and asked if she had any ties to Goebel. Henderson said that Aguirre seemed to believe that any ruling that went against his interests was evidence that she had “a personal vendetta” against him.

Later, Aguirre charged that Henderson’s clerk and bailiff had conducted themselves improperly during the trial. Ultimately, he asked the judge to disqualify herself. Henderson did so on July 24--but only after noting Aguirre’s “personal attacks upon the court, the court clerk and bailiff, and how this trial has degenerated into something other than a trial to ascertain the facts of the case,” according to the clerk’s minutes of the proceedings.

Sworn statements from several of Aguirre’s clients say that, after Henderson left the bench, Deputy Marshal David Westman, the courtroom bailiff, got into an argument with Aguirre. The statements say Westman approached Aguirre with his hand near his gun, stood within inches of his face and shouted at him. Court Clerk Robert Kristoff came up to Aguirre and said, “We can resolve this outside later this afternoon.”

After discussions with Superior Court Judge Michael Greer, Aguirre withdrew his complaints against Henderson, Westman and Kristoff, and the parties agreed that the trial would resume before Henderson. But by then, the judge had dismissed the jury. The case now is expected to be retried within a year.

‘Harassing Tactics’ Alleged

Goebel and Caputo allege that Aguirre engaged in “a long course of frivolous and harassing tactics” in order to overcome the “weakness” of his case.

Aguirre said that the allegations of misconduct wither in the face of his long record of court successes and judicial approval of his courtroom conduct. His opponents’ formal request for sanctions against him violated an agreement the parties reached through Greer’s mediation, he added.

“The hard facts are my conduct in this case was absolutely right down the line,” Aguirre said. “I think these individuals have engaged in ethical violations of the code of professional responsibility.

“They have filed a document that does not seek realistically any relief they have a factual basis to possibly hope for,” Aguirre said. “They’ve filed it strictly to influence the outcome of the election.”