Traffic Court Commissioner Steers New Course

For the last eight years, Ruben De La Torre has worked in the trenches of the justice system representing people accused of crimes.

But starting this week, the youthful attorney assumes a new role as commissioner of traffic court--the busiest assignment on the bench with up to 200 cases whizzing across his desk every day.

For De La Torre, the 33-year-old son of a migrant Oxnard farm worker, it is an opportunity he never imagined when he was a poor kid, or even last year when he applied for the job.

“Honestly, I did not think I would be the candidate,” said De La Torre, who assumed his age would be a detriment. “I wanted a challenge. I was overwhelmed.”

Supporters say he is up to the task.

As a deputy public defender, De La Torre impressed judges with his efficiency, energy and compassion while handling both juvenile cases and felony matters in Ventura County Superior Court.

“I thought he was very effective,” said Judge Melinda A. Johnson, who supported De La Torre for the job. “He had a lot of credibility. And he seemed to have a very good rapport with clients.”

A lifelong Oxnard resident, De La Torre is expected to bring a fresh perspective to a bench long criticized for being too white and too dominated by former prosecutors.

The new commissioner is the youngest officer on the Ventura County bench. He is one of only three Latinos and three former public defenders among the 25 judges and four commissioners now serving.

As the local Latino population grows, some judges and lawyers say it is crucial for judges to reflect greater diversity and be representative of those who come before them.

“I think any time you are trying to give people a standard on which to conduct themselves you have to be relevant to their lives,” said Associate Justice Steven Z. Perren of the state Court of Appeal, who swore De La Torre into office last week.

“You have to find some common ground,” Perren said. “I think he, by his background, is able to overcome those hurdles immediately.”

Oxnard attorney Oscar C. Gonzalez, who has slammed the Ventura court for its lack of diversity, calls De La Torre’s hiring “one of the most progressive signs to come out of the Ventura County Superior Court in years.”

De La Torre agrees.

“I think it is important to have a diverse bench,” he said. “I think the positions of leadership should reflect the people they serve.”

Commissioners are selected by the county’s sitting judges to preside over limited types of cases, such as traffic and misdemeanor matters.

De La Torre was selected in November from a field of 39 applicants who sought the seat vacated by Judge Kent M. Kellegrew when he was appointed to the Superior Court by Gov. Gray Davis in October.

Although the judges chose De La Torre, they initially backed other candidates for the $100,225-a-year job.

“I don’t think there was controversy,” Johnson said. “There were other very good candidates. . . . There were a lot of people who favored one or another.”

Given the broad field of applicants, Deputy Public Defender Douglas Daily was pleasantly surprised when his colleague was named commissioner.

“I think Ruben, in a relatively short period of time, has distinguished himself,” Daily said.

He described De La Torre as compassionate and respectful--traits that should translate well to traffic court, where most people have their only contact with a courtroom.

“For a lot of our citizens, that is the only glimpse they see of the criminal justice system,” Daily said. “They want to feel that somebody is there to listen. I think when they picked Ruben they found somebody who could do that.”

De La Torre attended local elementary and junior high schools and graduated from Oxnard High School in 1984. He earned an undergraduate degree from Cal State Northridge and a law degree from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.

De La Torre was the family’s fourth child to graduate from college, he said.

In 1991, he passed the State Bar and was sworn in as a Ventura County public defender.

“My background is lower income. My mom was a housewife, my dad was a field laborer,” he said. “They stressed education, and it turned out that I liked school.

“When I graduated from Hastings, I wanted to come back to the county,” he said. “I wanted to give back to the community.”

For the last several years, De La Torre has volunteered as a mentor to teens. He also coaches the Oxnard High mock trial team, which placed second in last year’s county championships.

“I tell them, ‘If I can do it, then you can do it,’ ” he said.

The new jurist is married to his high school friend, Vilma, and the couple had their first child, Maya, about two months ago.

At least three judges--Kellegrew, Roland Purnell and retired jurist Lawrence Storch--have used the commissioner’s seat as a springboard to the Superior Court bench.

De La Torre said he aspires to join the Superior Court someday.

“At this point,” he said, “my goal is to establish myself as a commissioner and to be fair and consistent to the people who come before me.”