Times Wins Bar Assn. Awards for Legal Reporting

The Times Orange County Edition won all four newspaper awards in the Orange County Bar Assn.’s 10th annual contest to recognize excellence in legal reporting, it was announced Thursday.

The top award for feature writing was presented to Times Staff Writer Davan Maharaj, who was recognized for a series of articles about a Laguna Hills probate lawyer who had arranged to inherit money from the estates of his elderly clients, whose ability to understand the complex legal documents he prepared was often in question.

The Times’ Kevin Johnson and Rene Lynch received an award for a feature article headlined, “O.C. Grand Jury Lacks Diversity, Critics Say,” a look at the ethnic composition of county grand juries that are often called upon to decide whether or not sensitive criminal cases should be prosecuted.

The Times also received two awards for daily news reporting. The top award was given for “No Defense in Division 203,” a package of articles written by Dan Weikel and Rene Lynch, who disclosed how poor criminal defendants were routinely denied their constitutional rights to be represented by an attorney when they appeared to face formal charges in Central Municipal Court’s Division 203.

“Roth Pleads Guilty to 7 Misdemeanors” by Eric Lichtblau, Kevin Johnson and George Frank won an award for examining the events that ended former Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth’s political career.

In the television category, KOCE-TV won an award for “The Shortstop Story,” by executive producer Jim Cooper and producer Ed Miskevich. Peter Weitzner of the Orange County News Channel was recognized for the “Mechanic Lien Law.”