Judges and Judiciary
Jun. 19, 2002
Judge Remains in Command Of His Courtroom, Peers Say
LOS ANGELES - The reluctant witness slouched in her seat in the Van Nuys courtroom as she snapped that she would not return to court. The judge lunged forward across his bench and glared at the woman.
Lloyd M. Nash
Superior Court Judge
Van Nuys
Career highlights: Elevated by unification, Jan. 24, 2000; appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to Los Angeles Municipal Court, July 14, 1989; deputy district attorney, Los Angeles County, 1983-89, private practice, 1982-83
Law school: University of West Los Angeles School of Law, 1981
Age: 49
The judge lunged forward across his bench and glared at the woman.
She never should speak to a judicial officer in that manner again, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lloyd M. Nash said.
The next time she was ordered to show up, she did.
Several days later, Nash - a veteran of high-profile trials as both a deputy district attorney and a judge - told defense attorneys and prosecutors in the high-profile murder trial of actor Robert Blake and his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, that he would countenance no "mudslinging."
"I want everyone to be civil in this case," Nash, who has the Blake case on his preliminary hearing calendar, said.
Attorneys who have appeared before Nash say he is easygoing yet in full command of his courtroom, tolerating few lawyerly shenanigans.
"He's not a ranter and a raver, but he's in control of his courtroom," Beverly Hills attorney Gerald Scotti, who defended Internet madam Jody "Babydol" Gibson before Nash, said. "But he doesn't have that 'black robe fever,' where they get to be a tyrant. Many judges revel in that, but not Lloyd Nash."
The judge said he tries to maintain control in his courtroom while remaining flexible enough to work with attorneys and their busy schedules.
Nash started out as a car dealer. But he decided to take a criminal procedures class in college, perhaps because it was taught by his older brother, Los Angeles Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Michael Nash, who was then a deputy state attorney general. A third brother, Paul Nash, Michael Nash's twin, is a Seattle elementary-school principal.
"I was hooked. I thought, 'This looks like something I could do,' so I went to law school," Lloyd Nash said.
Nash initially thought a law background would enhance his career as a Mazda auto dealer in Santa Monica; indeed, it enabled him to handle some of the company's legal matters such as a case involving the unauthorized use of dealer license plates.
But soon, balancing dual jobs as a car dealership manager and a fledgling attorney handling personal injury and criminal defense cases became too much; a career with the district attorney's office began to look pretty good.
Nash joined the office in 1983 and stayed until Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him to the Municipal Court in 1989.
While a prosecutor, Nash specialized in child-abuse cases and saw some horrific deeds done to the county's smallest citizens. He successfully prosecuted, among others, a Boy Scout leader who molested his victims by giving them enemas, a Van Nuys mother who pleaded guilty to manslaughter after dismembering her newborn son and trying to flush his body down a toilet and a Tarzana man who molested child actors.
As a judge, Nash also has handled preliminary hearings in shocking child-abuse cases, most notably a grotesque family crime in which a man, his wife and sister-in-law were charged with killing two of their children and burying their bodies in the Angeles National Forest.
Scotti said he and Nash were law-school buddies at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, and he considers Nash to be a "terrific" judge.
"He really is a trial lawyers' judge: He makes decisions, and he doesn't procrastinate," Scotti said. "He doesn't have an agenda like so many judges have."
Scotti said he believes that Nash, as a former deputy district attorney, leans more toward prosecutors, but he also believes that everyone gets a fair shake in the judge's courtroom.
"He strives for fairness," Scotti said, "and he has a lot of compassion."
Conversely, Scotti said, Nash also is not afraid to take on prosecutors and to rule against them when he deems it necessary.
Nash said he's got to do his job and can't continually be worried about what an appellate court will think of his decisions.
"I try to do the best I can," he said. "I've not been substantively appealed."
He laughed, saying that he once was reversed on a traffic matter early in his career on the bench.
Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Michael A. Gottlieb said that he has tried many cases before Nash and finds that the judge likes to keep his calendar moving. Nash will interject himself to help bring a case to disposition, Gottlieb said.
Although Nash requires prosecutors to put forth the "minimal amount" of evidence at preliminary hearings, Gottlieb said, the judge has been known to throw out cases or reduce charges when he considers it deserved.
"I remember one case where he was very annoyed that we didn't get all of the discovery [from prosecutors] right off the bat," Gottlieb said. "He couldn't understand why this game was being played. He's got a pretty good handle on that."
