Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Page 9
Antonovich May Appoint Tevrizian to Jail Violence Commission
By MARC B. HAEFELE, Staff Writer
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich yesterday said he might appoint retired U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian to a tentative “citizens commission” intended to review alleged inmate abuses in the county’s jail system.
A recent FBI investigation reported problems, and abuses including major violence have been recently widely reported in the county’s jails by the ACLU and the media. These led to a recent statement in the Los Angeles Times by Sheriff Lee Baca that he had not been properly informed of the problems in the jails.
But it remains to be seen if the board will indeed vote to form such a supervisory commission today. Supervisors Mark Ridley Thomas of the Second District and Zev Yaroslavsky of the Third District filed motions last week for such a commission, whose five members would be appointed by each of the five county supervisors. Supervisor Gloria Molina of the First District moved in favor of bringing into effect standing recommendations by Special Counsel to the Board of Supervisors Merrick Bobb regarding improving the operations of the Sheriff’s custody system.
Antovich’s spokesman, Tony Bell, said, “Tevrizian’s appointment would be ideal, if the board votes to form such a committee.” But Bell added that the supervisor had not yet decided whether he would support the motion to create such a committee.
Antonovich was not available for comment.
Tevrizian, a Pasadena resident, was a Municipal Court judge from 1972-1978, on the Superior Court from 1978-1982. From 1982-1984 he was in private practice.
In 1985, he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the United States District Court of the Cnetral District of California. He assumed senior status there in 2005 before retiring in 2007.
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