Judge signs dismissal of Dole banana case

LOS ANGELES -- A California judge has signed a 60-page dismissal order setting out details of a massive fraud perpetrated against the Dole food company designed to collect billions through false claims of harm to Nicaraguan banana plantation workers.

Juan Dominguez, the Los Angeles lawyer accused of engineering the scheme, did not appear at a hearing before Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney on Wednesday. She has recommended that federal prosecutors and the State Bar investigate him.

Dominguez has asked that she be removed from the case for bias.

But Chaney announced from the bench that she has just been nominated to the state appeals court by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and will be relinquishing her role in the Dole case if her appointment is confirmed.