Legal doo-doo: Judge allegedly pushed woman in dispute over dog waste

(CBS) LOS ANGELES - A bag of dog feces is central to a criminal case in which a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge is charged with battery against a female neighbor.

Here's the poop.

According to CBS Los Angeles, Connie Romero was walking her dogs outside the Chatsworth home of Judge Craig Richman July 18 when she said she bagged up some of the dog excrement and put it on the curb, claiming she intended to pick it up on her way back.

That's when the judge pulled up to his house.

"He advises her, 'You're leaving this dog excrement. Could you please pick it up?' At that time, she says some vulgar things to him," said James Blatt, Judge Richman's attorney.

Romero said that during an argument with the judge about how to dispose of the waste, she flung the bag into Richman's car.

"I was responding to what he wanted me to do. I picked it up and I asked him, 'You throw it away,'" she told CBS Los Angeles.

The judge's lawyer has a different take.

"I would say she's not off to a good start with throwing dog excrement into someone's car," said Blatt.

Romero claims she tried to walk away from the yelling match with Richman.

"I turned my back, and then he placed both of his hands, and then shoved me," she said.

In a statement, the city attorney's office, which charged the judge with one misdemeanor count of battery, said, "The defendant allegedly pushed her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground, allegedly striking her face on the sidewalk... and (she) was later treated for injuries."

"My ear...I end up with the headaches. I have big pain here," said Romero.

Richman is expected in court Nov. 6. His lawyer hopes to get the battery charge dropped.