Gottlieb recalls a drug-possession case in which a police officer allegedly perjured himself during a hearing to suppress evidence.
"He was very polite when he called the cop a liar and dismissed the case when he found the cop was lying through his teeth," Gottlieb said.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Jesic, who prosecutes gang-related murders, also has had many cases before Nash.
"In terms of his style on the bench, he's pretty much no-nonsense, straightforward, 'just the facts,'" Jesic said. "He doesn't like a lot of fluff. He likes to get to the meat of the case, which I think is important, especially in preliminary hearings."
Nash said he thoroughly enjoys the preliminary hearing assignment he's held at the Van Nuys branch court for 18 months.
"It's fast-paced, and I get to hear the core of the prosecutor's case," he said.
Judging also has given Nash the opportunity to levy creative sentences that help guide defendants toward improving their lives. He sometimes orders people to complete their education or attend parenting classes, both as conditions of probation. He is fond of sending underage drunken drivers to hospital emergency rooms to witness the devastation drunken driving can cause.
He says he is a big believer in essay writing and has young offenders write about the impact of their crimes and how they feel about the offenses they committed.
Nash will give defendants a break on sentencing if he believes they deserve it, but lawyers must tell their clients that it is vital they hold up their end of the bargain.
"Don't disappoint him," Jesic said. "When these people come back [on a probation violation], he doesn't mess around. My impression is that he gives you one chance and, if you screw it up, you're going to pay."
Jesic said that prosecutors and defense attorneys are guaranteed a fair shake in Nash's courtroom.
"He's more relaxed than other judges, and he wants things running efficiently, but he's not so strict with the rules that it's his way or the highway," Jesic said. "He's a pleasure to be in front of."
Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Patrick Hiscocks, who has had several misdemeanor trials before Nash, agreed that the judge is fair and swift in moving along his calendar.
When Nash told attorneys in the Blake case that he wants civility in the courtroom, he meant it, Hiscocks said.
"He's pleasant and not too short-tempered with attorneys, but he doesn't put up with a lot of foolishness," Hiscocks said. "He doesn't want [court proceedings] to turn into some type of personality conflict; just keep it based on the facts, set up your argument and be able to support it with law, and then he'll give you a hearing, give you a ruling and move it along.
"It's kind of like, 'If you don't like it, there's the Court of Appeals,'" Hiscocks said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Mintz, who appeared before Nash as a prosecutor, said that Nash commands respect by giving it, to defendants as well as attorneys.
"A judge's job is difficult enough," Mintz said. "Refereeing a name-calling dispute between attorneys is never something that a judge wants to do."
Nash, Mintz said, is extremely bright and articulate.
"He's a pleasure to appear before; he treats litigants with a great deal of courtesy," Mintz said.
"There's no greater honor than being a judge, in my opinion," Nash said.
Nash is an avid tennis player who exhibits his love of sports on the walls and shelves of his office. There, he displays, among other memorabilia, a Satchel Paige bobble-head doll and various images of the New York Yankees.
On a trip last fall to his native New York, Nash visited Yankee Stadium.
"It was like walking on holy ground," he said.
Nash grew reflective when recalling his return to California the evening of Sept. 10.
When he boarded the airplane, a woman seated next to the window asked him to trade places, explaining that flying made her nervous enough without having to look out of the window.
He switched seats, but as the sun was setting and illuminating the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, he convinced the woman to take a glimpse of the beautiful sight.
The next morning Nash, along with the rest of Americans, heard the devastating news that terrorists destroyed the buildings, killing thousands of people.
"It took some time to sink in," Nash said. "I thought it was surrealistic."
Here are some of Judge Nash's recent cases and the lawyers involved:
• People v Blake, LA040377
Prosecution: Deputy District Attorneys Patrick Dixon and Gregory Dohi
Defense: Harland W. Braun and Arna H. Zlotnik
• People v Gutierrez, LA038866
Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney John Asari
Defense: Deputy Public Defender Monica Thelen
• People v. Ontiveros, LA040489
Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Matthew R. Byrne
Defense: Randy Tennen, Pasadena
• People v. Balguna, LA039924
Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Matthew R. Byrne
Defense: Sherman Ellison, Sherman Oaks
• People v. Hayashi, LA039831
Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Matthew R. Byrne
Defense: Steven J. Rodriguez, Sherman Oaks
Anne La Jeunesse
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