Malibu Road neighbors Sam Birenbaum and Steve Karsh returned to Santa Monica Superior Court Friday for hearings on the contempt proceedings each has brought. But Judge Paul Flynn, who issued the injunction on which the alleged contempts were based, was occupied with a jury trial, so the matter was reassigned to another judge and then postponed.
Flynn had issued the mutual injunctions Nov. 24, which, among other things, precluded the parties from trespassing on each other’s properties and prohibited surveillance except for gathering of evidence.
On Monday, the parties appeared before a new judge, Julius Title. After several minutes in open court, counsel met with the judge in chambers and agreed to continue the hearings on the alleged contempts. The court ordered that the injunction remain in effect until Sept. 16, the new hearing date.
When asked what was accomplished by a continuance, Brad Tubin, attorney for Karsh, said, “You could say that my clients believe this was their best chance of getting peace on Malibu Road.” Birenbaum, acting as his own attorney, said that the continuation would permit the OSC re contempt to be heard by Flynn, the judge who had issued the injunction originally.
Asked for comment on the ongoing conflict, Karsh said, ” It’s more than a neighbor issue. It’s an issue that involves all of us — the use of the beach, not to have to smell or walk in another person’s sewage.”
Nidia Birenbaum said, “The reason I will not make any statement to The Malibu Times is because Arnold York always finds a way to politicize issues.”