What Happened to the Judge Who Handled the Menendez Brothers Trial
| Lance Ito | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Approximate of the Los Angeles County Superior Court | |
| In role 1987–2015 | |
| Appointed by | George Deukmejian |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lance Allan Ito (1950-08-02) August 2, 1950 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Autonomous[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret York (k. 1981; died 2021) |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) Academy of California, Berkeley (JD) |
Lance Allan Ito (born Baronial 2, 1950) is a retired American judge best known for presiding over the criminal trial for the O. J. Simpson murder case, held in the Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom in 1995.
Early on life and career [edit]
Ito was built-in 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 building. Ito attended John Marshall High Schoolhouse, where he was student torso president and received the Scholar Athlete laurels in 1968. He earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972, and his J.D. caste from the then University of California, Berkeley, Boalt School of Law in 1975. He then joined the Los Angeles district attorney'due south role in 1977, working in the hardcore gang unit and the organized crime and terror unit of measurement, amongst others.[two]
In 1981, he married Margaret Ann York, the first woman to achieve the rank of Deputy Chief in the Los Angeles Constabulary Department and that department's highest ranking adult female officer when she retired in 2002.[3] The two met while at an Eagle Stone murder scene.[iv]
Republican Governor George Deukmejian appointed Ito to the Municipal Courtroom in 1987, so elevated him to Superior Court in 1989.[1] In 1991, he determined that Soon Ja Du was not a flying risk in the case of the killing of Latasha Harlins, and denied the deputy district attorney'southward request to revoke Du's bond.[5]
In 1992 he judged the indictment confronting Lyle and Erik Menendez.[6] The criminal trial was judged past Stanley Weisberg.[7]
Charles H. Keating, Jr. trial [edit]
In 1992, he presided over the trial of financier Charles H. Keating Jr. Keating's ensuing ten-year judgement was after overturned on appeal because Ito had neglected to instruct the jury to determine whether Keating intended to defraud investors. Information technology was the prosecution's position that Keating was liable every bit a affair of strict liability.[eight]
O. J. Simpson murder trial [edit]
Ito presided over the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson, at which Simpson was acquitted. His decision to allow idiot box 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 low-cal that his married woman, 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 concluding ten years. Simpson's defense force team unearthed tapes in which Fuhrman had used racial epithets as recently as 1988, and they wished to introduce them every bit evidence to prove that Fuhrman had perjured himself, in lodge to discredit his testimony. However, in the tapes, Fuhrman disparages York's advent 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 confronting Fuhrman, though prosecutors after withdrew the asking out of fear that it would result in a mistrial.[11]
Postal service-Simpson trial career [edit]
Ito declined to requite interviews regarding the O. J. 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 atheism that public involvement in the trial extended through the "turgid" DNA department of the trial. He has used his condition 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 on Apr 17, 2012, that Ito's court, along with 55 others, would be closed due to budget cuts. Ito retired in 2015.[4]
Popular culture [edit]
Ito was portrayed on Sat Night Live, first past Mike Myers, and so, post-obit Myers' departure from the prove, past Mark McKinney.[13] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno had a recurring skit chosen "The Dancing Itos" featuring five disguised Asian-American dancers.[14] Actor Kenneth Choi portrayed Ito in the 2016 serial The People vs. O. J. Simpson.[15] His likeness also appeared as a judge in Pinky and the Brain, Flavour 1, Episode 2 "Of Mouse and Man" which aired in September 1995. Ken Jeong dressed as Judge Ito for a 1995 Halloween political party on the ABC series Dr. Ken.
See also [edit]
- List of Asian American jurists
References [edit]
- ^ a b Granelli, James S. (April 10, 1992). "Judge Gives No Hints nigh Keating Sentencing". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Tharp, Mike (October 23, 1994). "Ito's Fairness Doctrine". U.S. News & World Study. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013.
- ^ Adams, Kathleen; Catoggio, Nick; Lofaro, Lina; Rubin, Jeffery C.; Toufexis, Anastasia; Urquhart, Sidney (August 28, 1995). "THE Calendar week: August 13-19". Fourth dimension Magazine . Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Chuck, Elizabeth (October 3, 2015). "The O. J. Verdict 20 Years Subsequently: What Has Judge Ito Been Upwardly To?". NBC News. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Mitchell, Marsha (May ix, 1991). "Family to Hold Vigil for Slain Teenager". Los Angeles Sentinel.
- ^ "Menendez Brothers Indicted in Slaying of Parents : Court: Estimate sets a date for them to be arraigned in the shotgun killings of the wealthy couple. They accept been held since 1990". Los Angeles Times. Dec 9, 1992. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ "LOS ANGELES : Death Penalization to Exist Sought in Menendez Case". Los Angeles Times. Jan 13, 1993. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ Zagorin, Adam (Feb 3, 1997). "CHARLIE'Southward AN ANGEL? CHARLES KEATING, DEMON OF THE $500 BILLION S&L FIASCO, IS Now INNOCENT. SORT OF". Time Magazine . Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Grace, Roger M. (September 25, 2003). "Did Ito Allow a 'Media Circus'? Wapner: Yes. Philibosian: No". Metropolitan News Company. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Jared Grimmer. "Lance Ito, Biography, O. J. Simpson Trial". University of Missouri–Kansas Urban center. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Margolick, David (August 17, 1995). "Prosecutors Drop Demand That Ito Footstep Down in Case". The New York Times . Retrieved June nineteen, 2017.
- ^ Ray, Don. "Judicial Contour: HON. Lance A. Ito". Los Angeles Daily Periodical. Archived from the original on Jan 10, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Silman, Anna (January 28, 2016). "When 'SNL' Was Obsessed With O. J. Simpson".
- ^ Harris, Scott (April 15, 1995). "Leno's O. J. Jokes, Dancing Itos Continue Reality at a Safe Distance". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Kenneth Choi". IMDb.
External links [edit]
- Lance Ito at IMDb
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Ito
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