Candidate ready to move from public defender to LA County judge

In the primary elections, there are 15 seats open for judges in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

For the vacant seat in office 87, one of the three candidates is Anthony (A.J) Bayne, an L.A. County public defender with more than 25 years of experience handling serious felony cases in front of jurors. 

In an interview with CALÓ News, Bayne said his expertise in doing all types of trials has shaped him to try to reach the next level. 

“So some positions opened up, some judge seats, and I thought I'd put [my hat] in [the ring]. This is where I can serve the community, still using law and my experience, but in a different way,” he said. 

Bayne said the campaigns for judge are pretty overlooked because it is a nonpartisan seat.

Plus, judges must be fair, apply the law equally and there's usually nothing negative to say about them, he explained.

What makes him the right choice

The three candidates running for the judge Office 87 are Bayne, David DeJute, and Shereen Gordon.

Bayne said he is in court almost every day and has the very practical day-to-day experience of seeing how courts are run. 

“I've been in trial myself over 100 times, so I know how jury trials are conducted, and I have a good working relationship with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and of course, police agencies,” he said. “I'd like to think there's not going to be much of a learning curve if I'm successful and being elected.”

Bayne, of Mexican roots, recognized that the values instilled in him shaped his hard work and respect for the community.

His maternal great-grandfather migrated from Chihuahua, and Bayne lived with him as a child.

He provided a great model of hard work and ethics, but Bayne also saw how he was taken advantage of because he just didn't know the law.

“I know for the community to be strong, they need to know the rights and that's one of the things that pushed or guided me to the public defender's office because you have to be ever mindful that the government [tends] to want to take more rights away from people than they need to,” he said. “And so you always have to push back. You have to have people willing to take an unpopular position and push back on overreach.”

Bayne said some of the unfair treatment he has seen during his career includes unlawful stops, unlawful searches, and abuses of power. 

“There's good and bad, and so you need good defense attorneys to defend the weaker people,” he said.

Bayne said he's ready for the challenge and the seat. He has been a self-promoter without a campaign manager.

“If I get the honor of becoming a judge, I'd do my best and treat everyone fairly and with dignity, and that includes everyone of all races,” he said. “And they would know that they were heard and they got a fair hearing, whatever it might be.”

Some of Bayne’s endorsements include LA UNITED 11, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Peace Officers Research Association of California's (PORAC).