Law and Disorder 9-17
Santa Ynez attorney Edward Duff Hume, 60, was sentenced in San Mateo County on 9/15 to four years in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of felony embezzlement. Hume represented Frederick Halversen, who died in 2002, and illegally transferred more than $824,000 from the Halversen’s trust into his own account.
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Commissioner Edward De Caro, who most recently has been handling arraignments in Santa Barbara Superior Court, is retiring after 29 years working for the county. Prior to beginning work at the court in 1987, he was a deputy district attorney. Replacing De Caro in Department 8, where all people charged with a crime in the South Coast go to be arraigned, will be Judge Clifford Anderson. Judge George Eskin, in writing about De Caro, called him the “heart and soul and conscience” of Santa Barbara criminal court operations.
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A brushfire was contained on Highway 1 south of Lompoc on 9/14. The fire started along the roadway about one-mile north of the entrance to San Julian Ranch around 3:30 p.m., said Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. David Sadecki. While aircraft was ordered to respond, it was not used, as responding engines were able to handle the blaze, keeping it under two acres before being extinguished.
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Starting 9/16, Santa Barbara Superior Court will be closed on the third Wednesday of every month through June 2010. The days will be unpaid furloughs for all staff. Additionally, there will be two days with limited operations-one has already happened, while the other comes on 12/24. That day, only the clerk’s office will be open and courtrooms will be staffed only for essential proceedings.
