THREE: Governor’s Appointees to Bench in San Diego County : 3 Deukmejian Appointees Who Stand Out

During the 5 1/2 years he has served as governor of California, George Deukmejian has made 64 appointments to the trial and appellate court benches in San Diego County. Here are three appointees--Patricia Benke, Richard Huffman and Federico Castro--who stand out in various ways.

Few of Gov. George Deukmejian’s San Diego judicial appointees have attracted as much attention as Patricia Darlene Benke. Benke’s rise from relative obscurity to one of the most coveted judicial seats in the county has occurred over just five years--an ascent considered nothing short of meteoric by local legal pundits.

The oddest thing is, Benke herself professes to have no idea how it all happened. “I’ve been lucky,” she says with a shrug.

Back in early 1983, the Pennsylvania native was toiling quietly as a lawyer at the state attorney general’s office--where she had worked for nearly a decade. Then came an appointment to the Municipal Court in July of that year. Her stay there was a brief one; Deukmejian elevated her to Superior Court in 1985.

Benke didn’t last long on that bench, either. A year ago last May, an inviting opening on the 4th District Court of Appeal popped up. Deukmejian again promoted Benke, making her the first woman to hold a position on the appellate bench in San Diego.

‘Like Coming Home’

“My first love has always been appellate work,” said the gregarious justice, whose Syrian heritage is visible in her olive skin and deep brown eyes. “I like time to think, and I’ve always considered myself a reflective person. I spent so much time doing appellate work over at the (attorney general’s) office, coming here was really like coming home.”

Her felicity hasn’t stopped there, however. Last year, Benke was the sole woman and only San Diegan among six finalists for three vacancies on the California Supreme Court. She also sits on a powerful committee--handpicked by the governor--that provides Deukmejian with information on judicial applicants.

All of this by age 39.

What, one might ask, accounts for such dizzying success? Benke insists it’s a mystery to her.

“Nobody called me up from the governor’s office and said, ‘Hey, Pat, put your application in,’ ” Benke said. “I just went through the process, and it worked.”

Indeed, Benke, a vigorous defender of the governor’s judicial selection system, says she is “living proof” that political clout is not a prerequisite for those seeking judgeships in the Deukmejian era. Conceding that her philosophy may sound “naive,” she says her quest for a spot in the judiciary was made with “very little attempt to pressure the system” and virtually no knowledge of “people in high places.”

Early Lesson

One thing may have been working in her favor: Benke started her climb up the legal ladder while young. In ninth grade, her social studies teacher established a mock courtroom to teach students about the law. Benke played the prosecutor.

“I knew law was for me,” said Benke, who was graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law. “I got pushes and shoves from my parents, who thought it would be nice to have a lawyer in the family.”

Lawyers who monitor the court of appeal say that Benke--like other Deukmejian appointees on the court--clearly has a more conservative bent than justices selected by former Gov. Jerry Brown. Defense attorneys say they must work somewhat harder to prove their case when arguing before a panel that includes Benke and her Deukmejian brethren.

“But I can’t say Benke or any of them have been political in the sense of reaching for a conclusion regardless of the law and the facts,” said Elaine Alexander of Appellate Defenders Inc., which handles appeals for indigent defendants. “We get a fair hearing.”

Although the shot at a seat on the state Supreme Court was a tantalizing opportunity, Benke says she is content with her present lot in life: deciding appeals and teaching criminal-procedure courses part time at California Western School of Law.

“I’m happy right where I am,” said Benke, who is married to a production supervisor at KPBS Television and has two young sons.

You’d never guess that Richard Huffman, one of the most respected minds on the San Diego Superior Court bench, was once labeled unqualified to be a judge.

In 1978, a State Bar commission that evaluates judicial applicants rejected Huffman--then a deputy district attorney--based on anonymous comments from attorneys who called him ill-tempered and vindictive. The commission concluded that Huffman was “too vigorous a prosecutor” and thus poorly suited for judicial service.

My, how times change.

Today, the bespectacled Huffman--perhaps most famous for his role in former Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s first perjury and conspiracy trial--is widely respected not only for his vast background as a criminal prosecutor but for his quick mastery of civil law.

‘That Man’s a Jewel’

Since Gov. Deukmejian appointed him to the Superior Court in May, 1985, Huffman has built a reputation as a meticulously even-handed jurist, among prosecutors and defense attorneys alike. His colleagues on the bench give him high marks, too: “That man’s a jewel,” Presiding Superior Court Judge Michael Greer said. “I love him.”

