His Action Will Delay Trial : Judge Pulls Out of Bar Suit Over Court Loads

A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. that seeks to compel state and county governments to provide more judges for state courts delayed the suit indefinitely Wednesday by disqualifying himself.

It turns out that the judge, William P. Gray, was president of the Bar association 30 years ago.

A lawyer for Gov. George Deukmejian, who is one of the defendants in the lawsuit, objected to his presiding in the case.

The disqualification means that the case must be delayed because a new judge will have to familiarize himself with the issues.

One Less Defendant

Meanwhile, the Bar group withdrew its suit against one defendant, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, saying it now believes that the court is doing all it can to get more judges.

U.S. District Judge Gray acted under a federal statute that requires a judge to disqualify himself “in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

He withdrew after an objection, made outside of his presence, by California Supervising Deputy Atty. Gen. Henry G. Ullerich, representing two defendants--Gov. Deukmejian and Secretary of State March Fong Eu.

Lawyers for the other defendants, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said they had no objection to Gray continuing.

The Legislature, the governor and county supervisors control appropriations to pay for additional judges. The lawsuit accuses them of failing to provide enough judges, with the result that civil litigants are deprived of prompt access to the courts.

Gray disclosed his membership in the Bar at a hearing Monday and acknowledged Wednesday that he had been president as well.

Gray said he would refer the case back to Judge David V. Kenyon, who was initially picked to hear the case by lot, as is customary in federal court. Kenyon had sent the case to Gray because Gray was already handling a related matter--a longstanding American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit concerning overcrowded conditions in county jails.

Kenyon is not a member of the local Bar association, according to Richard Chernick, an attorney representing the Bar group, so the disqualification issue should not arise again.

In one of the few substantive developments since the lawsuit was filed last November, the Bar group recently withdrew its complaint against the Superior Court after the court said it was prepared to promptly expand its “rent-a-judge” program for civil litigants if more regular judges were not appointed.

The Superior Court, which has more than 200 regular judges and a 5-year waiting list for complex civil cases to get to trial, announced Thursday that it will add 15 of the private judges right away.

The ACLU, meanwhile, is seeking permission to intervene in the Bar association lawsuit on behalf of inmates being held in county jails while awaiting trials. The ACLU’s complaint accuses the Superior Court of failing to dispose of criminal cases with the swiftness the Constitution guarantees.