Bonner Nominated for Federal Judgeship

U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner was formally nominated by President Reagan Wednesday to fill a federal judgeship in Los Angeles that will become vacant later this year if the Senate confirms U.S. District Judge Pamela Ann Rymer for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Reagan’s choice of Bonner, 46, the chief federal prosecutor for Los Angeles and a surrounding seven-county area of Southern California, was announced by the White House just two months after Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) had recommended Bonner for the job.

Sources close to the nomination process said the unusual speed in officially sending Bonner’s name to the Senate is part of an effort to ensure Senate approval of both Rymer and Bonner for judgeships before election year politics puts a stop to all judicial selections.

Rymer, 46, a conservative with strong Republican political ties, was nominated by Reagan for the 9th Circuit in April. One Justice Department source said Wednesday that confirmation hearings for Rymer and Bonner may be held in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bonner’s four-year tenure as U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has been marked by early controversies and such major cases as the trials of John Z. DeLorean, who was acquitted of drug trafficking, and convicted Soviet spy Richard W. Miller.

Breaking from recent precedent, Bonner personally prosecuted the Miller case, which took 22 months and two separate trials. The first trial of the first FBI agent ever charged with espionage ended in a hung jury, but Bonner ultimately won a conviction in Miller’s second trial in 1986.

Bonner’s possible elevation to the federal bench is contingent on Senate approval of Rymer for the 9th Circuit post. So far, according to Republican congressional sources, there has been no sign of strong opposition to her.

Pending Senate confirmation, Bonner will continue to run the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Chief Assistant U.S. Atty. Gary A. Fees, 40, will probably become the acting chief federal prosecutor for the Central District of California.