Countywide : Judge Urged to Resign or Face Recall

The family of a teen-ager who was pierced through the head with a paint-roller rod staged a protest Wednesday outside the Santa Ana courthouse, demanding that a Superior Court judge resign or face a recall drive.

Kathy Woods, standing next to an enlarged picture of her slain son, Steve, said her family is still angry over Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey’s Jan. 13 sentencing of two teen-agers convicted in the killing.

The judge sentenced the two teen-agers, who were juveniles at the time of the slaying, to the California Youth Authority, instead of state prison. The youth authority must release the teens, now 18, by the time they turn 25.

“We’ve got to protect ourselves,” Woods said. “Our government isn’t.”

Dickey issued a statement saying that the Code of Judicial Conduct bars a trial judge from commenting on a case that is pending or the subject of an appeal. Three of the six defendants in the case still await trial or sentencing.

Steve Woods, 17, was in the passenger seat of a friend’s Chevrolet Suburban when a paint-roller pierced his skull during a clash with a group of teens whom prosecutors allege were gang members and their associates. The high school senior died 25 days after the Oct. 15, 1993, attack at a San Clemente beach.

During sentencing for two teen defendants, the judge cited the senseless nature of the crime, but said the youths had no prior record of violence and have learning and language disabilities that could be treated through educational and other programs at the youth authority.

Kathy Woods said she and the other volunteers are preparing to launch a recall drive against Dickey, but first need 1,000 volunteers to collect the signatures of 120,000 voters needed to spark an election. She was joined by more than a dozen protesters at the noon demonstration.