California IN BRIEF : VISALIA : Controversial Judge Quits Abuse Case

The Superior Court judge who generated widespread attention and was targeted by an assassin for ordering birth control as a term of probation has removed himself from the case. Judge Howard Broadman ordered Darlene Johnson to get a surgically implanted birth-control device called Norplant as a condition of her probation in a child abuse case. “Due to the local, national, . . . international attention associated with me and this case--and my attempted assassination because of it--I am disqualifying myself from this case and will make no further rulings,” Broadman said. Johnson was sentenced Jan. 2 after she admitted beating two of her four children with a belt and an electric cord.