Lawyer and Clerk Accused of Backdating Court Documents

SANTA ANA — A civil lawyer and a veteran Superior Court clerk were accused Wednesday of submitting false documents in a personal-injury lawsuit after the lawyer failed to follow court procedure.

The district attorney’s office filed felony charges against Roland Ramez Salameh, 43, a specialist in personal-injury law, and Linda Lucille Brierley, 41, a court clerk for 11 years. Both live in Orange.

“This is a real breach of what each of their professions expect of them,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg, the prosecutor.

Froeberg said she filed felony charges instead of misdemeanors against Salameh and Brierley because state statutes call for it and because the allegations are so serious.

Each is charged with conspiracy. Brierley is accused of altering the document, while Salameh is also charged with presenting an altered document in court.

Salameh could face up to four years in prison and lose his license if convicted. Brierley faces similar penalties and has been demoted pending the outcome.

They are scheduled to be arraigned in Central Orange County Municipal Court today. Both declined to comment on the case.

Court Clerk Gary Granville said he did not fire or suspend Brierley because she has been cooperative with authorities and “deserves a chance to have her day in court.”

“You dread the day when something like this happens to one of your people,” Granville said. “But my office has done whatever possible to cooperate with the district attorney on this.”

Prosecutors allege that Salameh was representing a plaintiff in a car accident who filed for a default judgment last year. According to prosecutors, he failed to file the proper documents until after the deadline, then tried to submit a backdated record to comply with court procedure. Brierley, who had done some work for Salameh unrelated to her clerk’s job, is accused of helping him prepare the false document.

The issue was brought to the district attorney’s office by Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel after a February hearing in the civil case. The defendant’s attorney, who has asked that her name not be used, noticed that her copy of the court file did not include the document that Salameh was waving in court with a date showing that he had filed it. “I knew something very strange was going on, and I brought it to the judge’s attention,” she said.

Froeberg said that Brierley’s cooperation with authorities came after she found out that she is a suspect and that her cooperation does not guarantee her immunity from criminal charges.

Brierley was assigned to the writs and judgments section of the clerk’s office, Granville said. She has since received a pay cut and a transfer to another assignment.

“She volunteered to do it,” Granville said.