An open letter to Jon Y. Vanderpool, Esq. regarding Patrick Judd and CVESD

Patrick Judd

Patrick Judd is a board member of Chula Vista Elementary School District, which recently lost the Coziahr case; Judd is currently being sued as superintendent of Mountain Empire School District. I asked Sue Sherbondy's attorney Jon Y. Vanderpool to let me know when the trial starts. He didn't answer, and now I know at least part of the reason. Here is my follow-up letter.


Dear Mr. Vanderpool:
I've learned about what is going on in CVESD regarding Pamela Dempsey. Those mulish board members blamed her for losing the Coziahr case, and fired her. They should have fired Lowell Billings, Tom Cruz, and Alex Cortes.

Since Patrick Judd is the most powerful member of the CVESD board, I assume he also fired Dempsey as his lawyer in the Sherbondy case, in which he is being sued as superintendent of Mountain Empire School District. If I'm right about this, I imagine the court will give the new lawyer a good deal of time to get ready.

Judd and the rest of the board apparently expected Dempsey to behave like Mark Bresee, the former Chula Vista Elementary School District lawyer who helped employees as they committed perjury, prepared "notes" about events that had occurred long before, and altered documents.

The fact that these things were not done in the Danielle Coziahr case is a testament to the growing decency of Tom Cruz and Pamela Dempsey. At least, I'd like to think so.

Apparently CVESD is asking for a new trial. Perhaps Patrick Judd, Larry Cunningham, Pamela Smith, Bertha Lopez and David Bejarano are hoping that a new lawyer will be as helpful as Mark Bresee, and lots of "new" evidence will appear. And perhaps the new lawyer will intimidate witnesses, and there will no longer be any to support Danielle.

Ah, such thoughts must give much pleasure to a daydreaming CVESD board member. But reality interferes, doesn't it? What judge in his right mind would give them a new trial?

As a longtime lawyer for California Teachers Association, you're in a bit of a pickle in the Sherbondy case. The more you attack Mr. Judd, the more you weaken a longtime co-conspirator of CTA. (CTA and CVESD relied on each other not to tell the truth in my case.) But I would be SHOCKED, SHOCKED if you undermined a client to keep on the good side of CTA. You're no Elizabeth Schulman, after all. Or are you?

Say hello to your associate Ann Smith for me. She also helped out Pat Judd in the Larkins case.

Best,
Maura Larkins

My day in court

Remember the joke about the principal who never bothered to observe the teacher in the classroom? Wait--that wasn't a joke, that was my life. It describes most principals I've known.

It seems that Danielle Coziahr's second principal was typical in this respect. What sets him apart is his attitude toward women with babies. He seems to have erected a glass ceiling above Coziahr the first time he met her, when she had her baby in one arm and her other arm extended to shake Alex Cortes' hand. He stepped back and observed her with disdain before finally shaking her extended hand.

As I listened to Danielle's testimony today, I was embarrassed for Assistant Superintendent Tom Cruz, sitting there in the courtroom with his Parham & Rajcic attorney, Pamela Dempsey. I feel that Mr. Cruz is basically a decent guy, with one weakness; he carries water for the wrong people. [NOTE: I WAS FORCED TO REVISE MY OPINION OF MR. CRUZ AS I LISTENED TO LATER TESTIMONY IN THIS CASE. I THINK HE IS A LEADER, NOT JUST A FOLLOWER, REGARDING DISTRICT WRONGDOING. OF COURSE, LEADERS WOULD HAVE NO POWER IF IT WEREN'T FOR ALL THEIR WILLING FOLLOWERS, SO PERHAPS FOLLOWERS ARE JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR WRONGDOING AS ARE THOSE WHO GIVE THE ORDERS.]

I hope that CTA is paying Coziahr's lawyers. They certainly ought to.

Tomorrow Alex Cortes tells his side of the story. That should be interesting.