NEWS IN BRIEF : Ex-Judge Punished on Shoplifting Conviction

A retired Superior Court judge has been suspended by the state Supreme Court from practicing law because of his conviction for shoplifting, authorities said Friday.

The California State Bar said Everett Emett Ricks Jr., 54, of Long Beach, was suspended last month for an indefinite period.

Ricks is ineligible to practice law at least until the outcome of an appeal of his conviction, said Bar spokeswoman Barbara Heller. After his appeal is resolved, he could be suspended for a definite period of time, be disbarred or placed on probation, she said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Ricks pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor petty theft charge for shoplifting $155 worth of compact discs from a Signal Hill department store in September, 1987.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Cosper said Ricks stole 12 compact discs. Ricks and an alleged accomplice, Francine Moore, were arrested as they left the store, Cosper said.

Long Beach Municipal Judge James Wright fined Ricks $500, which the former jurist immediately paid. Under a provision of the California Penal Code, Wright then allowed Ricks to withdraw his guilty plea and enter a plea of not guilty, and then dismissed Ricks’ case.