San Diego

The city attorney’s office has vetoed a plan to move the battery trial of San Diego Municipal Judge Joseph Davis out of the downtown courthouse, where Davis sits as a judge.

Last month, prosecutors and Davis’ defense attorney, Jan Ronis, had reached an agreement with Municipal Judge Frederic Link that the misdemeanor case would be transferred to another municipal court in the county--most likely Chula Vista--for trial in February. The plan stemmed from Link’s concern that the court’s appearance of impartiality could be compromised if Davis were tried in the San Diego courthouse.

But at a hearing Monday, Deputy City Atty. Casey Gwinn told Link that city prosecutors believe Davis could get a fair trial in the San Diego courthouse and that the case should not be moved.

Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz, who replaced Link as presiding judge of the San Diego Municipal Court this week, now plans to call in a visiting judge from outside San Diego to preside in the case.

Davis is accused of beating his pregnant, live-in girlfriend during a quarrel in November. The woman, Anna Monica Garcia, initially made a citizen’s arrest on Davis and sought a restraining order to keep him away from her and their home. Subsequently, she declined to cooperate with prosecutors. According to Ronis, she has retracted her allegations and again is living amicably with Davis.