California judge can’t be sued for false assertion that Walt Disney’s grandson has Down syndrome

'This whole concept of blanket immunity for judges should be modified by Congress. No one is above the law,' says attorney for Bradford Lund

Bradford Lund, grandson of Walt Disney. (Courtesy by Lanny J. Davis)

By Tony Saavedra

A federal appellate court this week chided a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for “inappropriate” and “inaccurate” comments that Walt Disney’s adult grandson has Down syndrome, but nevertheless ruled that the judge is protected from legal consequences.

A panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit by Disney heir Bradford Lund against Los Angeles County Judge David Cowan, who had placed the case under a guardian ad litem. However, Justice Kenneth Lee, in his written opinion, called out Lund’s struggle in a system that can be predatory toward those it is supposed to protect.

“For over a decade, Bradford Lund — the grandson of Walt Disney — has languished in perhaps the Unhappiest Place on Earth: probate court,” Lee wrote.

Lund is fighting with trustees and family members over his $20 million inheritance. Trustees contend Lund lacks the mental capacity to handle his own finances, although he was found fit by an Arizona court. The trustees have since taken their case to Los Angeles.

Under the trust set up by his mother, Lund was to have received part of his inheritance on his 35th, 40th and 45th birthdays. He is now 50.

In 2019, it appeared that Lund and the trustees struck an agreement, but it was quashed by Cowan: “Do I want to give 200 million dollars, effectively, to someone who may suffer, on some level, from Down syndrome? The answer is no.”

Cowan then appointed a guardian ad litem for Lund’s case, in the same procedure that has entangled pop singer Britney Spears for more than a decade.

The judge refused to later retract the statement about Lund even after he was given DNA evidence that he does not have Down syndrome.

Lund sued Cowan, alleging the judge had violated the American with Disabilities Act as well as his civil rights for not holding  a hearing before appointing a guardian ad litem. Since then, Cowan retracted the guardian and has stepped down from the case. Consequently, appellate justices ruled this week that Lund’s lawsuit was moot and that judges enjoy judicial immunity from being sued for their actions.

His attorney, Sandra Slaton, said she was disappointed by the dismissal of Lund’s lawsuit, but encouraged by the justices’ recognition in a published opinion of Lund’s plight and the inappropriateness shown by Cowan,

“This whole concept of blanket immunity for judges should be modified by Congress,” Slaton said. “No one is above the law.”

Slaton said she and Lund were considering their next step.

Full Article & Source:

California judge can’t be sued for false assertion that Walt Disney’s grandson has Down syndrome 

 

See Also: 

Walt Disney Grandson Bradford Lund Files Complaint with California Judicial Council Against California Judge David J. Cowan Seeking Monetary Damages for Alleged Illegal Discrimination Under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts

 

Walt Disney Grandson Bradford Lund Files Complaint with California Judicial Council Against California Judge David J. Cowan Seeking Monetary Damages for Alleged Illegal Discrimination Under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts

The complaint filed by internationally-renowned law firm, Akin Gump, alleges Judge David Cowan made provably false assertions in open court about Lund having a mental disability - yet when presented with DNA test evidence proving the falsity of his claim, he refused counsel's request to take down the false assertion

"In California, even judges are not above the law," said Lund counsel Lanny J. Davis

News provided by

Lanny Davis

Jul 24, 2020, 12:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bradford Lund, grandson of the late Walt Disney, today announced the filing of an anti-disabilities discrimination complaint against LA Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan and the entire LA Superior Court system. Lund filed the complaint under California law with the Chief Justice of California Supreme Court, who is also Chair of the state Judicial Council.

Under state law, such a complaint of disabilities discrimination by a sitting judge and a county Superior Court System must be forwarded to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing ("DFEH") for investigation and determination. Dario J. Frommer, a partner at the international and renowned law firm Akin Gump, writes in the written complaint to the Chief Justice that if the DFEH finds that Judge Cowan and the Superior Court system engaged in such disabilities discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts, even based on a false perception, then that the judge and the court system should be found liable for monetary damages and other sanctions.

Lund's complaint, filed by Frommer on his behalf on July 7 with the California Judicial Council, specifically quotes Judge Cowan's false comments from the bench, in open court, that Lund "may" have Down Syndrome. It was in part based upon that utterly false and discriminatory statement and other baseless findings made by Judge Cowan regarding Lund's lack of mental capacity, that Cowan appointed a "guardian ad litem" – a temporary new lawyer for the probate court proceeding – denying Brad's request for a trial and due process. That resulted, Frommer alleged, in discriminatory action based on a false perception of a disability. 

During a June 25, 2019 hearing transcript (p.19, ll. 10-13), Judge Cowan stated from the bench, in open court, without a trial or any evidence:

"Do I want to give 200 million dollars, effectively, to someone who may suffer, on some level, from Down Syndrome? The answer is no." 

According to the June transcript of the court hearing, Lund's attorney, Sandra Slaton, demanded a public retraction, reminding Judge Cowan that a DNA test precluded the possibility that Lund had Down Syndrome. "It's been proven not true, and even the [trustees] don't allege that anymore," Slaton said. When again asked to withdraw his false statement in light of the dispositive DNA evidence, Judge Cowan responded with one word: "Denied." (June 25, 2019 transcript, p. 21, l. 4).

