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Bennett wins race for judge
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Veteran prosecutor Jeff Bennett appeared won a seat on the Ventura County Superior Court bench, based on early returns from Tuesday's primary election.
Bennett beat his opponent, Robert Orellana, by a margin of 64.9 percent to 35.1 percent.
Bennett, 52, is Ventura County's chief deputy district attorney, and enjoyed the support of District Attorney Greg Totten and most of the county's law enforcement leaders.
A former police officer, Bennett in 2000 led the prosecution of leaders of the Hells Angels on drug and racketeering charges. Most of those charges were eventually dropped.
He now runs the department's Special Prosecutions Division, which handles white-collar crime, fraud, child abduction, environmental and consumer-related cases.
Orellana, 54, is a civil attorney in the county counsel's office.
He was endorsed by lawyers and government leaders who said his range of experience would give the bench a judge with expertise that goes beyond criminal law.
If Bennett holds on to his lead, he would become the first person elected to a judge's seat in Ventura County since Kevin McGee was elected in 1998.
Only four of the 26 current county judges were elected. Most judges retire in the middle of their terms, so their replacements are appointed by the governor.
But this year, Judge Bruce Clark announced that he would step down when his term expires at the end of the year.
Bennett and Orellana ran a competitive campaign to replace him, with combined spending above $100,000 and dueling endorsements from politicians, law enforcement official and prominent attorneys and law professors.
Posted by wynot on June 4, 2008 at 7:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
H
Posted by caskier on June 4, 2008 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
congrats Jeff
Posted by lawson_wayne on June 4, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on voters. How about electing a judge in this county who is not a former prosecutor maybe a former defense attorney. (no I've never been arrested)
Posted by WarChiefCVA64 on June 4, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For years I have been a regular court room observer. Ventura County electing someone to the bench that was not a prosecutor? Never.
The courts in Ventura County are packed against the defense. The prosecutors prosecute the case and the former procsecutors, who are judges, help them out.
The appeals process is too expensive for most defendants. The "public defender" type appeals attorneys are log jammed from all of the appeals cases they have.
Posted by myOpenyun on June 4, 2008 at 4:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
IF you dont commit a crime then you dont need to be prosecuted..... Defense attorneys are the bottom of the barrel! They do it purely for MONEY not because they really care about humans. Why else would you defend the Sh** of the earth? So to put a person that was a defense attorney on the bench would make no sense. Its like letting a inmate run for Sheriff.
Posted by Andrew_Smolik on June 4, 2008 at 6:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Never forget who were considered the “criminals” in Germany when under Nazi rule.
In the U.S. where powers are supposed to be separated, a judge is supposed to be fair and impartial — seeing above and beyond the biases of all sides involved — not play crony of either the prosecutors, cops, defendants, nor defense attorneys.
Posted by bob100 on June 4, 2008 at 8:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Several current and past judges were defense attorneys, including Judge Daily, and recently appointed Judge Denoce. Daily was a public defender who has demonstrated himself quite fair to both sides. Denoce was an honorable defense attorney who will no doubt likewise be a fine judge. The courts are hardly stacked against the defense. The defense bar runs the courtrooms, not the other way around. Every possible benefit, from long continuances to excluding prosecution evidence, seems to favor the defense. Bennett has spent his life in public service and will continue that trend from the bench.
Posted by wynot on June 5, 2008 at 10:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We hope he runs the bench better than his Hells Angels debacle
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