Ruling may help judge hopeful

June Casagrande

COSTA MESA -- A ruling Thursday to keep an Orange County Superior

Court judge off the November ballot could put life into a Costa Mesa

attorney’s hopes to take his seat.

Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline, who is facing charges of child

molestation and child pornography, had asked to be removed from the

November ballot, when he is up for reelection.

Kline, who is now under house arrest because of the charges, was one

of two parties to request that the county registrar remove his name from

the ballot. Costa Mesa resident Gay Sandoval had also asked to have

Kline’s name removed, arguing that he is unfit to serve in the post.

Election rules state that candidates cannot withdraw from the race

after a certain point, but attorneys involved in the case offered

differing interpretations of what this meant for the November vote for

the judge’s seat.

After Wednesday’s decision by a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles,

Sandoval said she will ask the registrar’s office to put her name on the

ballot to contest Dana Point attorney John Adams.

In March, Adams edged out Sandoval for a spot on the ballot to contest

Kline. Of the 11 write-in candidates vying to get their names on the

November ballot, Adams received 33.2% of the vote; Sandoval, a former

Daily Pilot columnist, earned 10.8% of the votes, making her the

second-most-popular challenger to Kline.

Now that Kline is out of the picture, Sandoval wants to be the other

candidate in what is customarily a two-person contest.

“I don’t think it’s fair for the voters to have one choice,” said

Sandoval, who was Kline’s first challenger. “They should have two people

to choose from.”

Sandoval said she will ask the registrar’s office to put her name on

the ballot along with Adams’ for Superior Court Judge Office No. 21. If

her request is shot down, she said, she will begin legal proceedings.

A spokesman for Adams could not be reached Wednesday afternoon;

neither could a spokeswoman for the registrar’s office.

Kline’s attorney said he was pleased with Wednesday’s decision.

“The judge made the right call,” Paul S. Meyer said in a statement.

“Fairness and the facts support our position. For Judge Kline, the

election controversy is now over. We will focus our full attention on the

legal defense of charges.”

Kline was charged late last year with possessing explicit images

involving children. He has also been charged with oral copulation of a

14-year-old boy about 25 years ago. Kline has pleaded not guilty to the

charges.

“We’re continuing to get discovery, and we’ll continue pressing in

that area,” Meyer said in a phone interview.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .