Newport Judge Appointed To Court Of Appeal

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - A new appointment is in store for Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals. Most recently renowned for giving the District Attorney's Office the boot from the case against the worst mass killer in county history, Goethals was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown Friday to the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Goethals, a 65-year-old Newport Beach resident, had long been rumored to be a candidate for the appellate court. He will take the place in the court's Division Three court in Santa Ana left vacant by the retirement of Justice William F. Rylaarsdam.

Goethals, a former Orange County District Attorney's Office prosecutor and defense attorney, has served on the Superior Court bench since 2003. He was a partner at Pohlson, Moorhead and Goethals from 1990 to 2002.
The Democrat earned a law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University.

Goethals held three sets of evidentiary hearings alleging outrageous governmental misconduct in the case against mass-murderer Scott Dekraai, ultimately dismissing the death penalty as an option in the case. Goethals in August sentenced Dekraai -- who killed his ex-wife and seven other people at a Seal Beach beauty salon -- to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The judge came under fire from prosecutors for his rulings, including removing the District Attorney's Office from the case. In response, some prosecutors exercised their right to have cases moved out of Goethals' court. Some said it was because of his Dekraai rulings, while some said they objected to the way he limited testimony from alleged victims whose allegations did not lead to charges in sex-crime cases.

Goethals also took public shots at Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and her department for the way they ran a program to have inmates question and squeal on other inmates in the county's jails. In some cases the questioning was done illegally.

The Fourth District Court of Appeals backed up Goethals' ruling dismissing the District Attorney's Office from prosecuting Dekraai. The appellate justices ruled that institutionalized corruption in the jailhouse informant program justified the decision.

City News Service, with Ashley Ludwig, Patch Editor.