Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Page 1
Ipsen Reelected President of Prosecutors’ Group
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Steven Ipsen has been reelected president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the group’s election committee said yesterday.
Vote totals were not announced, but Ipsen and his opponent, Deputy District Attorney John Nantroup, confirmed that the incumbent had been returned for a third year as president.
Ipsen, who is also a member of the State Bar Board of Governors, said he would invite Nantroup and his supporters to work with the new officers. Ipsen explained that he endorsed Frank Tavelman, Bill Ryder, and Alan Yochelson, who ran unopposed for senior vice-president, treasurer, and secretary, respectively, and Craig Gold, who defeated Mike Brewer for junior vice-president.
The new directors, most of whom Ipsen said he endorsed, are Anya Artan, Shanna Batten, Eleanor Bigolski, James Bozajian, Larry Diamond, Brent Ferreira, Dennis Fuhrman, Bobby Grace, Ed Greene, Christian Gullon, Doug Herring, Tal Kahana, Steve Lopez, Margaret Moe, Loren Naiman, and Bob Wallace.
Diamond is a candidate for an open seat on the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Ipsen said he was pleased that people took the time to run, saying the fact that the election was contested was a tribute to the growth of the organization during his presidency. The group now has at least 700 members—out of about 900 who are eligible—he said, noting that new members were allowed to join and vote at the same time, as the balloting has taken place over the last several weeks.
Nantroup said he and his supporters “did our best to educate our members as to what the issues were.” He said that he had endorsed a number of those elected to the board, including some who were also backed by Ipsen, and said he would “continue to address the issues in a manner that is appropriate.”
He added that he “will be available...if called upon” by Ipsen to assist in the group’s activities. But he added that he did not consider the results “a reaffirmation of Mr. Ipsen’s methods.”
Nantroup was among those who criticized Ipsen for having placed an ad in a legal newspaper soliciting opponents for five incumbent judges.
The five were Judges Gilbert Lopez, William Ryan, Dan Oki, David Wesley, and Richard Van Dusen. According to the ad, a “survey sent to over 900 prosecutors in the L.A. District Attorney’s Office” resulted in a finding that prosecutors “OPPOSE” Lopez and Ryan and “STRONGLY OPPOSE” Wesley, Oki, and Van Dusen.
Oki, Van Dusen, and Wesley all drew opposition, and Ipsen has been particularly vocal about Oki and Wesley’s role in the events of May 28 of last year, when several suspects were released because the court was unable to complete its arraignment calendar.
The ad mentioned the ADDA and did not contain a disclosure that Ipsen had placed the ad on behalf of another entity. Nantroup said he felt that the ad placed the group in a bad light by making it appear that the association was attacking the judges before whom its members appear.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company