Torrance judge stays on case, is also named Judge of the Year

    A couple of interesting things have happened this week for Torrance Superior Court Judge James Brandlin. On Thursday night, he was named Superior Court Judge of the Year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section (look for a story on him and the other honorees in Saturday's Daily Breeze). That same day, an appellate court upheld his decision to remain on a three-defendant Gardena attempted murder case, even though the attorney for one of the defendant's believes Brandlin can't be fair to his client.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal, without comment, denied Ruben Rizo's petition to overturn Brandlin's decision. After Ricardo Torres II's law firm inadvertently gave Rizo unredacted police reports and other documents, Brandlin wrote letters about the incident to the State Bar and District Attorney's office.

Torres complained that his client could not get a fair trial before Brandlin, and asked the judge to recuse himself. Brandlin refused and Torres appealed. Rizo, 19, and two co-defendants are expected to go to trial before Brandlin later this month for allegedly shooting at Rizo's girlfriend's mother on April 10, 2007.