Yolo County judge swapped out over civil Esparto fireworks lawsuit
A Yolo County judge removed himself from presiding over a civil lawsuit related to the deadly series of explosions last month at a fireworks facility in Esparto.
The decision came after an attorney for a farm company suing the fireworks companies — and people associated with the Esparto property where the blasts occurred — requested to replace Yolo Superior Judge Samuel T. McAdam from his client’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed last month by Etta James Farming alleges that Devastating Pyrotechnics, BlackStar Fireworks, their owners and the property owner neglected proper safety protocols and permitting requirements, leading to the July 1 explosions that killed seven people. The lawsuit claims that the blasts damaged or destroyed the farm company’s nearby property.
In requesting to remove McAdam from the case, the farm company’s lawyer, Christopher R. Rodriguez wrote that he believed his client “cannot have a fair and impartial hearing or trial” before McAdam, who was appointed to the seat in 2008 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is the supervising judge of the civil division.
McAdam, who has presided over more than 15,000 cases according to the UC Davis School of Law, was elected to a six-year terms in 2010, 2016 and 2022 without opposition.
He most recently presided over the criminal trial of Carlos Reales Dominguez and declared a mistrial after jurors deadlocked on two charges in connection with the Davis stabbing spree that killed two people.
McAdam removed himself from the Esparto case in a memorandum dated Aug. 1, two days after the farm filed a motion for the case to be reassigned on the grounds that McAdam would be prejudiced. Yolo Superior Judge Timothy Fall, who has been on the bench since 1995, has replaced him.
Available court records did not show why Rodriguez, who did not respond to a message requesting comment by the time of publication, asked to remove McAdam from the case.
The cause and aftermath of the explosions remain under investigation by state and federal agencies, but questions of improper permitting and licensing, and the appearance of local conflicts of interest, began surfacing as the remnants of the property still smoldered.
Yolo County Sheriff’s Lt. Sam Machado and his wife Tammy Machado — also a Sheriff’s Office employee — own the rural compound in Esparto. Craig Cutright, the listed owner of BlackStar Fireworks, worked as a volunteer firefighter for the Esparto Fire Protection District, whose jurisdiction includes the blast site.
The district fire chief, Curtis Lawrence, signed off on permits for structures wiped out by the explosions and had worked with the companies in recent years to arrange free fireworks shows for the community.
Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez, who employed the Machados, had formerly served as the fire chief of the neighboring Madison Fire Protection District. He recused the Sheriff’s Office from the investigations into the incident, as has Lawrence.
Kenneth Chee, owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, was disqualified from obtaining a federal explosives license from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives due to a past felony conviction. However, a state loophole allowed him to acquire explosives licenses from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
A court hearing in the civil suit has been scheduled for Nov. 17.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 11:24 AM.
