Monday, March 28, 2016
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Judge Solorzano to Challenge Warren’s New Ballot Designation, Lawyer Says
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
An attorney representing Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solorzano said Friday he intends to challenge her opponent’s newly selected ballot designation.
Brentford Ferreira said he will appear ex parte today to ask for a hearing on whether Deputy Public Defender Tami L. Warren can be listed on the ballot as a “Violent Crimes Counsel.”
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KATHRYN SOLARZANO Superior Court Judge |
TAMI L. WARREN Deputy Public Defender |
The filing would be the third writ petition filed this month over Warren’s ballot designation.
Warren originally submitted the designation “Court Appointed Counsel,” which the registrar of voters initially accepted. After Ferreira filed the first writ petition, challenging that designation, the registrar reversed course and rejected it, prompting Warren to file the second writ petition.
April 5 Hearing
Warren argues in that petition, which is scheduled for hearing before Judge James Chalfant on April 5, that the designation is consistent with a form that is presented to every criminal defendant in the Superior Court. That form, entitled “Assessment for Court-Appointed Counsel,” informs the defendant that he or she may be held responsible for a portion of the cost of representation by the public defender, alternate public defender, “or any other court-appointed counsel.”
After the registrar rejected the designation, however, Warren submitted a second ballot title, “Appointed Trial Counsel,” Ferreira explained. The registrar rejected that one as well.
The candidate then submitted the latest designation, which Ferreira said the registrar accepted Friday, and which he said he will challenge as misleading.
Designation Called ‘Nonsense’
“This is nonsense,” he told the MetNews. A judge should reject the designation, and—consistent with the Elections Code—should require Warren to go on the ballot with no designation at all, he added.
He also disclosed he had dismissed the original writ petition Friday, as next month’s hearing on Warren’s petition will resolve the issue of whether she can appear on the ballot as a “Court Appointed Counsel.”
Warren’s attorney, Stuart Leviton, could not be reached for comment late Friday.
Solorzano, a judge of the court since 2007 and a deputy district attorney for 17 years before that, and Warren, who was assigned to Solorzano’s courtroom before filing to run against her, face off in the June 7 primary. Warren is also a former president of the Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles and resigned from the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation when she decided to run for judge.
Copyright 2016, Metropolitan News Company