O.C. Judge’s Porn Case Must Move

Citing numerous conflicts of interest, the entire Orange County bench of federal judges has removed itself from the criminal case of a local Superior Court judge accused of possessing child pornography, authorities said Friday.

The case against Judge Ronald C. Kline will be moved to federal court in Los Angeles, said U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Kline, 61, has pleaded not guilty to seven felony charges alleging that he stored more than 100 illegal pornographic images on computers at home and work.

Mrozek said federal prosecutors learned Friday that two of the three U.S. judges based in Santa Ana had recused themselves because of close ties to Kline.

The third jurist, District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler, had removed herself in December, noting a “friendship and professional relationship” that she and her husband have with Kline.

After Stotler, the case was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor. But defense attorneys told the judge last week that he might have a conflict as well.

The lawyers said in court papers made public Friday that Taylor had a perceived “close and congenial relationship” with two men who had promised to support Kline’s defense as character witnesses.

The prospective witnesses, attorney William Wenke and Orange County Superior Court Judge Raymond J. Ikola, once worked alongside Taylor when all three were partners at a law firm, according to the court documents.

Ikola worked as a civil judge down the hall from Kline’s judicial chambers in the county’s Santa Ana courthouse. Three weeks after Kline was indicted, Ikola signed papers nominating Kline for reelection to the bench, the court records said. Wenke has twice visited Kline in recent weeks, documents said.

Prosecutors, nevertheless, urged Taylor to keep the case, arguing that “the citizens of this community are entitled to have the case heard in [Orange County] where the crimes occurred.”

But Taylor disagreed. And he was joined this week by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who worked as a state court judge alongside Kline before joining the federal bench in 1998.

In a separate criminal case, state prosecutors on Thursday charged Kline with molesting a 12-year-old boy a quarter-century ago. That case, too, has been moved to Los Angeles County to avoid a conflict of interest.

The latest charges make for a highly unusual judicial election in March. The judge remains a candidate for reelection even though he is confined to his home. Kline is running unopposed on the ballot, though eight people have announced they will be write-in challengers.