"Judge Cowan's [false] comment [from the bench] and actions appear to be based on nothing other than pure animus for Mr. Lund on the basis of a perceived disability," Akin Gump's Frommer, former majority leader of the California State Assembly, wrote to the Hon. Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California and Chair of the Judicial Council, based in San Francisco, California. "Judge Cowan was also aware that the Arizona courts had determined that Mr. Lund is competent. Yet, Judge Cowan disregarded this evidence and let his implicit biases lead him to unlawfully strip Mr. Lund of his civil rights and his right to control his own affairs."

Last March, Lund brought a case in U.S. federal court, central district of California, alleging violations of his constitutional rights to due process after Judge Cowan, based on this and other false conclusions that Lund lacked sufficient mental capacity, denied Lund's request for a hearing and due process of law.

"Brad Lund will continue to fight against unjust disabilities discrimination with the Chief Justice and in federal court and prove to the federal court that his due process rights were violated," said Lanny J. Davis, a former White House Special Counsel and co-counsel in the Lund U.S. Civil Rights Act case filed against Judge Cowan and the LA County Superior Court system in federal court last March.

"Mr. Lund recognizes that far too many victims of discrimination, including discrimination based on a false perception, often do not have the resources to file their own cases," Dario Frommer said. "And Mr. Lund is fighting on their behalf as well."

"Mr. Lund believes that not even judges are above laws prohibiting discrimination or can violate the U.S. Constitution, and he is right," Davis added.

Contact: Alex Lange
ALange@tridentdmg.com
(202) 480-4309

SOURCE Lanny Davis

Full Article & Source:
Walt Disney Grandson Bradford Lund Files Complaint with California Judicial Council Against California Judge David J. Cowan Seeking Monetary Damages for Alleged Illegal Discrimination Under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts

See Also:
Lanny Davis, Attorney to Bradford Lund, Grandson of Walt Disney, Joins Arizona Litigation Against Lund's Former Attorney, Jeffrey Shumway Who Is Alleged To Have Charged Lund Over One Million Dollars Only To Secretly Betray Him

Bradford Lund, Walt Disney's Grandson Wants To Have His Day In Court, After California Supreme Court Denies His Petition To Review

Walt Disney’s Grandson Faces Harsh Roadblock In Fight for His $200 Million Inheritance

Bradford Lund, Walt Disney's Grandson Wants To Have His Day In Court, After California Supreme Court Denies His Petition To Review

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Below is a statement by Lanny J. Davis, legal advisor to Bradford Lund.

With all due respect, the California Supreme Court's recent decision to summarily deny Bradford Lund's request to appeal the decision by Los Angeles County Probate Court Judge David J. Cowan that denied him his due process rights is most disappointing and hard to understand.  And it has troubling legal implications far beyond this case and the state of California.  Here are three indisputable facts that the California Supreme Court, in its one sentence denial of review, did not address: 

Fact One:  Bradford Lund was judged to be fully competent by two courts – in Arizona and California. In July 2016, an Arizona Superior Court judge, after a 10-day trial, following medical expert examination and testimony and questioning of Mr. Lund by the judge on the witness stand, issued a detailed written verdict confirming his competence. That verdict was upheld unanimously by the Arizona Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Arizona denied review in 2019. In 2014, a California probate judge, after an extensive trial, also found Brad Lund to be competent.

Fact Two:  The Los Angeles Probate Judge Cowan never has allowed Brad Lund to have trial on the issue of his competence because his competence was NOT at issue. Instead, Judge Cowan ignored the Arizona verdict and then made an indisputably false statement in open court – stating on the record that he would not allow Mr. Lund to receive his just inheritance because he "may" have Down Syndrome.  Then when presented with the DNA evidence that contradicted that possibility and was asked by Mr. Lund's counsel to withdraw his false statement, Judge Cowan's one-word answer was: "Denied."  

Fact Three:  Judge Cowan, based on this demonstrably false statement about Down Syndrome, deprived Mr. Lund his constitutional right to choose his own counsel and, instead, appointed a substitute attorney, called a "guardian ad litem" (GAL"), against Mr. Lund's wishes without a hearing or due process of law.  Now Mr. Lund demands a trial – and Judge Cowan has refused.

If this could happen to Brad Lund, grandson of Walt Disney, it could – and does – happen to victims of abuses by the probate court system and hostile trustees or "guardians" across the nation, as proven by multiple media investigative reports across the nation, including the Los Angeles Times and The New Yorker.  Mr. Lund will continue to fight for justice in his own case and his right to due process, including in a federal civil rights case filed in Los Angeles County U.S. District Court.  And he and his family will also dedicate themselves to helping grassroots organizations across the country to reform, finally, the probate system in this country. 

For further information call:  Eleanor McManus (202-460-1451)

Full Article & Source:
Bradford Lund, Walt Disney's Grandson Wants To Have His Day In Court, After California Supreme Court Denies His Petition To Review