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Judge Gelfound Answers Challenger, Defends His Record
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Gelfound has responded to criticisms of him by his challenger in the June 7 primary, Deputy Public Defender Lloyd Handler—who denounces the incumbent for not embracing District Attorney George Gascón’s view that “retribution and incarceration” are not valid goals of the justice system—but has declined to comment directly on Gascón or his policies.
Handler said in a written statement to the METNEWS that the public, having “overwhelmingly elected District Attorney George Gascón,” has evinced its desire for “meaningful rehabilitation of individuals by addressing the root problems that led to their criminal behavior rather than merely incarcerating them.”
Gelfound, who was appointed to his post in 2007, said:
“Because being a judge is a non-political office, I will not comment on the election of any politician or the policies they have implemented.”
He did comment:
“A judge is mandated to follow the law, which I do on a case-by-case basis. Each defendant and each case is different. Some require that the appropriate punishment be imposed, while others may require the imposition of mental health and/or drug treatment and diversion. Both approaches are within the confines of the law of the State of California, and as a judge I must exercise my discretion and do what I think is right.”
Gelfound noted that he does not know Handler and, so far as he can recall, the challenger has not appeared in his courtroom.
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Supervising Judge’s Role
The incumbent is supervising judge of the court’s North Valley District, overseeing the San Fernando Chatsworth and the Santa Clarita courthouses. Handler asserted in his statement that Gelfound’s “attitudes, rather than being limited to affecting only those unfortunates who end up on his docket, infect the entire San Fernando courthouse,” adding:
“San Fernando remains one of the few courthouses where the bench as a whole supports those hard-charging prosecutors who believe that a prison sentence is the only way to protect the public.”
Gelfound said his opponent appears not to understand the role of a supervising judge, remarking:
“My job is not to dictate to other judges how they are to rule on a given case or legal issue. Each judge in the district is an independent judicial officer who makes their own decisions, and I am precluded by law to reverse or overrule another judge’s decision—that is the job of the Courts of Appeal.”
Mental Health Diversions
One judge observed that a reason Gelfound is being challenged is that he “hasn’t been granting many mental health diversions being requested by the PDs,” noting:
“This is the present hot button issue in the criminal courts.”
Handler put forth this position:
“I am aware that Judge Gelfound will raise his role in the Diversion 50 court as evidence he is open to alternative sentencing. However, the fact is that that court is serviced by only one provider whose waiting lists for new participants is typically upwards of six month, and thus it is not a real option for most of the people whose problems would make them candidates for receiving real rehabilitative treatment in most of the other branches with functioning collaborative courts.
“Judge Gelfound has rebuffed all suggestions that additional providers and justice partner stakeholders be brought into this court, and most practitioners in the area don’t believe he has any real interest in making that court a success. It has been observed, however, that by ‘running’ the Diversion 50 courtroom, he doesn’t have to manage a calendar of active felony cases.”
Gelfound’s Response
Gelfound replied:
“Much of what we do in the courts is predicated on funding, which the collaborative courts rely on to properly function. The only collaborative court in the San Fernando Valley is at the Van Nuys courthouse, which handles veteran’s cases and some mental health and drug related cases. Because this is the only such court in the valley, judges from the San Fernando courthouse, including myself, refer matters to that court, which they take if appropriate and if they have space in the program.
“In my courtroom, I handle Diversion 50 cases, because that is the only program that has funding at the San Fernando courthouse. While I wish we had more funding for Diversion 50 and other similar programs, the reality is that we do not. The fact that there is a long waiting list is not a function of my courtroom or my district but is a result of a lack of funding. Mr. Handler’s assertion that ‘most practitioners in the area don’t believe he [me] has any interest in making that court a success,’ is speculative, based on conjecture, and, in my opinion, simply not true.”
Reflecting on his 15 years on the bench, the former deputy district attorney said:
“I have had the privilege of being a Superior Court Judge for nearly 15 years, and during that time I have treated all litigants fairly, and with respect and decorum. I am proud to have the support of my colleagues and I hope to continue serving the community as a judge in the future.”
Deputy Public Defender
One deputy public defender had this to say:
“Although Judge Gelfound’s rulings aren’t always to the benefit of defendants, he is not known as an unfair and tyrannical bench officer.
“Lloyd Handler is a seasoned Grade IV attorney who has handled many serious cases and supervised some public defender offices. He’s hard working and dedicated. It is a surprise that Lloyd is challenging this sitting judge.”
Judge Comments
One Superior Court judge described Handler as “a nice man but clueless,” elaborating:
“I’ve seen Lloyd argue endlessly with judges about absolutely nothing! Once, I saw him argue a motion before [a judge]. After a long, long argument, [the judge] ruled against him. Lloyd continued to argue, even as trial resumed on on another matter. As the jurors were being seated in the box, the prosecutor and defense attorney waited patiently at counsel table. As the trial resumed, While in slow retreat, Lloyd continued argument. I could hear Lloyd in the vestibule after the doors closed, still arguing his points. The judges were not eager to work with him.
