County Bar to Push for a Civil Attorney to Replace Judge McGrath

Plans by longtime Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath to retire in the next two weeks have touched off speculation among Ventura County bar members about whether his replacement will be, like most of the judges appointed in recent years, yet another former prosecutor.

Civil attorneys are pushing for a new judge with civil experience. Prosecutors are talking of putting in their bids.

But some defense lawyers have already thrown up their hands.

With prosecutors occupying the lion’s share of the county’s 30 judgeships and a law-and-order governor making the appointments, defense attorneys say they have little hope of seeing one of their own replace McGrath.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin McGee is one of the top candidates already being discussed among bar members.

“I’d be interested [in the seat], but there are a lot of factors that go into those appointments, and there’s certainly nothing that’s guaranteed in the business of deciding who gets those appointments,” McGee said.

Of McGee’s potential candidacy, defense attorney Louis B. “Chuck” Samonsky said: “That’s too bad. The people who’ve come from the district attorney’s office are widely seen as beholden to [Dist. Atty. Michael D.] Bradbury’s office.”

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Bradbury said that while some on his staff are interested in McGrath’s seat and that he might support one or more of them, he will not be making his own nominations.

The Ventura County Bar Assn. plans to press Gov. Pete Wilson’s judicial appointment secretary to name a new judge from the civil bar instead, association President John Howard said.

“Traditionally in this county, most of the appointments seem to come out of the district attorney’s office, which is fine and in some ways appropriate, given the criminal caseload,” he said. “But many of us in the bar feel the bench will have more balance, and the community will be better served, if we can get some practitioners on there with more civil experience.”

McGrath, an Oxnard resident and member of one of the county’s pioneering families, is among the handful of county judges who was not a prosecutor.

He practiced civil, probate and administrative law and did some criminal work with Nordman, Cormany Hair & Compton, one of the county’s largest law firms, until 1974. By that time, McGrath had been a senior partner for four years. He was appointed to a Municipal Court judgeship by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

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In 1979, McGrath won election to the Superior Court bench. Before rotating to his present Juvenile Court assignment nearly two years ago, he heard civil and criminal trials. He plans to work through the end of this year in Juvenile Court on a free-lance basis.

Next year, McGrath plans to spend more time traveling with his wife, returning to court to hear the occasional case as a part-time judge.

“I’ve enjoyed--well, I can’t say I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, but I’ve always looked forward to coming to work,” said McGrath, who officially retires July 6, his 60th birthday. “It’s a fascinating job, the human drama in the courtroom, the sense of fulfillment you get that you’re doing a job for society that’s worthwhile.”

McGrath, along with Bradbury, was one of the architects of the county’s long-standing discouragement of plea-bargaining.

The cases that stick firmest in his mind are capital cases--such as the 1993 carjack slaying of Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan.

McGrath signed a death warrant for her killer, Mark Scott Thornton, but he has little faith in the death penalty.

“It’s definitely not a deterrent, nobody argues that,” he said Tuesday. “Because of the length of time it takes to try cases and the length of time it takes to prosecute and defend all the appeals, it doesn’t make any sense economically . . . either.”

Juvenile Court work is more gratifying because “we have a lot of successes,” he said. “The adult court is more or less keeping the barbarians at the gate.”

McGrath said he was gratified when a former gang member--almost given up for lost by prosecutors and probation officers--turned himself around by getting a job, going to school and turning into “a super citizen.”

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Samonsky said McGrath will be missed. “When Judge McGrath issues a ruling, it’s never done in a mean way, a gotcha way. He’s somber, he takes his responsibility seriously and even when he disagrees, he disagrees politely.”

Bradbury, who often rides horses with McGrath, said: “I hate to see McGrath go. . . . There were occasions when we disagreed, but he was always a true gentleman and made very conscientious decisions.”