Thursday, January 9, 2014
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Judge David Milton to Retire, Opening Seat for Election
Candidate Magno Says Incumbent Will Endorse Her Today
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Milton will retire, effective Feb. 19, a court spokesperson said yesterday.
The timing of the retirement means that a successor to Milton, who has already vacated his Glendale courtroom and is using vacation time, will be elected in the June primary.
Deputy District Attorney Teresa Pineda Magno, who took out papers last month to run for the seat, told the MetNews that Milton will be endorsing her at an event to be held today.
Milton was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1995 by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, succeeding the retiring and since deceased-Judge Burton Bach. He handled capital murder cases and other serious felony in the court’s Criminal Division.
More recently, he had been assigned to the Civil Division, where he handled both jury and bench trials ranging from professional malpractice to breach of contract cases.
Milton was a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge from 1987 to 1992, when he resigned to become chief assistant prosecuting attorney for Marion County, Ind.
His resignation surprised some because it came just a few months after he obtained a writ of mandate allowing him to seek election to a full term in despite not having filed his nomination papers in time. Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien granted the writ, agreeing with Milton that there had been substantial compliance with the filing requirement, which allowed the nomination papers to be filed and back-dated.
Milton said at the time that he had missed the filing deadline, in part, because he was preoccupied with assisting his ex-wife and children, who were moving to Indiana.
He returned to California after his boss was defeated for re-election. He became assistant chief trial counsel for the State Bar of California, the No. 2 prosecutor in the State Bar disciplinary system.
Prior to joining the bench, Milton spent eight years as a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County where he handled major crimes, successfully prosecuting gang members who committed violent crimes.
Milton, a Pasadena native, grew up in Indianapolis. He received his undergraduate degree from California State University, Los Angeles in 1975, and his law degree from Indiana University School of law three years later.
In 1968 Milton joined the U.S. Army Reserve, receiving an honorable discharge in 1974.
Magno has served in the District Attorney’s Office for over 14 years, having recently completed a seven-year assignment in its Hardcore Gang Division.
Prior to becoming a deputy district attorney, Magno worked for the now defunct civil and immigration law firm of Karp & Castelblanco for a year in addition to serving as a research attorney for then-Los Angeles Superior Court judges Judith Ashmann-Gerst and David Horowitz. She obtained her law degree from the UCLA School of Law where she was president of her graduating class.
She is presently the only candidate seeking Milton’s seat.
Copyright 2014, Metropolitan News Company