This post was in response to a Quora poster who asked:
What happened in a courtroom that gave the judge a belly laugh you will never forget?
On September 27, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court case LD068701, Baker v Baker, the
Respondent Clara Baker (aka “Clair Marlo”) and her attorney Jacqueline Blade were
Ordered by Court Commissioner Alicia Blanco to sell a disputed property on the condition
that the proceeds from the sale would be put in trust and that those funds “will not be
touched” until further order of the court. Standard stuff in a divorce proceeding.
Respondent then hired a new attorney, Joseph A. “Joe” Yanny, Cal. State Bar No. 97979,
who has strong ties to the organized crime syndicate known as the Mongols Nation. The
case was assigned to a new judge, Hon. Michael Powell in Dept. 22 of the Stanley Mosk
courthouse in downtown L.A.
In a series of transactions, attorney Joe Yanny transferred a total of $82,722 from the trust
account to his client. I discovered these transfers later, after receiving documents from the
bank in a subpoena response.
As Petitioner in the case, I retained noted civil rights and family law attorney Marc Angelucci
to prosecute Joe Yanny and Clair Marlo for Contempt of Court. Full disclosure - Marc
Angelucci was also my friend, and also my boss as a paralegal in several other cases.
Mr. Angelucci told me that this Contempt was a “slam dunk”, because we had the bank
records showing the transfers. The matter was set for hearing on July 20, 2020.
Unfortunately, on July 11, 2020 Marc Angelucci was gunned down, murdered in cold blood
in front of his house in Crestline. For a number of reasons, I am deeply skeptical of the
“official story” that eventually emerged regarding who did that. I can say that I know more,
and was more involved than anyone else regarding what Marc Angelucci was doing in court
in the last 1 1/2 years of his life.
Still in shock, my Contempt hearing went forward on July 20, 2020 in front of Judge Powell.
Judge Powell found that the court order stating that “those funds will not be touched” was
too “vague” to enforce. OK? I asked Judge Powell, "what part of 'will not be touched' is unclear?"
Now, when he wants to shout you down, Judge Powell has this habit of grabbing the microphone and putting his mouth right up to it, so his already annoying voice goes into a bone-crushing distortion.
When I attempted to introduce the bank statements into evidence, Judge Powell grabbed the mic and yelled he was going “off the record”, disallowed me from introducing them, and stated that I was being “rude”, simply because I was trying to introduce evidence. You know, the evidence that would prove the case! Like, the stuff that my now dead lawyer and friend Marc had said made this hearing a "slam dunk."
Later, at another hearing, seeking to discredit me, Judge Powell stated that the Contempt was dismissed because there was “no evidence”. No kidding. There is always "no evidence" if the Judge goes off the record and won't admit it.
Judge Michael R. Powell pretended that an order stating that money “will not be touched”
was vague, and he pretended that no evidence existed for the transfers. He let attorney Joe
Yanny and his client Clara Baker, aka Clair Marlo, get away with 82 grand. It never would
have happened with Marc Angelucci on the case, in my opinion. In my opinion, this is one of several examples of the kind of corruption Marc and I were fighting, and the reason he had to be taken out.
Judge Powell got a huge belly laugh out of that one!