G Dennis Adams

In a subdued voice that differed markedly from the one he used as the most powerful judge on the San Diego Superior Court, Michael Greer testified Thursday that he and two other judges took gifts and favors from a flamboyant trial attorney and then secretly helped him win his multimillion-dollar cases. Greer, 62, once known for his booming voice and commanding manner from the bench, looked pale and drawn as he provided what federal prosecutors hope will be the key evidence against ex-judges G.

In a ruling defense attorneys hailed as a victory, a federal judge Wednesday imposed nearly the lowest possible prison sentences on an attorney and two former Superior Court judges snared in a judicial corruption case. U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie ordered a sentence of two years and nine months for former Judge James Malkus, and three years and five months for former Judge G. Dennis Adams and prominent San Diego attorney Patrick Frega.

The defendants are pillars of the local legal establishment, with long ties to the community and lots of friends in high places. Their accusers, for the most part, are outsiders, newly arrived from out of town and still eyed with some suspicion by the clubby San Diegans. For 18 months, while federal prosecutors and FBI agents probed the illicit links between three former San Diego judges and a prominent trial attorney, there had been sub rosa grumbling among other judges and lawyers.

The defendants are pillars of the local legal establishment, with long ties to the community and lots of friends in high places. Their accusers, for the most part, are outsiders, newly arrived from out of town and still eyed with some suspicion by the clubby San Diegans. For 18 months, while federal prosecutors and FBI agents probed the illicit links between three former San Diego judges and a prominent trial attorney, there had been sub rosa grumbling among other judges and lawyers.

G. Dennis Adams has been named Trial Judge of the Year by the San Diego Trial Lawyers Assn.

The current management of embattled Fabulous Inns of America on Thursday appealed a Superior Court order to relinquish control of the company to the executives they ousted last year. The appeal is the latest round in an ongoing fight for control of the small but profitable Mission Valley hotel company. It remains uncertain, however, whether the appeal will actually delay an order issued Tuesday by Superior Court Judge G. Dennis Adams.