A court ruled this week that a San Diego County Superior Court judge can’t be considered for the county’s open public defender position because he wasn’t a practicing attorney in California during the year before he applied for the job.
In issuing his ruling, Orange County Judge Theodore Howard sided with San Diego County’s interpretation of an obscure 1947 statute in denying Judge Michael Washington the opportunity to apply for the job.
In August, after the county denied his application, Washington asked for a court’s interpretation of the statute. The case was moved to Orange County because he’s a sitting judge in San Diego County.
The ruling means the county will resume its search to replace former Public Defender Randy Mize, who retired in June. The search had been on hold pending the outcome of Washington’s case.
Washington argued it would be absurd to disqualify him as a candidate for the job given his experience. Prior to becoming a judge, Washington worked as a deputy public defender for 19 years and while on the bench handled “extensive criminal trials and law and motion.”
Howard disagreed. In a final ruling, he wrote, “Under Judge Washington’s proposed version of the statute, the 'recent experience’ requirement would be removed and it is the removal of the 'recent experience’ requirement that would lead to an absurd result.”
Washington’s lawyer Michael Conger said Friday that Howard failed to address the constitutional question in the case. Conger said the U.S. Constitution clearly states that the right to hold public office is tantamount to the right to vote. And if Washington is to be excluded from being considered for the public defender position, there has to be a narrow compelling interest.
“He missed our most compelling issue,” Conger said of Howard’s ruling. “If the statute is as crystal clear as the court thinks, then it’s unconstitutional in that it deprives all judges in the state of California, including Judge Washington, the right to hold public office.”
Conger said Washington has not yet decided whether he will appeal the ruling.
The case caps a year of problems for the public defender’s office.
Mize left the job in June under a cloud. In January, former Deputy Public Defender Zach Davina was awarded $2.6 million in his lawsuit against the county alleging discrimination and harassment.
The county ended up increasing the jury award to nearly $3 million to cover Davina’s attorney fees. During Davina’s trial, Mize acknowledged under oath that he signed an investigative report on Davina’s termination even though it contained false statements made by supervisors in the office.
In February, the county settled another lawsuit by former Deputy Public defender Michelle Reynoso, who also alleged discrimination and harassment.
The county hired San Diego law firm Meyers Nave to look into complaints of unprofessional behavior and other misconduct in the public defender’s office. The county has refused to make the findings of that investigation public.
