Friday, February 11, 2005
Page 3
Drewry, Murphy Face Runoff for Superior Court Commissioner Post
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A lawyer with Munger Tolles & Olson will face a retired municipal court commissioner who has lost four previous runoff elections in a runoff for the post of Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner, a court spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman said it has not yet been determined when ballots containing the names of Anthony B. Drewry and retired Commissioner John Murphy will go out to judges. The two were the top vote-getters in balloting by the judges to select a successor to Commissioner Roberta Kyman, who died Dec. 7, but neither received a majority of the votes.
Murphy, who graduated from University of San Fernando Valley College of Law, which he attended at night while working in the clothing business, and who currently hears cases on assignment in Lancaster, previously lost runoffs to Maren Nelson, Brian Petraborg, Harvey Silberman and Anthony Trendacosta. Each of his opponents was ranked No. 1 on the candidate list at the time of the voting, based on evaluations by a panel of judges.
Murphy is now No. 14, having moved up one spot after each vote.
As Murphy’s situation indicates, judges are not bound by the rankings. But no candidate has been elected out of ranked order since the previous list was established in 2001.
The candidates in the latest election, in ranked order, were Drewry; Referee Steff Padilla, Santa Monica attorney James N. Bianco, Century City attorney H. Jay Ford III, Referee Pamela A. Davis, Lancaster attorney and former Referee David Bianchi, Court of Appeal attorney Mary Lou Katz, Alliance for Children’s Rights attorney Amy M. Pellman; Los Angeles attorney Graciela Freixes; Santa Monica attorney Susan Weiss; Referee Alan H. Friedenthal; Los Angeles attorney David J. Cowan; Long Beach attorney Tamila Ipema; Murphy; former Referee Laura Hymowitz; Covina attorney Rocky Lee Crabb; and Joel Wallenstein, a former referee who now works for the State Compensation Insurance Fund.
Also Deputy County Counsel Catherine Pratt, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Zuzga, Deputy District Attorney Lori-Ann Jones, Los Angeles attorney Robert Harrison, Referee Stephen Marpet, Deputy District Attorney Lia R. Martin, Los Angeles attorney Paul Ted Suzuki, Manhattan Beach attorney Michele Flurer, Deputy District Attorney William J. Woods, Los Angeles attorney Adrienne L. Krikorian, and Referee Jacqueline H. Lewis.
Vote totals were not made public.
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company