Frank F Fasel

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday elevated Orange County Municipal Judge Frank F. Fasel to the Orange County Superior Court. Fasel, 51, of San Juan Capistrano, is a former Orange County deputy district attorney and Superior Court commissioner. He will fill the seat vacated by Judge Gary L. Taylor, who was appointed to the federal court earlier this year, the governor's office announced. "He's a straight shooter who will be good for both sides of the council table," said Marshall M.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday elevated Orange County Municipal Judge Frank F. Fasel to the Orange County Superior Court. Fasel, 51, of San Juan Capistrano, is a former Orange County deputy district attorney and Superior Court commissioner. He will fill the seat vacated by Judge Gary L. Taylor, who was appointed to the federal court earlier this year, the governor's office announced. "He's a straight shooter who will be good for both sides of the council table," said Marshall M.

White supremacist gang hit man Billy Joe Johnson got what he asked for from the Orange County jury that convicted him of first-degree murder last month: a death sentence. It wasn't remorse for his crimes or a desire for atonement that drove him to ask for execution; it was the expectation that conditions on death row would be more comfortable than in other maximum-security prisons and that any date with the executioner would be decades away if it came at all. Although executions are carried out with comparative speed in states such as Virginia, where Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad was put to death Tuesday night, capital punishment in California has become so bogged down by legal challenges as to be a nearly empty threat, say experts on both sides of the issue.

An Orange County judge married to a senior prosecutor recused himself Thursday from the case of former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, who has pleaded not guilty to bribery and obstruction of justice. Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel will hear the case rather than Judge William R. Froeberg, who is married to Assistant Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg. Jaramillo's lawyers requested the recusal, saying the Froebergs' relationship could raise questions about the judge's fairness.

The man who admitted sexually assaulting nine women in a Santa Ana neighborhood in 2000 was sentenced Thursday to more than 100 years in prison. Judge Frank F. Fasel said he was satisfied that the sentence assures Eduardo Guzman, 24, will never be freed. Guzman pleaded guilty last week to 39 felony charges, including the rapes of four women and sexual assaults of five others.

James Crummel, a convicted pedophile who became the focus of angry demonstrations by his Newport Beach neighbors two years ago, will be sentenced on June 11 for molesting an Orange County teenager, authorities said Wednesday. Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel set the date Wednesday after deciding that Crummel, 55, is eligible to be sentenced under the state's three-strikes law, said prosecutor Ted Burnett. Crummel faces a maximum sentence of 60 years to life in prison.

An Orange County judge refused Friday to dismiss murder charges against the former business partner of slain racing legend Mickey Thompson. Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel dismissed claims by Michael Goodwin's attorneys that prosecutors failed to produce sufficient evidence linking him to the 1988 slayings of Thompson and wife Trudy.

A judge Friday postponed the sanity hearing of a janitor who killed seven people in a shooting rampage at Cal State Fullerton more than 25 years ago. Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel in Santa Ana set an Oct. 12 hearing to determine whether Edward Allaway, found not guilty because of insanity in 1977, is fit to return to the community. Deputy Public Defender John Bovee said he sought the two-week delay because he needed more time to prepare.

An Orange County appeals panel has ruled that a newly approved law that requires counseling instead of jail for drug offenders also applies to those caught with paraphernalia such as needles and cocaine pipes. The ruling by a panel of Superior Court judges led the Anaheim city attorney's office to give up its efforts to seek jail sentences for offenders caught with paraphernalia, prosecutors disclosed Thursday.

An Orange County appeals panel has ruled that a new law that requires counseling instead of jail for drug offenders also applies to those caught with paraphernalia such as needles and cocaine pipes. The ruling by a panel of Superior Court judges led the Anaheim city attorney's office to stop seeking jail sentences for people caught with paraphernalia, prosecutors disclosed Thursday.

An Irvine man was convicted Tuesday of 16 felonies for sexually molesting three boys he met as a youth group volunteer. Kenneth Teague, who acted as his own lawyer, did not deny sexually fondling boys he met through the Boy Scouts and Big Brothers programs. But he said he did it to help the children, not for his own sexual gratification. Jurors, who witnessed graphic homemade videotapes of the molestations, deliberated about two hours before convicting Teague in a Santa Ana courtroom.