Outside the courthouse, Huffman sits on an influential committee that screens local judicial applicants for Deukmejian. The jurist also is considered the favorite among four contenders vying for a spot on the 4th District Court of Appeal, which has had a vacancy since Edward T. Butler retired earlier this year.

Perhaps the only wrinkle in Huffman’s reputation came recently when defense attorneys criticized him for a series of pro-prosecution rulings in the retrial of Craig Peyer, the former CHP officer convicted of murder last month. Critics said the rulings indicated that Huffman’s sympathies in the case lay with the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors called the allegations nonsense.

Cited as a standout among Deukmejian’s appointees, Huffman said he has met the governor a few times but does not know him well. Asked about charges that Deukmejian has appointed too many former prosecutors to the bench, the judge insisted that the appointees are a diverse group that by no means espouses a common law-and-order philosophy.

View on Appointees

“I see a bunch of hard-working professionals--people who are not ideologues,” said Huffman, whose silver-frosted temples give him an avuncular look that goes well with the judicial robe. “Some may sentence more severely than others, but they all seem to be given to the notion that we have a responsibility to the public to make this court system function, not only efficiently but also in a humane fashion.”

A 1965 graduate of the University of Southern California’s law school, Huffman spent his early career years with the state attorney general’s office. In 1970, he signed on with the district attorney and held the No. 2 job in that office when he was appointed to the bench.

Huffman and his wife, Caroline, live in Point Loma. Their son, Richard, is a senior in law school at the University of San Diego.

When Federico Castro got a call in mid-1986 from a friend who urged him to apply for an appointment to the bench, he was more than a little surprised.

“I was a registered Democrat--not intending to switch parties--and this was a Republican administration, so I figured I didn’t have a chance,” Castro recalled.

Gov. George Deukmejian’s record of appointing minorities wasn’t too encouraging, either. At the time, the governor had not named a single Latino to the San Diego bench since taking office in 1983. Furthermore, Deukmejian had shown a definite preference for prosecutors, and Castro had a family-law practice.

Despite the daunting circumstances, Castro decided to go forward with an application. Thirteen agonizing months later, he got a phone call from the governor’s office: Would he be interested in a spot on the San Diego Superior Court?

‘A Great Honor’

“It was a great relief--and a great honor,” Castro said, remembering the September, 1987, day he became a judge.

A towering, athletic-looking jurist with a warm smile and a quick laugh, Castro is not your average Deukmejian appointee. For starters, there are the party affiliation and ethnic heritage. Counting Castro, Deukmejian has appointed just 10 Democrats and two Latinos to the San Diego trial court bench.

The Del Cerro resident stands out in other ways as well. Before enrolling in law school at the University of San Diego in 1968, he worked 14 years in the retail business, winding up that career as personnel director for a large department store chain in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“I loved personnel work, and it was a fascinating time, with all the anti-Vietnam demonstrations and civil rights marches flaring,” Castro said. “But I had always dreamed of going to law school.”

Career No. 2

And so he did. A few years later, his “prayers were answered” and he passed the State Bar exam. Career No. 2 had begun.

After his appointment, Castro served briefly at the central San Diego courthouse. But, given his 14 years of experience as a divorce lawyer, his ultimate destination was the family-law branch. Once criticized as a weak link in the county’s criminal justice system, the family court in recent years has been bolstered by appointees with expertise in that area of the law.

Castro further strengthened the roster.

“For a long time the family court was probably the least attractive judicial slot, a place you dumped the new kid on the block,” said Judge Thomas Murphy, the presiding judge there. “Experts like Fred Castro have changed the picture considerably.”

Although reluctant to criticize the governor, Castro says that “there’s no question that more minorities should be appointed” to the bench. He also said that criticisms of Deukmejian’s early appointments as too heavily weighted in favor of prosecutors were valid.

“But that’s changed,” he added. “After all, I got through. I think the governor is now aware of the needs of the community and sensitive to the criticisms.”

A hiking and tennis enthusiast whose household includes a dog, a cat and his daughter, Cory, Castro hails from the Kern County community of Tehachapi. His initial education was at a two-room schoolhouse in the neighboring town of Monolith, where, he says, a teacher first inspired his quest for professional success.