Three days after attorney Matthew Rifat gets ordained as Deacon in the Catholic Church, the California State Bar Court judge, Phong Wang, rules Matthew acted with an absence of moral turpitude. Thus, he does not get disbarred; he does not get temporarily suspended.
Matthew Rifat was ordained on Saturday, May 24th 2025, as a permanent Deacon in the Diocese of San Diego. He was publicly reproved by the State Bar Court of California on May 27th 2025, just three days later, which did not include disbarment or temporary suspension. Instead, since the ruling stated Matthew neither acted with... Read More
Attorney Matthew Rifat ordained as a Deacon in the Catholic Church. His ordination took place on May 24th 2025 at St. Therese of Carmel Catholic Church, San Diego, California.
The Priests and the Deacons and others of the ordained order walked two by two in a long procession. They moved reverently down the center aisle in their white robes at the Catholic church of Saint Therese of Carmel. Then they each bowed as they reached the altar. The pews were in slight semi-circles of... Read More
Character witness, Mike Saleh, learned about the Riverside criminal charges but still went ahead and hired Matthew Rifat
Mike Saleh was a character witness for Matthew Rifat on Thursday morning, March 20th 2025. Matthew is on trial to defend his law license. He is being prosecuted by Vilette Magapan and Scott Karpf of the Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the California Bar Association. Matthew is now in the process of calling ten... Read More
Rocky Ventittelli to Matthew Rifat – “I think you’re one of the most moral, honest attorneys that I’ve employed…”
Rocky Ventittelli is Matthew Rifat’s first character witness for Friday, March 21st 2025, starting shortly after 9:00 am. This is the last day of Matthew’s trial with the California Bar Association, Office of Chief Trial Council. He could be disciplined by being disbarred or suspended. The looming question is did he commit moral turpitude. Check... Read More
Jesuit priest takes the stand and calls Matthew Rifat “a model citizen”
The California Bar Association trial challenging attorney Matthew Rifat ended on March 21st, Friday, 2025. It was a six-day trial that went from March 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th and then took up again on March 20th and 21st. It was prosecuted by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the California Bar Association. The... Read More
Matthew Rifat’s character witnesses in Bar trial testify to his exemplary character. Priest sums him up as honest and generous.
Matthew Rifat’s trial with the California Bar Association, their Office of Chief Trial Counsel, ended on March 21st 2025, Friday. Matthew is fighting to keep his attorney Bar license in California, as he had been convicted of a felony, PC 549, on February 29, 2024. Any felony conviction gets referred to the California Bar’s Office... Read More
Matthew Rifat’s trial starts up again tomorrow, March 20th 2025, Thursday, at 9:00 am
The trial picks up again tomorrow morning after being in recess since March 7th, Friday, 2025. But what happened to open the case on Tuesday, March 4th? Here’s some material. Vilette Magapan, one of the California Bar prosecutors from the Office of Chief Trial Counsel, began her opening statement by expressing Matthew Rifat represented multiple... Read More
Matthew Rifat spends four days on trial, so far, with the California Bar to defend his law license
Matthew Rifat’s trial has gone on for four days. It began on Tuesday, March 4th 2025, and went through yesterday, Friday, March 7th 2025. It is still on-going. It is planned at this time to continue on March 20th and 21st, Thursday and Friday; and is expected to end on that Friday, March 21st. Thus,... Read More
