Countywide : Libel Suit Against Register Is Upheld

A Superior Court judge refused Thursday to dismiss a libel suit by Harbor Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt against the Orange County Register and two reporters over their coverage of a sex and influence scandal.

Register attorney Duffern H. Helsing argued that the lawsuit should be declared legally flawed because Schmidt did not allege that the newspaper had actual malice when it published a series of stories about him in 1988 and 1989.

But Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam said the lawsuit may stand because Schmidt’s contention that the newspaper knew it was publishing false information is tantamount to an allegation of actual malice.

The Register articles that prompted the lawsuit detailed an investigation of Schmidt by the state Commission on Judicial Performance, a judicial watchdog agency. He was under scrutiny for various forms of alleged misconduct, including giving lenient treatment to two prostitutes in exchange for sex.

Last December, the commission rebuked Schmidt for giving preferential treatment to a wealthy friend’s stepdaughter and making improper campaign contributions but cleared him of the accusation that he did legal favors for a prostitute. The commission never lodged a formal disciplinary charge against Schmidt over his dealings with the other prostitute.

Another Harbor Court judge, Brian R. Carter, was also targeted in disciplinary proceedings by that agency for similar allegations, but that inquiry was dropped when he retired from the bench in February, 1989.

Named as defendants along with the Register are the two reporters who wrote many of the articles: Dan Weikel, who has since joined The Times Orange County Edition, and Donna Wares, a Register reporter. The Register has said it believes that the lawsuit is without merit.

Details of the Harbor Court investigation were reported in several newspapers, including The Times.