Lance Ito
Encyclopedia
Lance Allan Ito is an American Los Angeles County
Superior Court judge
, best known for his presiding decision during the O. J. Simpson murder trial
. He currently hears felony
criminal cases
at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
.
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, working in the hardcore gang unit and the organized crime and terror unit, among others.
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. The two met while at an Eagle Rock murder scene. York was also the Chief of the Los Angeles County Police.
Republican Governor George Deukmejian
appointed Ito, a Democrat, to the Municipal Court in 1987, and then elevated him to Superior Court in 1989.
; 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.
viewers when he presided over the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson at which Simpson was acquitted
.
Among others, crime author Jay Robert Nash
disliked Ito's handling of the Simpson case because they felt he allowed his courtroom to be turned into part of the media circus
to the point where Ito would invite attorneys and courtroom staff into his chambers to watch the previous night's Jay Leno footage; 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. Ito allowed a jury field trip through O.J. Simpson's home after it had been stage dressed by the defense team, in one case replacing an artistic nude painting of Simpson's girlfriend with a reproduction of Norman Rockwell
's painting of Ruby Bridges
being escorted to school in the Little Rock desegregation struggle. Ito was also criticized for the way that the jury was handled, bowing to defense team pressure to dismiss juror Francine Florio-Bunten late in the trial. Outrage by Vincent Bugliosi
illustrates a broad range of judicial incompetence attributed to Ito. For his part, Ito notes that his demeanor in his trials was a result of the Japanese way of shikata ga nai
, or "it can't be helped".
Ito was the subject of parody with comedian Jay Leno
's "Dancing Itos" sketch, a regular part of The Tonight Show
during the Simpson trial, and has remained regular fodder for crossword puzzles.
.
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.
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
Superior Court judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, best known for his presiding decision during the O. J. Simpson murder trial
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
. He currently hears felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
criminal cases
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
The Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center is the county courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. It is located at 210 West Temple Street, between Broadway and Spring Street....
.
Early life and career
Ito was born to Jim and Toshi Ito. As children, both had been kept in Japanese American internmentJapanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
camps with their families during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. 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
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 1972, and his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's Boalt Hall in 1975. He then joined the Los Angeles district attorney's office in 1977, working in the hardcore gang unit and the organized crime and terror unit, among others.
In 1981, he married Margaret Ann York, the first woman to attain the rank of Deputy Chief in the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
and that department's highest ranking woman officer at the time of her retirement in 2002. The two met while at an Eagle Rock murder scene. York was also the Chief of the Los Angeles County Police.
Republican Governor George Deukmejian
George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. born June 6, 1928) is an Armenian American politician from California who as a Republican served as the 35th Governor of California and as California Attorney General .-Early life:...
appointed Ito, a Democrat, to the Municipal Court in 1987, and then elevated him to Superior Court in 1989.
Charles H. Keating Jr.'s trial
In 1992, he presided over Charles H. Keating Jr.'s trial in the savings and loan scandalSavings and Loan crisis
The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...
; Keating's 10-year sentence was later overturned on appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
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.
O.J. Simpson's murder trial
Ito became familiar to American televisionTelevision in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
viewers when he presided over the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson at which Simpson was acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
.
Among others, crime author Jay Robert Nash
Jay Robert Nash
Jay Robert Nash is an American author of more than seventy books on myriad aspects of true crime. Among Nash's crime anthologies are Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen and Outlaws, Look For the Woman, Bloodletters and Badmen, and The Great Pictorial History of World Crime...
disliked Ito's handling of the Simpson case because they felt he allowed his courtroom to be turned into part of the media circus
Media circus
Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event where the media coverage is perceived to be out of proportion to the event being covered, such as the number of reporters at the scene, the amount of news media published or broadcast, and the level of media hype...
to the point where Ito would invite attorneys and courtroom staff into his chambers to watch the previous night's Jay Leno footage; 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. Ito allowed a jury field trip through O.J. Simpson's home after it had been stage dressed by the defense team, in one case replacing an artistic nude painting of Simpson's girlfriend with a reproduction of Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
's painting of Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
being escorted to school in the Little Rock desegregation struggle. Ito was also criticized for the way that the jury was handled, bowing to defense team pressure to dismiss juror Francine Florio-Bunten late in the trial. Outrage by Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , The Prosecution of George W...
illustrates a broad range of judicial incompetence attributed to Ito. For his part, Ito notes that his demeanor in his trials was a result of the Japanese way of shikata ga nai
Shikata ga nai
, , is a Japanese language phrase meaning "it can't be helped" or "nothing can be done about it". , is an alternative.-Cultural associations:The phrase has been used by many western writers to describe the ability of the Japanese people to maintain dignity in the face of an unavoidable tragedy or...
, or "it can't be helped".
Ito was the subject of parody with comedian Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
's "Dancing Itos" sketch, a regular part of The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
during the Simpson trial, and has remained regular fodder for crossword puzzles.
Current career
Ito continues to hold office as a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. Although not himself fluent in any foreign language, Ito 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 LawChapman University School of Law
Chapman University School of Law, commonly referred to as Chapman Law or Chapman Law School, is a private, non-profit law school located in Orange, California. The school offers the Juris Doctor degree , combined programs offering a JD/MBA and JD/MFA in Film & Television Producing, and LL.M...
.
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.