Judges San Diego County

This is a tale of the nasty fight between the guru and the judges. Even the governor has been dragged into the fray. Deepak Chopra, the New Age superstar and best-selling author who preaches the value of cosmic harmony and inner tranquillity, is at war with San Diego's judicial system. It began with claims of sexual harassment by two women who formerly worked at Chopra's mind-body wellness center here: One woman accused him, the other accused one of his partners.

Edward J. Schwartz, 87, a federal judge who campaigned to increase the number of district judges in San Diego County and later presided over the district, died Wednesday. Born in Seattle, Schwartz spent much of his early life in San Diego, attending a kindergarten on the site of the present federal courthouse, which was named for him in 1994. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in English literature and earned his law degree from San Francisco Law School in 1939.

A motion to disqualify the entire Superior Court bench from presiding over the murder trial of Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick was denied Wednesday, prompting her lawyer and the prosecutor to predict that the proceedings may be delayed. Jack M. Earley, Broderick's attorney, had contended that no San Diego judge could appear unbiased in his client's murder trial because one of the victims, her ex-husband, was a prominent malpractice attorney and part of San Diego's "close-knit" legal community.

By challenging prospective black jurors solely on the basis of their race, San Diego County prosecutors improperly forced a black man from Oceanside to be tried by an all-white jury that convicted him of murder, a state appellate court ruled Monday. The 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction of Curtis Eugene Washington, who was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1985 in the stabbing death a year earlier of James Thomas, also of Oceanside.

Normally, John Learnard does not shun public attention. His law office at 3rd Avenue and Ash Street is a historic, 81-year-old building that served most of its dlife as a mortuary. Where the hearses once parked, now sits Learnard's 1935 Auburn convertible, a grand roadster in which he sometimes drives through San Diego with Melvin Belli, the inarguably flamboyant San Francisco lawyer whom Learnard counts as a close friend and sometime partner.

Tom Leetch, 19, was doing as teen-agers do, cruising along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach on Saturday night, swaying to tunes that blared from the three-foot-long speakers he had installed in the back seat of his Thunderbird. All of a sudden, the lights and siren of a traffic cop ruined his party. Leetch left Redondo Beach with a traffic citation that could cost him up to $150. He also left without the key components of his mobile music machine.

QUESTION: In your Dec. 19, 1993, column you answered a question headlined "Two Security Charges for Two Apartments?" I have a similar situation with a townhouse in San Diego that I rent out. Recently, the renter who has lived there for the past two years gave me notice of his intention to move. On a repair visit shortly thereafter, I found out that the tenant is a chain smoker. I was unable to remain in the unit for any extended period of time due to the appalling stench.

In the latest twist in the El Toro airport debate, Orange County supervisors unexpectedly delayed for another week a pivotal vote to approve the airfield, bowing to demands that the public get more time to comment on the plan. Supervisors have been deluged with letters and e-mails asking them to reopen public comment since last week's release of an airspace analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration. The county ended public comment on the plan Sept.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Wednesday vetoed a bill intended to give grand juries more racial balance, saying the measure by Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) "may lead toward the establishment of a quota system." Peace had introduced the bill after recent San Diego County grand juries--made up mainly of retired white professionals in their 60s--issued several controversial reports that were criticized as racist and insensitive.

In the latest twist in the El Toro airport debate, Orange County supervisors on Tuesday unexpectedly delayed for another week a pivotal vote to approve the airfield, bowing to demands that the public needed more time to comment on the plan. Supervisors have been deluged with letters and e-mails asking them to reopen public comments since last week's release of an airspace analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration. The county ended public comment on the plan on Sept.