Judge’s Lawyer Asks That D.A. Be Barred From Case

Charging that Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner is biased against his client, an attorney for a Los Angeles judge accused of drunk driving asked in court Monday that Reiner and his office be barred from prosecuting the case. Attorney Jacob Adajian said that the state attorney general’s office should be named to take over the prosecution of Municipal Judge Edward L. Davenport, whose car demolished another vehicle at a stop sign in Beverly Hills on May 1.

As a lawyer in the city attorney’s office earlier in his career, Davenport helped establish procedures for prosecuting drunk-driving suspects, arguing one case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davenport said that he first tangled with Reiner at the city attorney’s office 24 years ago, when he reprimanded his then-subordinate for hogging high-profile cases. Adajian said the district attorney’s office was treating his client unfairly because Katherine Mader, a veteran prosecutor who normally handles felony charges, was brought in to try the misdemeanor case.