Friday, October 26, 2007
Page 3
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Peven to Retire
By STEVEN M. ELLIS, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles L. Peven told the MetNews yesterday that he will be retiring effective Dec. 15 of this year.
A member of the bench for 27 years, Peven, 73, said that his time as a judge had been “a great run,” but it that it was time for him move on.
Peven currently sits at the San Fernando courthouse, where he has been a fixture for years, and was appointed to the post by Governor George Deukmejian in December 1989. He was retained in 1990, and re-elected in 1996 and 2002, drawing no opposition.
He plans to continue sitting on assignment, but looks forward to spending his free time traveling.
“The work was interfering with the travel,” he said, laughing.
Prior to his appointment, Peven sat for two years as a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge, also by appointment of Deukmejian, and for seven years as a Los Angeles Municipal Court commissioner where he handled arraignment and master criminal calendars.
Born in Chicago, Peven earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1955, and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1958. He moved to California in 1958, and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1959.
He joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1959, and served as a deputy district attorney until 1971, when he left to become a solo practitioner in Van Nuys specializing in criminal defense. He also served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1959-68.
Peven said that he still enjoyed being a judge, and that he was proud of the time he had spent on the bench.
“It’s the greatest job that I ever had,” he said.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company