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LASC Judges Marcus,
Sinanian to Retire
By
a MetNews Staff Writer
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STEPHEN A. MARCUS Superior Court judge |
ZAVEN V. SINANIAN Superior Court judge |
Two Los
Angeles Superior Court judges—Stephen A. Marcus and Zaven V. Sinanian—are
nearing retirement from the bench.
Marcus will
depart from his post on June 28, officially retiring on Aug. 9 after using
earned vacation days. Sinanian’s last actual day on the bench and his
official retirement date are both July 7.
Judge
H. Chester Horn Jr., as previously reported, left the bench on Friday and has
an official retirement date of Aug. 1.
Marcus’s Background
Marcus
received his law degree from Boston University in 1975. His first job was
working in the Office of New York State Prosecutor, from 1975-77, then becoming
a deputy district attorney in Suffolks County, New York (1977-78), a New York
deputy attorney general (1978-81), and a deputy Los Angeles city attorney
(1981-82).
He was
a deputy Los Angeles district attorney from 1982-89. His assignments included
serving in the Hard Core Gangs and Major Narcotics
units.
Gov.
George Deukmejian on May 17, 1989, appointed him to the Los Angeles Municipal
Court. At the time, Marcus was a commissioner of that court, having served as
such since April 1 of that year.
Marcus
was instrumental in founding the “Drug Court” and in 1994, became the first
judge to preside over that court.
In
1996, he ran unsuccessfully for a Los Angeles Superior Court open seat, coming
in third in the primary. He became a Superior Court judge in 2000 through court
unification, and continued to preside over drug cases.
The
Criminal Justice Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association in 2013
named him “Judge of the Year.”
Sinanian’s Appointment
Sinanian
was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis on June 5, 2002. He graduated from
Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1987.
In
1989, he became a deputy attorney general, in which capacity he remained until
his appointment to the bench, although he took a sabbatical in 1992 to assist
the Armenian government in establishing its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sinanian
received recognition at the Armenian Bar Association’s annual Judges Night Gala
in 2015.
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