Benke to Be Appellate Judge; ‘Tough on Crime’

Gov. George Deukmejian appointed San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia D. Benke to the state Court of Appeal on Tuesday, a move that could put her in position for an eventual appointment to the California Supreme Court.

Benke, 38, was the only woman among six finalists Deukmejian considered before he filled three Supreme Court openings created in November when voters ousted Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph R. Grodin.

The three appointed to the court were all appellate justices.

Benke, who served as a deputy attorney general under Deukmejian when he was state attorney general, will replace retired Justice Gerald Lewis on the Court of Appeal’s 4th District.

Deukmejian appointed Benke to the San Diego Municipal Court in 1983 and promoted her to the Superior Court bench in 1985.

As a deputy attorney general specializing in criminal matters, Benke had a reputation as a tireless worker, to the point that she once reportedly told a colleague that she got headaches if she went long periods without working. As a Superior Court judge, she was generally considered to be a conservative and tough on crime.

Benke once criticized the Supreme Court for making “a mockery of the justice process” after she lost a death penalty case while still a deputy attorney general in 1981. The court in that case ruled that defendants in death penalty cases cannot plead guilty and ask for the death penalty without their lawyer’s consent.

As a result of the ruling, Benke said in asking for reconsideration, the “trial process becomes a charade forced upon a defendant who wishes to simply confess his crime. It becomes a hurdle to the truth.”

Benke received a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University in 1971 and her law degree from the University of San Diego three years later.

The salary for appellate court justices is $93,272.

Benke could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Times staff writer Philip Hager in San Francisco contributed to this story.