New Judge for Dally Trial Is Announced

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. announced Wednesday that he will take over Michael Dally’s murder trial in the wake of Judge Robert C. Bradley’s arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.

Although he is a longtime criminal court judge, Campbell has never presided over a death penalty trial--which matters little to prosecutors and defense attorneys on the case.

“He is very well qualified and experienced, and I am sure that he will come up to speed quickly,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth. “He will do a fine job.”

In addition to taking on the most celebrated murder trial in recent county history, Campbell, a Hidden Valley resident who turned 51 this week, will continue to serve as presiding judge of the Superior Court next year.

Juggling a full court calendar while serving in that role is common. But no judge has tackled both the administrative position and a capital murder trial simultaneously.

“No one has ever done that,” said former presiding Judge Melinda A. Johnson.

But judges and lawyers who know Campbell describe him as a tireless worker who will burn the midnight oil if necessary to get a handle on the case as well as his other duties.

“I think Chuck Campbell is capable of rising to the challenge,” said George Eskin, a former prosecutor and retired defense attorney. “I think he will deal very effectively with the Dally case.”

Campbell is the third judge to tackle People vs. Michael Anthony Dally in the last four weeks.

Judge Frederick A. Jones, who presided over the trial of Dally’s co-defendant, Diana Haun, stepped down last month after doctors told him he needed to undergo an immediate bone marrow transplant.

The case was then given to Bradley, who requested a reassignment after being arrested last weekend for drunk driving. Bradley, who is the outgoing presiding judge, is now on a leave of absence.

Campbell told attorneys at a hearing Wednesday that, effective immediately, he will serve as the new trial judge.

“This case has been reassigned from Judge Bradley to me, Judge Campbell, for all purposes as of today,” he said matter-of-factly, adding that he expects to proceed with jury selection Monday in Santa Barbara County.

An outside jury is being sought because of heavy pretrial publicity in Ventura County. Dally, 37, is accused of kidnapping and murdering his wife, Sherri, in a plan allegedly concocted with Haun.

Prosecutors say Haun, a 36-year-old former grocery clerk, actually carried out the fatal stabbing of Sherri Dally, but they also charged Michael Dally with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy on the grounds he helped orchestrate the killing. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Wasting no time in getting up to speed on the case, Campbell told prosecutors and defense attorneys Wednesday that he wants to go to Santa Barbara today to preview the site where jury selection will begin.

About 800 Santa Barbara County residents have been summoned to appear at a school auditorium Monday morning. Campbell is expected to make a statement to prospective jurors in the morning and afternoon, and then ask them to return in smaller groups next month for further hearings.

The lawyers were scheduled to argue pretrial motions in the case Wednesday, but because of the switch in judges those matters were postponed. Henke-Dobroth said that about half a dozen motions are still pending, but said she is unsure when those issues will be addressed.

In the meantime, Campbell’s move to the Dally trial means that Municipal Judge Steven Hintz will preside over the criminal assignment court, officials said. Municipal Judge Bruce Clark will take over as presiding judge while Campbell is in Santa Barbara next week and during the coming month.

Such movement on the county bench is typical for this time of year because judges annually rotate positions. But Johnson said the switches have occurred somewhat earlier than usual because of Bradley’s arrest and Jones’ illness.

As presiding judge four years ago, Johnson said a similar chain of events took place when two judges underwent surgery and a third was injured in a car accident--leaving the bench down several positions.

“It was like a ward,” she said. “It just happens occasionally. This happens to be a little bit of a slow time of year, so I think we are not feeling the pinch as much as we might.”

Eskin said the biggest impact the judge rotation may have will be on the criminal assignment court, where Campbell has shepherded cases in and out of the courthouse for several years.

“The most significant comment I could make,” he said, “is they certainly are going to miss him in Courtroom 14, the criminal master calendar.”

Eskin said he first met Campbell in 1981 when the judge was supervisor of the sexual assault unit in the district attorney’s office. Unlike some other prosecutors, Eskin said, Campbell was open-minded and willing to listen to a defense attorney’s point of view.

“I was always extremely impressed with his maturity and his judgment--his balance,” Eskin said. “In other words, he was not one of these zealots who could not see any other side but his own.”

His performance on the bench, first as a Municipal Court judge and later on the Superior Court, has been an extension of the way he operated in the district attorney’s office, Eskin said.

“He is firm, he is fair, he has good judgment and common sense,” Eskin said, adding that Campbell does not necessarily favor the prosecution. “He has not always ruled in my favor, but you always know you’re going to get a fair hearing.”

Campbell, who is married and has three children, is an avid reader who collects books of modern literature.

Judge Steven Z. Perren, who has known Campbell for many years, said Campbell is intelligent and engaging.

“He is a guy who is very much into literature and authors and film,” he said. “He is as well-read a judge as I know.”