Lance Allan Ito (born August 2, 1950 in Los Angeles, California) is a Japanese-American Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, best known for his role in the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He currently hears felony criminal cases at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He is a resident of Pasadena. is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... Japanese Americans ) are Americans of Japanese descent who trace their ancestry to Japan or Okinawa and are residents and/or citizens of the United States. ... Los Angeles County is a county in California and is by far the most populous county in the United States. ... This article is about California government and politics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... O.J. Simpsons mugshot Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California), publicly known by the initials O.J., and nicknamed The Juice, is a Hall of Fame former college and professional football player and film actor. ... For the record label, see Felony Records The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential for unique and often severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. ... The Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center (formerly known as the Criminal Courts Building) is the county courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. It is located on Temple Street, between Broadway and Spring Street. ...

Early life and career

Ito was born to two Japanese-American parents, Jim and Toshi Ito. As children, both had been kept in Japanese American internment camps with their families during World War II. Ito attended John Marshall High School, where he was student body president and received the Scholar Athlete award in 1968. He earned his Bachelors Degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972, and his J.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall in 1975. He then joined the Los Angeles district attorney's office in 1977.^[1] Jerome War Relocation Center in Jerome, Arkansas Japanese people heading off to an internment camp. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... There are several high schools in the United States named after the early United States politician and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, including: John Marshall High School in the Independent School District #535 of Rochester, Minnesota John Marshall High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District of Los... The University of California, Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. ... “J.D.” redirects here. ... Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... Boalt Hall The UC Berkeley School of Law, commonly referred to as Boalt Hall, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. ...

In 1981, he married Margaret Ann York, the first woman to attain the rank of Deputy Chief in the Los Angeles Police Department and that department's highest ranking woman officer at the time of her retirement in 2002.^[2] York is currently the Chief of the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety. Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... LAPD and L.A.P.D. redirect here. ...

Charles H. Keating Jr.'s trial

In 1992, he presided over Charles H. Keating Jr.'s trial in the Savings and Loan scandal; Keating's 10-year sentence was later overturned on appeal because Ito had neglected to instruct the jury to determine whether Keating intended to defraud investors. It was the prosecution's position that Keating was liable as a matter of strict liability.^[3] Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... For the actor, see Charles Keating (actor) Charles H. Keating Jr. ... The Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s was a wave of savings and loan failures in the USA, caused by mismanagement, rising interest rates, failed speculation and, in some cases, fraud. ... In law, an appeal is a process for making a formal challenge to an official decision. ...

O.J. Simpson's murder trial

Ito became familiar to American television viewers when he presided over the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson at which Simpson was acquitted. This article is about television in the United States, specifically its history, art, business and government regulation. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), commonly known as O. J. Simpson and also just by his initials O.J. and his nickname The Juice, is a retired American football player who achieved stardom at the collegiate and professional levels. ...

Some judges disliked Ito's handling of the Simpson case because they felt he allowed his courtroom to be turned into part of the media circus; however, Ito and others present in the courtroom dispute this characterization, challenging critics to identify a proceeding that was not under control. Because the jury was sequestered, an attorney gag order would not have been supported by any appellate court, leading to often chaotic scenes outside the courthouse. Some even suggested Ito was chosen because of his Japanese origins.^{[attribution needed]} It was only 2 years since the Rodney King trial and racial tensions were still high in Los Angeles. A white or black judge would have been criticized by either side and viewed as prejudicial to one side over the other. Media circus is a pejorative description of the media. ... Rodney King Rodney Glen King (born April 9, 1965 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an African-American taxicab driver who was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers (Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Sargent Stacey Koon) after being chased for speeding. ...

Ito was the subject of parody with comedian Jay Leno's "Dancing Itos" a regular part of The Tonight Show during the Simpson trial and has remained regular fodder for crossword puzzles.^[4] James Douglas Muir Jay Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an Emmy-winning American comedian who is best known as the current host of NBC televisions long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Current career

Ito continues to hold office as a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. He is regarded as an expert in the area of the use of spoken-language interpreters in courtroom proceedings and regularly teaches at the Judicial College of California and Chapman University School of Law.

To date, Judge Ito declines to give interviews regarding the O.J. Simpson trial because the Canons of Ethics that guide the conduct of California trial court judges forbid comment upon pending matters or matters likely to come before the courts. Given the continuing efforts of the family of Ron Goldman to collect the multi-million dollar wrongful death civil judgement and O.J. Simpson's frequent brushes with the law, including an arrest in Las Vegas, Nevada in September of 2007, it is unlikely Judge Ito will break his silence on the guilt or innocence while he is still a sitting judge.

References