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Writ Petition Challenges Eligibility of Candidate for L.A. City Attorney Post
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles District Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, at an ex parte hearing yesterday, set a March 29 hearing date on a petition for a writ of mandate to block the inclusion of the name of Marina Torres, a former assistant U.S. attorney, from appearing on the June 7 ballot as a candidate for Los Angeles city attorney.
An expedited briefing schedule was ordered pursuant to an Election Code provision giving such matters priority and in light of the schedule under which the city will send candidacy information to the printer of ballots and the voter handbook on March 31.
At issue is an application of Los Angeles City Charter §270 (mirrored in city Election Code §300(b)) which provides:
“The City Attorney must be qualified to practice in all the courts of the state, and must have been so qualified for at least five years immediately preceding his or her election.”
Allegation of Petition
The writ petition, filed by the Sutton Law Firm, PC, on behalf of Judy Hu, a registered voter in the City of Los Angeles, says (with emphasis in the original):
“Real Party in Interest MARINA TORRES, according to the State Bar of California, most recently became eligible to practice law in California state courts on January 1, 2018. At the time of June 7, 2022 primary election she will have been admitted to practice law in California state courts for four years, five months and six days. At the time of the November 8, 2022 general election she will have been admitted to practice law in California state courts for four years, ten months and seven days. The Los Angeles City Election Code explicitly requires that the Los Angeles City Attorney must be qualified to practice law in all California state courts for at least five years immediately preceding his or her election. Torres’ candidacy papers thus violate the Los Angeles Election Code and should not have been accepted by Respondents….”
The respondents are City Clerk Holly Wolcott and county Registrar/Recorder Dean Logan.
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MARINA TORRES city attorney candidate |
Private Practice
Torres is presently of counsel, on a part-time basis, to the law firm of Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg, LLP. The writ petition does not challenge her ballot designation of “Federal Corruption Prosecutor”—though, aside from the fact that she is no longer a prosecutor, doubt has been cast on whether she handled corruption cases— apparently on the assumption that the designation she chose doesn’t matter because her name will be barred from the ballot.
The city is taking the position that Torres is qualified. Wolcott said in a letter to political consultant Rick Taylor, representing candidate Richard Kim, a deputy city attorney:
“The historical application of Charter Section 270 is that voluntary inactive bar status does not disqualify a person from running for City Attorney. For example, in 2001, then candidates Rocky Delgadillo and Mike Feuer both had been voluntarily inactive in their bar status for a period of time within the five years prior to the Election, and both were deemed eligible to run for City Attorney under Charter Section 270. Similarly, former Attorney General Xavier Becerra was eligible to run for that Office where he had taken voluntary inactive bar status within the five years prior to being elected in 2018.”
Delgadillo (who won election) claimed in 2004, when the issue of his eligibility for the office was raised by the METNEWS, that he was assured in 2000 in a letter from then-City Attorney James Hahn (later mayor, now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge) that a person who is on inactive bar status is nonetheless “qualified” to practice law (although doing so would be a misdemeanor and a contempt).
As it turned out, Hahn had not signed the draft letter presented to him, but Delgadillo was apparently given oral advice by someone in Hahn’s office.
Inquiry to Schwada
John Schwada, a former journalist now employed by a public relations firm working for Kim, earlier told of Kim’s plan to seek a writ to disqualify Torres. It was not immediately known if Kim had hired the Sutton Law Firm or some other candidate had, and the METNEWS sent an email to Schwada inquiring.
Apparently thinking he was emailing Taylor (but actually hitting “reply”), Schwada wrote:
“Rick - metroNews editor got wind of the Torres lawsuit (not from me!). Wants to know if we are behind the lawsuit. Should I say no comment or just not reply to him?”
There was no further word from Schwada by press time yesterday.
Others in the race for city attorney, and their ballot designations, are:
Sherri Onica Valle Cole, “Attorney/Educator”; Hydee Feldstein Soto, “Attorney/Neighborhood Councilmember”; Faisal M. Gill, “Civil Rights Attorney; Teddy Kapur, “Attorney/Businessowner/Teacher”; and Kevin James, “Attorney-at-Law.”
Cole’s Status
At yesterday’s hearing before Beckloff, Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Ruth Kwon mentioned that Cole (who ran unsuccessfully in 2016 and 2018 for the Los Angeles Superior Court) had also been on inactive status during the previous five-year period. She assumed that status from March 1, 2018 to March 26 of that year.
She suggested that Ha include her as a real party or at least inform her of the litigation. Cole was so advised by the Sutton firm.
Cole said yesterday she is “not sure yet” whether she will get involved, in some capacity in the litigation, explaining: “There are some factual issues which might distinguish my case from Ms. Torres’ case, but that analysis may be premature.”
Torres did not respond to a request for comment.
Copyright 2022, Metropolitan News Company