STATE : Governor Sends 2 Names to Bar

SACRAMENTO — Gov. George Deukmejian today named Marvin Baxter, his former appointments secretary, and Reuben Ortega, another Court of Appeal justice, as possible successors to retiring state Supreme Court Justice David Eagleson.

Deukmejian said he was submitting the names of Baxter, 50, of Fresno and Ortega, 48, of Huntington Beach to the State Bar for an evaluation process of up to 90 days.

He also said he would consider others whose names he has sent to the Bar in the past as potential Supreme Court candidates. They include Appeals Court Justices Ronald George and Walter Croskey of Los Angeles, Carl Anderson of San Francisco, Patricia Benke of San Diego and Hollis Best of Fresno.

Eagleson, 65, announced April 18 that he would step down when his term ended next January instead of seeking a new 12-year term.

Baxter supervised appointments for Deukmejian, including judicial appointments, from 1983 until 1988, when he was named to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno.

Ortega, a former prosecutor and Long Beach lawyer, was appointed by Deukmejian to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1984 and to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles in 1988.