Judge Mark Mooney of Los Angeles; incompetent boob

The state of California presented Mark V. Mooney with a law license in 1982 after he graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) of New York School of Law.  

Former Gov. Pete Wilson was duped into appointing Mark as a Los Angeles County Municipal Court judge in 1995. Mark didn’t receive the appointment because he was the most qualified attorney in the Los Angeles area. He received it because he had proven to be a reliable lackey for the local political hacks.

It should be noted that Mark has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for the past twenty-eight (28) years.

In one matter, Judge Mooney presided over a case involving a government private property condemnation case involving the owner of a Yum Yum Donut Shop and the losses the owner claimed against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

In his infinite ignorance, Judge Mooney denied any compensation for the loss of goodwill suffered by Yum Yum Donuts Shops, Inc. based on the taking of its shop in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles.

Subsequently, Yum Yum appealed Mooney’s asinine ruling to the local Court of Appeals. In reversing Mooney’s ruling, the Court said in part:

• “Nothing in section 1263.510’s language provides that the condemnee [Yum Yum] is entitled to no compensation at all for lost goodwill if the condemnee fails to mitigate a portion of that loss.”
• “We believe the statute’s legislative history, the Law Review Commission Comments, and case law applying the statute support this interpretation.”
• “The legislative history recounted above establishes that the statute is remedial, and thus to be construed liberally in favor of compensating business owners for lost goodwill.”

The Court went on to state:

• “The general rule of mitigation of tort damages is instructive.”
• “Tort law does not preclude a plaintiff from recovering damages altogether simply because a plaintiff has failed to mitigate some of its damages.”

It goes without saying that Mooney doesn’t much give a damn when he’s overturned (rebuked in truth) by the appellate court since she is well aware that no California judge has ever been tossed off the bench for being incompetent.

As we speak (ca. April 2019) Mooney continues to sit as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in Los Angeles, California.