Friday, March 9, 2007
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Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor Person to Retire
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor H. Person is retiring, the MetNews has learned.
The 60-year-old jurist was not available yesterday for comment, but a court spokesperson confirmed that he is officially retiring May 1 and will take the bench for the last time on Thursday of next week.
Person has been a judge since 1985, when then-Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him to the Pasadena Municipal Court. Deukmejian’s successor, Pete Wilson, elevated him to the Superior Court in 1992.
A native and longtime resident of Glendale, Person attended public schools in that city, graduating from Hoover High School, as had his parents. He went on to graduate from USC and Loyola Law School, then joined the District Attorney’s Office.
As a prosecutor for more than 12 years, he rose to the rank of senior trial deputy before his appointment to the bench. His assignments included five years doing consumer and environmental cases and time as a top juvenile court deputy, first in Sylmar and later downtown.
He was also active in Republican politics, coordinating a statewide lawyers group supporting Deukmejian in his campaign for governor.
As a judge, he served as chair of the Los Angeles County Municipal Court Judges Association from 1988 to 1991.
In a 1994 newspaper interview, the judge acknowledged criticism of his early performance on the bench, which was described as overly prosecution-oriented. He admitted difficulty in separating himself from his previous role as a deputy district attorney.
By the time of the interview, the judge had moved over to the civil side after two years in a Pomona criminal courtroom. He has spent the last several years presiding over a general civil department at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company