Motion Denied in Judicial Bribery Case

SAN DIEGO —  A federal judge Wednesday rejected a motion by an attorney and former judge being investigated for bribery and tax evasion to remove the U.S. attorney’s office from the case because of a conflict of interest.

U.S. Judge Edward Rafeedie of Los Angeles rejected a motion by attorneys for Patrick Frega and former Judge Michael Greer to remove the office of U.S. Atty. Alan Bersin from the case because the office employs a lawyer who once represented Frega and Greer when the same corruption issues were investigated by state authorities.

Rafeedie said there was no proof that the lawyer, Michael Dowd, had shared any confidential attorney-client information with Bersin or other attorneys working on the case, which involves Frega, Greer and former Judges James Malkus and G. Dennis Adams.

The case, now pending before a federal grand jury, involves alleged gifts and payments from Frega to the three Superior Court judges, who continued to hear cases involving Frega’s clients.

Rafeedie’s ruling would appear to clear the way for indictments of one or more of the defendants.

All four got letters from prosecutors saying they faced indictment.

Rafeedie noted the lengths to which the U.S. attorney’s office went to ensure that any prosecutor not working on the case was not privy to any information concerning it or even aware that it was going on.