Published: September 16, 2026 · 9:59 PM EDT
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Young stepped aside Sept. 15, taking the Sept. 28 trial date off the calendar as Julia Misley’s case awaits reassignment
A civil lawsuit against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has been disrupted less than two weeks before trial after the judge overseeing the case recused herself.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Young stepped aside on September 15, 2026, after informing attorneys that she had discovered a potential basis for disqualification. The parties did not unanimously agree to waive the issue, leading Young to formally remove herself from the case.
Young said the previously scheduled September 28 trial date would automatically come off the court calendar. Attorneys for both sides are expected to appear before Supervising Judge Lawrence Riff on September 18 to address reassignment of the case and its readiness for trial. A replacement trial date has not yet been announced.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2022 by Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, who alleges that Tyler sexually abused her beginning in 1973 when she was 16 and he was 25. Tyler has denied the allegations.
The upcoming trial had already been narrowed substantially by an April 28, 2026 ruling.
Tyler sought summary judgment dismissing the case entirely, but the court denied that request. Young did, however, grant summary adjudication covering portions of Misley’s sexual battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims based on alleged conduct occurring outside California. California-based allegations remained subject to further proceedings.
Court records describe one alleged California encounter in 1974, when Misley was 16, involving a hotel and public hotel hot tub. The court noted that California’s age of consent was 18 at the time.
The case has already experienced another judicial change. Court records show that Judge Tamara Hall recused herself in September 2025, after which the matter was reassigned to Young.
With Young now also stepping aside, the immediate question is procedural rather than a determination of the allegations themselves: which judge will take over the case and when a new trial date will be set.
No ruling on liability has been reached.
Watch Aerosmith’s official “Dream On” video below:
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
IMAGE CREDIT: Aerosmith
