Lance Ito
Ito in 1995
Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court
In office
1987–2015
Appointed byGeorge Deukmejian
Personal details
Born
Lance Allan Ito

(1950-08-02) August 2, 1950
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1981; died 2021)​
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)

Lance Allan Ito (born August 2, 1950) is an American retired judge, best known for presiding over the criminal trial for the O. J. Simpson murder case, held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1995.

Early life and career

Ito was born in Los Angeles to Jim Ito and Toshi Ito. Both his parents were kept in internment camps for Japanese Americans with their families during the Second World War. Ito was enrolled in Sunday School at the Mount Hollywood Congregational Church. Ito attended John Marshall High School, where he was student body president and received the Scholar Athlete award in 1968. He earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972, and his J.D. degree from the then University of California, Berkeley, Boalt School of Law in 1975. He then joined the Los Angeles district attorney's office in 1977, working in the hardcore gang unit and the organized crime and terror unit, among others.[2]

In 1981, he married Margaret Ann York, the first woman to attain the rank of Deputy Chief in the Los Angeles Police Department and that department's highest ranking woman officer when she retired in 2002.[3] The two met while at an Eagle Rock murder scene.[4]

Republican Governor George Deukmejian appointed Ito to the Municipal Court in 1987, and then elevated him to Superior Court in 1989.[1]

In a high-profile case in 1991, Ito determined that Soon Ja Du, a convenience store owner who had shot and killed Latasha Harlins, was not a flight risk, denying the deputy district attorney's request to revoke Du's bail.[5][6]

In 1992, he initially handled the indictment against Lyle and Erik Menéndez, two brothers who were accused and later convicted of murdering their parents.[7]

Charles H. Keating, Jr. trial

In 1992, he presided over the trial of financier Charles H. Keating Jr. Keating's ensuing ten-year sentence was later overturned on appeal because Ito had neglected to instruct the jury to determine whether Keating intended to defraud investors. It was the prosecution's position that Keating was liable as a matter of strict liability.[8]

O. J. Simpson murder trial

Ito presided over the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson, at which Simpson was acquitted. His decision to allow television coverage of the trial was controversial,[9] and Ito faced criticism for seeming to enjoy the press and for allowing too many sidebars and recesses.[10]

During the trial, the prosecution requested that Ito recuse himself when it came to light that his wife, Margaret York, had been detective Mark Fuhrman's superior officer in the past. Fuhrman had been called to testify by the prosecution regarding his discovery of evidence in the case. During cross-examination, Fuhrman claimed that he had not used racial epithets to refer to African-Americans during the last ten years. Simpson's defense team unearthed tapes in which Fuhrman had used racial epithets as recently as 1988, and they wished to introduce them as evidence to prove that Fuhrman had perjured himself, in order to discredit his testimony. However, in the tapes, Fuhrman disparages York's appearance and suggests that she used her gender to advance in the police force.[11] The prosecution requested that Ito step down because they felt that derogatory remarks toward his wife might bias Ito against Fuhrman, though prosecutors later withdrew the request out of fear that it would result in a mistrial.[11]

Post-Simpson trial career

Ito declined to give interviews regarding the Simpson murder trial because ethical guidelines for California trial-court judges forbid commenting on pending matters or matters likely to come before the courts. He has noted his disbelief that public interest in the trial extended through the turgid DNA section of the trial. He has used his status to work on issues of judicial reform, such as increasing the number of interpreters and enforcing rules for foreign-national defendants in the court.[12] Los Angeles County announced in April 2012 that Ito's courtroom, along with 55 others, would be closed due to budget cuts. Ito retired in 2015.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Granelli, James S. (April 10, 1992). "Judge Gives No Hints about Keating Sentencing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  2. ↑ Tharp, Mike (October 23, 1994). "Ito's Fairness Doctrine". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013.
  3. ↑ Adams, Kathleen; Catoggio, Nick; Lofaro, Lina; Rubin, Jeffery C.; Toufexis, Anastasia; Urquhart, Sidney (August 28, 1995). "THE WEEK: AUGUST 13-19". Time Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Chuck, Elizabeth (October 3, 2015). "The O. J. Verdict 20 Years Later: What Has Judge Ito Been Up To?". NBC News. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Mitchell, Marsha (May 9, 1991). "Family to Hold Vigil for Slain Teenager". Los Angeles Sentinel.
  6. ↑ Stevenson, Brenda E. (2013). The contested murder of Latasha Harlins: justice, gender, and the origins of the LA riots. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-994457-6.
  7. ↑ "Menendez Brothers Indicted in Slaying of Parents : Court: Judge sets a date for them to be arraigned in the shotgun killings of the wealthy couple. They have been held since 1990". Los Angeles Times. December 9, 1992. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  8. ↑ Zagorin, Adam (February 3, 1997). "CHARLIE'S AN ANGEL? CHARLES KEATING, DEMON OF THE $500 BILLION S&L FIASCO, IS NOW INNOCENT. SORT OF". Time Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ Grace, Roger M. (September 25, 2003). "Did Ito Permit a 'Media Circus'? Wapner: Yes. Philibosian: No". Metropolitan News Company. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jared Grimmer. "Lance Ito, Biography, O. J. Simpson Trial". University of Missouri–Kansas City. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Margolick, David (August 17, 1995). "Prosecutors Drop Demand That Ito Step Down in Case". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ Ray, Don. "Judicial Profile: HON. Lance A. Ito". Los Angeles Daily Journal. Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  13. ↑ Silman, Anna (January 28, 2016). "When 'SNL' Was Obsessed With O. J. Simpson".
  14. ↑ Harris, Scott (April 15, 1995). "Leno's O. J. Jokes, Dancing Itos Keep Reality at a Safe Distance". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ↑ "Kenneth Choi". IMDb.
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