OXNARD : New Judge Sought in Subdivision Suit
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Attorneys for nine of 125 defendants named in a lawsuit filed by Oxnard Dunes landowners are asking that a new judge be appointed in the complex civil case.
In a peremptory challenge filed this week, the attorneys for members of the prominent McGrath family of Oxnard are asking that Superior Judge Bruce A. Thompson be removed and another judge be appointed by Presiding Judge Edwin M. Osborne.
The challenge said Thompson was prejudiced against the defendants and that the defendants “cannot, or believe they cannot, have a fair and impartial hearing and/or trial” before Thompson.
Charles Robert McGrath defeated Thompson for a Superior Court judgeship in 1978.
One court source said he expected Osborne to approve the challenge and appoint a new judge.
The Oxnard Dunes lawsuit, filed 3 1/2 years ago by residents of the subdivision, has already been through several judges.
In recent months, two other judges appointed to the case, Judge Allan L. Steele and Judge Melinda A. Johnson, have also been challenged by plaintiffs or defendants.
The suit seeks damages from past landowners, oil companies and landfill operators because the subdivision was built over a toxic waste dump.
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