Lance Ito facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lance Ito
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Ito in 1995
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| Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court | |
| In office 1987–2015 |
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| Appointed by | George Deukmejian |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lance Allan Ito
August 2, 1950 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Margaret York
(m. 1981; died 2021) |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of California, Berkeley (JD) |
Lance Allan Ito, born on August 2, 1950, is a retired American judge. He is most famous for leading a very important court case in 1995, known as the O. J. Simpson murder case. This trial took place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Lance Ito was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents, Jim and Toshi Ito, were held in special camps for Japanese Americans with their families during World War II. This was a difficult time in American history.
Ito went to John Marshall High School. He was the student body president and won an award for being a great student and athlete in 1968. After high school, he studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning his bachelor's degree in 1972. He then went on to get his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975.
Start of His Legal Career
After finishing law school, Lance Ito joined the Los Angeles district attorney's office in 1977. He worked in different units, including those that focused on organized crime.
In 1981, he married Margaret Ann York. She became the first woman to reach the rank of Deputy Chief in the Los Angeles Police Department. She was the highest-ranking woman officer when she retired in 2002. They met while working at a crime scene in Eagle Rock, California.
Becoming a Judge
In 1987, a governor named George Deukmejian appointed Ito to be a judge in the Municipal Court. Then, in 1989, he was promoted to the Superior Court.
In 1992, the Los Angeles County Bar Association recognized Judge Ito as the "Trial Judge of the Year." This award showed how respected he was in the legal community.
The O. J. Simpson Trial
A High-Profile Case
Judge Ito became widely known for presiding over the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson. Simpson was a famous former football player. The trial was watched by many people around the world. Judge Ito decided to allow television cameras in the courtroom, which was a big decision at the time.
Challenges During the Trial
During the trial, there were some challenges. At one point, the lawyers for the prosecution asked Judge Ito to step aside from the case. This happened because his wife, Margaret York, had been a supervisor to a detective named Mark Fuhrman. Fuhrman was an important witness in the trial.
The defense team found recordings where Fuhrman had used offensive language. They wanted to use these recordings to show that Fuhrman might not have been truthful. The prosecution worried that remarks about Judge Ito's wife in the tapes might make him biased. However, the prosecution later decided not to ask him to step down.
After the Simpson Trial
After the O. J. Simpson trial, Judge Ito chose not to give interviews about the case. This was because judges have rules that prevent them from talking about cases that are still active or might come back to court.
He used his experience to help improve the justice system. For example, he worked to increase the number of interpreters in court. This helps people who don't speak English well understand what is happening in their cases.
In 2012, his courtroom was one of many that had to close due to budget cuts in Los Angeles County. Judge Ito retired from his position in 2015.
See also
In Spanish: Lance Ito para niños
- List of Asian American jurists
