Innocent Plea Entered on Behalf of Judge : Trial Will Be Moved to a Municipal Court District Outside S.D.

A defense attorney entered a plea of innocent Wednesday on behalf of San Diego Municipal Judge Joseph Davis, charged with beating his pregnant girlfriend during a quarrel last month.

Davis did not appear for arraignment on the misdemeanor charge, as the law allows. But Municipal Court Presiding Judge Frederic Link nonetheless held a hearing in open court to make public an agreement he reached with city prosecutors and defense attorney Jan Ronis to move further proceedings in the case to another San Diego County courthouse.

“My feeling--and I think the parties agree--is that this case should not be heard in the San Diego Judicial District,” Link said.

He urged Ronis and Chief Deputy City Atty. Stuart Swett to reach an agreement on a location for the case to be heard and a judge who would be acceptable to both sides. Ronis said after the hearing it seemed likely the case would be transferred to either the El Cajon or the Chula Vista municipal court.

Ronis, who entered Davis’ plea of innocent, explained that Link had expressed concern about the appearance of impropriety that could arise if a judge were tried in the courthouse where he serves.

“Everybody feels uncomfortable with it being tried in this courthouse, because (Davis) is obviously a well-liked judge,” Ronis said.

Swett said city prosecutors believed Davis could get a fair trial before a San Diego Municipal Court judge. The city attorney’s office agreed to allow the case to be moved to another court, he said, but will insist that the jury pool for Davis’ trial be drawn from the San Diego court district.

“It’s a question of the judges being uncomfortable, rather than his ability to get a fair trial,” Swett said.

Davis, 41, is accused of a battery Nov. 23 against his girlfriend, Anna Monica Garcia, 24. Garcia initially made a citizen’s arrest on Davis and sought a restraining order to keep him away from her and their home.

Subsequently, she has declined to cooperate with prosecutors. According to Ronis, she has retracted her allegations and is again living amicably with Davis.

Ronis said last week he suspected city prosecutors were pursuing the charge against Davis--a former Legal Aid Society lawyer appointed to the court by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.--because they object to his judicial philosophy.

Swett denied the allegation. He said it was common for victims of domestic violence to back off from their allegations, but that city prosecutors sometimes press charges despite the victim’s reluctance to testify.