“He was despised by most DAs but I got along with him because he is not a bad person; only a terrible lawyer. He also never resolved anything. His caseload, from what I was told, was staggering because he had experts appointed and motions filed to chase phantoms that weren’t there. The last comment was relayed to me by one of his colleagues in the PDs office who worked with him.
“Lloyd would be an unmitigated disaster of gargantuan proportions were he to be elected judge.
“David doesn’t know him. There is no personal animus between them. Lloyd Handler chose a veteran [judge to oppose]...Why?? His decision to run against a veteran incumbent judge demonstrates his lack of judgment. He will be soundly trounced.”
Expansive remarks by another judge appear below.
Judge Elswick
Also drawing a challenge is Judge Carol Elswick, who was publicly admonished in 2018 by the Commission on Judicial Performance. She was found to have “improperly remanded the defendant and delayed setting a revocation hearing until after the defendant served a predetermined sentence of jail time, which conveyed the appearance that the judge was circumventing the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department’s early release program” and being “discourteous to several criminal defendants.” Running against her is landlord/tenant attorney Albert Robles, who unsuccessfully challenged then-District Attorney Steve Cooley in 2008.
One judge said yesterday:
“Carol Elswick is ok. She made a mistake. (We all do….) She doesn’t deserve to be challenged.”
Another judge opined that Robles “does not have the ethics or temperament to be on the bench, as illustrated” by his use of profanities in an email to the METNEWS, as reported yesterday. The judge characterized the email as “mind boggling,” and said that “[w]hen you weigh the two candidates,” Elswick “should be on the bench, not Robles.”
Another bench officer recounted:
“I appeared before her a few times when I started in the DA’s Office. She was a nice lady and worked hard.…[S]he was the subject of an ugly public admonishment in 2018. However, when I appeared before her (in 2006), I felt she tried to do the right thing and had courage. She was a strong judge. I haven’t heard anything about her since and I haven’t seen her.”
Another judge provided this assessment:
“Not many people like her. She has had many problems with court leaders. She is not a very hard worker or team player. After 30 years on the bench, she is still doing primarily misdemeanors in a branch court.”
The judge added: “Of course, the challenger appears to be considerably worse!”
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Judge Lauds Colleague David Gelfound
Has Harsh Words for Challenger Lloyd Handler
(The following was authored by a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court who writes anonymously)
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he Hon. David Gelfound, who currently has the thankless task of being the Site Judge at the San Fernando Courthouse, is not above a challenge. His calm, deliberative, reasoned manner is likely the source of considerable consternation and frustration to a small, but vocal, “group of organized folks” who see the law, the constitution, the suffering of victims of crime, and often the truly horrendous reality of their clients’ anti-social conduct, as simply inconvenient truths—matters best disregarded in order to fulfil their duty of zealous representation to their clients.
I first encountered Gelfound when we were both Deputy District Attorneys (“DDA”). I was sitting in a courtroom waiting for my case to be called for a preliminary hearing. Another preliminary hearing was being conducted; it was a complex case with multiple charges. The DDA handling the case was well-dressed, well spoken, and eminently well-prepared. It was clear that he not only had the facts at his fingertips, but when it came to responding to the barrage of “strategic objections,” he advanced relevant factual and legal arguments sufficient to cause the magistrate to overrule those “Hail Mary” objections. At the same time, however, he would swiftly concede valid objections or defects in the case without attempting to obfuscate the reality by rote recitals of unhelpful and irrelevant arguments.
His courtroom manner seemed at odds with the histrionics displayed by his opponent—he was respectful to the Court, the defendant and his advocate, almost to the point of being apologetic for having to explain that the opposing argument was neither supported by law nor fact. To say that I was impressed by DDA Gelfound would be an understatement—I was inspired.
When DDA Gelfound was appointed to the Superior Court it was likely because the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation received numerous favorable responses from fellow DDAs, opposing counsel, and Judges all of whom knew Gelfound to be more than capable of transferring his skills as a scrupulously fair, conscientious, and meticulous advocate, to the role of Superior Court Judge where that same skill set will serve all who appear before him. By all accounts, Judge Gelfound has lived up to those expectations—with the possible exception of a Deputy Public Defender (“DPD”) who seeks to challenge him in the upcoming primary election and who, so far as I can ascertain, has never opposed him as an advocate, let alone appeared in his Court.
That DPD Lloyd Handler seeks to oppose Judge Gelfound for not blindly embracing the policies of District Attorney Gascon, is as laughable as it is ludicrous. Gascon’s policies are increasingly the subject of much debate and will likely result in Gascon being removed from office now that voters have seen and experienced the catastrophic and sadly tragic results of his ‘Special Directives.’ It is hypocrisy on steroids that Handler castigates an independent judicial officer for not following Gascon’s policies—has he no idea of what an independent judiciary is supposed to be? If Handler’s vison of an independent judiciary is that Judges are to kowtow to the policies of Gascon, then it is Handler who is unfit to be a Judge.
Judge Gelfound is, in my humble opinion, the paradigm of an independent judicial officer, one who is no more swayed by the aberrant results of an election than he is unduly influenced by displeasing Handler and his ilk.
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