Ex-Prosecutor Appointed to Superior Court

A former prosecutor who was named to Ventura County Municipal Court just one year ago was elevated again Thursday--this time Gov. Pete Wilson appointed James P. Cloninger to the higher Superior Court.

The presiding judge of the Superior Court said Cloninger would be appointed to the understaffed criminal bench, which as of last week had more than 25 felony trials on hold because of a lack of judges.

In choosing to elevate the 42-year-old Cloninger, a longtime homicide prosecutor in Orange County before moving to Ventura in 1990, the governor skipped over a number of more experienced Municipal Court judges who applied to fill the vacancy.

But several judges said they believe Cloninger is a competent, fair-minded jurist who will excel at the job.

Longtime Municipal Judge Jack Smiley said it was no surprise that Cloninger got the nod, despite his relative lack of seniority.

“We all recognize that the appointment process hinges on a number of different variables, and the exclusive variable is certainly not judicial experience,” said Smiley, who has served eight years on the lower court.

Smiley praised Cloninger as a smart, able jurist.

Several judges believe that Cloninger’s work on a victims’ rights bill in the 1980s put him in good stead with the governor. But the judges and lawyers said Cloninger also has been impressive and had gained a reputation for evenhandedness since joining the bench in March of last year.

For his part, Cloninger said he hopes he performs well enough on the higher bench to merit the faith that the governor has in him.

“I’m just very pleased that evidently my work was regarded well by the governor,” said Cloninger, who is married and has two children.

“I know Gov. Wilson is very committed to matters of criminal law, and I’m certainly sure it didn’t hurt me that I have a background as a prosecutor,” he said.

Paul Kranhold, a spokesman for the governor, agreed that Wilson’s familiarity with Cloninger as a tough-on-crime judge probably contributed heavily to the appointment.

“When the governor is familiar with a candidate and has confidence and knows philosophically that that candidate is tough on crime, he takes some comfort in that,” he said.

Cloninger’s quick rise from Municipal to Superior Court in Ventura County is not unprecedented.

Superior Court Presiding Judge Melinda A. Johnson spent less than a year on the Municipal Court bench before being elevated by then-Gov. Edmund (Jerry) Brown in 1982.

“Everyone knows the governor makes his choices for his own particular reasons,” Johnson said Thursday. “I don’t think anyone around here is surprised at the appointment. I’m sure the people who wanted to get it are a little disappointed.”

But there is still another chance for promotion. A second vacancy on the Superior Court exists because Judge James M. McNally retired for medical reasons last month.

Cloninger replaces Superior Court Judge Richard D. Aldrich, who in August was appointed to become a state appeal court justice in Los Angeles.

Although he was a prosecutor as recently as 14 months ago, Cloninger said he will be able to preside fairly over cases. He noted that he worked on mostly fraud trials as a prosecutor here, and not cases involving violent crimes.

Some members of the defense bar, which had been skeptical of Cloninger’s ability to put his prosecutorial leanings aside, said Cloninger had won them over in his year as a judge.

“I find him to be bright, he listens, he has a very good demeanor and he’s not afraid to make an independent decision,” said veteran local defense attorney Louis (Chuck) Samonsky, a critic of Cloninger when he was first appointed to a judgeship.