Charles D Boags

A Beverly Hills judge must answer charges of obstruction of justice stemming from an alleged traffic ticket-fixing scheme, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Frank Domenicini rejected Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags' claim that the two misdemeanor charges against him should be dismissed. Prosecutors alleged in January that Boags improperly suspended fines on 207 parking tickets issued to friends of his son. When the charges were filed in January, Los Angeles Dist. Atty.

The state Supreme Court held unanimously Thursday that news reporters may be required to testify in criminal cases when a defendant's right to a fair trial is at stake. The high court, ruling in a widely watched test of the California news media shield law, sought to strike a balance between competing constitutional rights. Both sides in the case claimed qualified victory.

One of three ticket-fixing charges against Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags was dismissed Thursday, but a specially appointed judge let stand two other counts. The count thrown out by retired Torrance Municipal Judge Mark Wood charged that Boags, 57, violated a section of the state Government Code that prohibits a public official from having any interest "which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties. . . ." Boags' attorneys, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles Boags was placed on six months' probation and fined $4,000 Friday for conspiring to obstruct justice by suspending fines on parking tickets issued to his son and the younger Boags' Beverly Hills High School friends. The 59-year-old jurist was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. If Boags does not pay the fine and perform the work by Sept. 11, ruled Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Carlos Baker Jr., he could spend 90 days in County Jail.

A Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge, accused of improperly suspending fines on more than 200 parking tickets issued to autos driven by his son and the youth's friends, in effect granted the youth "a license to break the parking laws of Beverly Hills," a Los Angeles County prosecutor told a jury Tuesday. In his opening statement in the misdemeanor conspiracy trial of Judge Charles D. Boags, Deputy Dist. Atty.

A legal challenge to a key element of the ticket-fixing case against Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags was rejected Thursday by the specially appointed judge hearing the case. Retired Torrance Municipal Judge Mark Wood dismissed defense arguments that an obstruction of justice charge against Boags should be thrown out because it is an illegal intrusion by prosecutors on the discretionary power of the state judiciary. Wood also turned down a request by defense lawyers Richard G.

A veteran Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge was found guilty Tuesday of conspiring to obstruct justice by improperly suspending the fines on more than 200 parking tickets issued to automobiles driven by the jurist's son and the youth's friends. "We really soul searched and we did a . . . good job of trying to find him not guilty.

A Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge was charged Thursday with three misdemeanors for improperly suspending fines on 207 parking tickets issued to his son and the young man's high school friends. In a complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Judge Charles D. Boags, 57, was accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice, failing to remove himself from a case in which he had a financial interest and committing acts prohibited by the code of judicial conduct.

A criminal conspiracy case against a Beverly Hills judge went to the jury Friday as the prosecutor and a defense attorney offered dramatically different appraisals of evidence presented during the four-week trial. "You're going to let us know whether a judge can fix tickets for his relatives or not," Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Healey said in his closing argument in the trial of Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags.

A Beverly Hills judge who is being prosecuted in an alleged ticket-fixing scheme may have violated the the state Code of Judicial Conduct in another matter by writing a laudatory character reference for an acquaintance who was about to be sentenced for selling fake driver's licenses. In the March 22 letter, written on courthouse stationery, Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles D.

A veteran Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge was found guilty Tuesday of conspiring to obstruct justice by improperly suspending the fines on more than 200 parking tickets issued to automobiles driven by the jurist's son and the youth's friends. "We really soul searched and we did a . . . good job of trying to find him not guilty.

A criminal conspiracy case against a Beverly Hills judge went to the jury Friday as the prosecutor and a defense attorney offered dramatically different appraisals of evidence presented during the four-week trial. "You're going to let us know whether a judge can fix tickets for his relatives or not," Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Healey said in his closing argument in the trial of Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags.

A Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge, accused of improperly suspending fines on more than 200 parking tickets issued to autos driven by his son and the youth's friends, in effect granted the youth "a license to break the parking laws of Beverly Hills," a Los Angeles County prosecutor told a jury Tuesday. In his opening statement in the misdemeanor conspiracy trial of Judge Charles D. Boags, Deputy Dist. Atty.

A Beverly Hills judge who is being prosecuted in an alleged ticket-fixing scheme may have violated the the state Code of Judicial Conduct in another matter by writing a laudatory character reference for an acquaintance who was about to be sentenced for selling fake driver's licenses. In the March 22 letter, written on courthouse stationery, Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles D.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday let stand a ruling by an appeal court in Los Angeles that gives churches and ministers broad constitutional protection against libel suits for statements they make involving religious doctrine. Over two dissents, the justices refused to hear a challenge to a state Court of Appeal decision last December overturning a $1.26-million defamation award against the Worldwide Church of God and church officials.

A state appeals court has dismissed one criminal count against Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles Boags, ruling that he did not violate the public trust when he suspended fines for 207 parking tickets issued to his son or the youth's friends in 1985 and 1986. In issuing the decision, however, the 2nd District Court of Appeal refused to dismiss a second charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice against the 58-year-old judge. Prosecutors consider this count the "heart of the case," Deputy Dist.

An effort to persuade lawyers to help pay for the legal defense of a Beverly Hills judge accused of illegally suspending fines on more than 200 parking tickets may have run afoul of the state's Code of Judicial Conduct. At least 80 friends of Judge Charles D. Boags, many of them attorneys, have been invited to a $100-a-person cocktail party Friday evening at the home of Paul Caruso, a prominent Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer.

The state Supreme Court held unanimously Thursday that news reporters may be required to testify in criminal cases when a defendant's right to a fair trial is at stake. The high court, ruling in a widely watched test of the California news media shield law, sought to strike a balance between competing constitutional rights. Both sides in the case claimed qualified victory.

A Beverly Hills judge must answer charges of obstruction of justice stemming from an alleged traffic ticket-fixing scheme, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Frank Domenicini rejected Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags' claim that the two misdemeanor charges against him should be dismissed. Prosecutors alleged in January that Boags improperly suspended fines on 207 parking tickets issued to friends of his son. When the charges were filed in January, Los Angeles Dist. Atty.

One of three ticket-fixing charges against Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags was dismissed Thursday, but a specially appointed judge let stand two other counts. The count thrown out by retired Torrance Municipal Judge Mark Wood charged that Boags, 57, violated a section of the state Government Code that prohibits a public official from having any interest "which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties. . . ." Boags' attorneys, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.