Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

 

Page 1

 

Deputy Public Defender Challenges Judge Kathryn Solorzano

 

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

 

A Los Angeles deputy public defender has filed a declaration of intent to run against Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solorzano.

Neither Solorzano nor challenger Tami L. Warren returned a METNEWS phone call yesterday. But another judge who knows Solorzano, but insisted on anonymity, said the judge was surprised and hurt by the challenge.

The judge said Warren works in Solorzano’s Airport Courthouse courtroom, and that the relationship between the two has been icy.

Solorzano was appointed to the court by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 and was a deputy district attorney for 17 years before that. While at the District Attorney’s Office, she specialized in felony litigation including domestic violence, sex crimes and hardcore gang prosecutions. 

Solorzano earned her law degree from Loyola and her undergraduate degree from UCLA.

Warren is a former president of Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles and is a member of the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and of the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.

Santana Files

In other news, Superior Court Judge Ray Santana Tuesday filed his declaration of intent to run for a new term, setting off a likely scramble among the four candidates who previously filed for his seat.

Sole practitioner Eric Ibisi, Deputy District Attorneys Fred Mesropi and Efrain M. Aceves—who filed as E. Matthew Aceves—and Superior Court Commissioner Cynthia Zuzga all filed their declarations last week, amidst reports that Santana wasn’t running. Mesropi, the only one of the group who could be reached yesterday, said he will likely keep his options open until Tuesday’s extended filing deadline for races in which the incumbent did not file.

Santana’s late filing left Katherine Diesman, Michelle Rosenblatt, and Alan Rosenfield as the only incumbents not seeking new terms.  

Yesterday was the last day that incumbents and their challenges could file. A final list of those candidates was not available at press time.

More Filings

Also on Tuesday, Aceves and Deputy District Attorney Steven Schreiner filed for Rosenfield’s seat, joining Deputy District Attorney Susan Jung Townsend in that race. Candidates may file any number of declarations of intent, but must designate a specific seat when they return their nominating documents.

Deputy District Attorneys Philip Marshall and Javier Perez have filed for Diesman’s seat, while Perez and Deputy District Attorney Debra Archuleta put in the papers for Rosenblatt’s.

The period for filing nominating documents begins Tuesday and ends March 11 for most races. If an incumbent judge files a DOI, but not nominating documents, the deadline for that seat is extended to March 16 and new candidates can enter the race.

 

Copyright 2016, Metropolitan News Company