Judge Acknowledges Guilt in Drunk-Driving Case

Malibu Municipal Judge Lawrence Mira on Tuesday pleaded guilty in Beverly Hills to driving under the influence of alcohol, less than a week after his involvement in a one-car rollover accident near Agoura Hills.

In a statement issued through his office, Mira acknowledged his guilt without qualification.

“I would never have driven the car if I felt I was impaired,” he said, “but it is clear to me now from the officers’ investigation and chemical test results that I was impaired.

“Judges are not above the law,” he continued. “I’m guilty. I plead guilty and I expect to be punished as any other citizen.”

Mira, 49, was not seriously injured when he crashed his yellow Nissan into a dirt embankment on Cornell Road just outside of Agoura Hills on July 15, apparently while heading toward his home in the Malibu Lake area.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Mira failed a sobriety test at the scene and later registered a 0.14 blood alcohol level, above the California legal limit of 0.08.

In pleading guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving, Mira incurred $901 in fines. He also is forbidden to drive for three months, except to travel either to and from work or to a mandatory alcohol education program. The penalties were “typical” for a first-time offender, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Moss, who prosecuted the case.

Mira’s case was moved to Beverly Hills Municipal Court because his arrest occurred within the jurisdiction of Malibu Municipal Court--where Mira is the lone judge.

His swift and straightforward admission of guilt drew praise from many in the legal community--and the case stood in marked contrast to the ongoing case of Los Angeles Municipal Judge Edward L. Davenport.

Since Davenport refused to submit to a blood alcohol test following his arrest on suspicion of drunk driving last year, he has been through two trials, both of which ended in mistrials. A third is expected.

“Rather than looking for a loophole in the system or trying to beat the case through some technicality,” Mira admitted he was wrong and accepted the consequences, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Mason, who worked with Mira in the district attorney’s Special Investigations Division and is now in the San Fernando Valley.

“It shows his good character,” Mason said.

It also shows--in the eyes of some--the political acumen of the man whom Gov. George Deukmejian appointed five years ago to replace 22-year veteran John Merrick.

“I knew that Larry would handle it differently (than Davenport had),” said Richard Healey, another deputy district attorney who worked with Mira in special investigations. “He’s politically skilled. He knows when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.”

At the same time, Healey described Mira--who was elected to a six-year term in 1988--as “a living-on-the-edge sort of guy” and suggested that “maybe this will be beneficial to him.”

In the Malibu Administrative Building, where Mira’s court is located, most were unwilling to discuss the misdeed of a man many describe as personable, patient, intelligent and unfailingly fair.

“Everybody makes mistakes sometime in their life,” said Ruth Goziler, assistant court administrator.

No judge has ever been removed from office in California due solely to a drunk-driving conviction. But last year the California Commission on Judicial Performance, the San Francisco-based agency responsible for ethical oversight of about 1,500 judges statewide, privately reprimanded an unnamed judge for that offense, saying “the judge failed to observe the high standard of conduct expected of California judges and diminished public confidence in the judiciary.”

Those standards can be particularly exacting in smaller, one-judge communities, where status and recognition go hand-in-hand with closer public scrutiny.

But at the Malibu Inn, where sandwiches and other fare are named after local celebrities, Mira remains in good standing. “Here Comes the Judge, Mira,” which consists of “ground turkey grilled to perfection with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles” for $6.45, will continue to be served, said manager Jeff Spear.

“It’s just a mistake that was made,” he said. “I make mistakes. Everybody does. We’re not planning to change a thing.”