San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
JUDGE PUTS DOWN HIS GAVEL AFTER 30 YEARS
N. County Superior Court’s Harry Elias presided over hundreds of criminal cases
After 30 years one of North County’s most popular judges has brought down the gavel on his fulltime career.
Superior Court Judge Harry Elias formally retired Jan. 3, capping decades of presiding over headline-making criminal cases — molestations, rapes, murders — and along the way earning a reputation as practical, insightful and fair. Witty, too.
In the last decade or so, Elias was at the helm of the trial of Hollywood ac
tor Shelley Malil, who stabbed his San Marcos girlfriend nearly to death. He presided over both trials of a military schoolmaster accused of repeatedly molesting a 14-year-old cadet. He ordered EX-NFL star Kellen Winslow II to stand trial on rape charges, and dismissed the murder conviction of Jane Dorotik, who spent two decades in prison for her husband’s death, after new DNA evidence came to light.
The 70-year-old said earlier this month that although he is “still as intellectually challenged and emotionally happy” in the job, it was time to retire.
“You reach a point where your time is right,” Elias said.
Even when he was on the bench dressed in that intimidating black robe, many people found Elias relatable. He tossed hearty greetings to those he knew and complimented attorneys for their work. He’d also draw smiles from nervous jurors as he eased them into their jobs with well-placed wit.
“With jurors, he made them feel comfortable,” his longtime clerk, Susan Smith said. “He’s so nice, so easygoing.”
Smith worked with Elias for 22 years and watched every day as others at the courthouse — from clerks to judges — stopped by to share a laugh as they sought his counsel.
A Michigan transplant, Elias moved west in the early 1970s to attend University of San Diego School of Law, where he graduated in 1975.
After a brief stint in solo practice, Elias joined the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office in 1976. He spent 14 years as a prosecutor, including becoming the first chief of the then-newly formed “family protection” division — which handles cases of child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault — in 1985.
In late December 1990, he was interviewing a child victim when his assistant knocked urgently on his office door. The governor’s office was on the line, calling to congratulate Elias — they’d tapped him to a judge. Three days later, on the last day of 1990, he was sworn in. Elias took the bench as a Municipal Court judge in Vista, and supervised the branch in the mid-1990s. He became a Superior Court judge when the state merged the two courts in 1998.
He spent eight years presiding over juvenile dependency cases, removing children from abusive homes, but most of his years as a jurist were in criminal court.
Aside from criminal cases, Elias also handled adoption cases. Each Wednesday morning families came to his third-floor courtroom dressed up — even toddlers in tiny suits — carrying balloons and posing for photos after he signed the final paperwork.
He remembers one adoptive mother in particular. Years earlier, he had sentenced her to prison. But on this day, she stood in front of him, clean and sober, and carrying a Narcotics Anonymous token. She had earned approval to adopt her spouse’s child. The new adoptive mom gave Elias her NA token.
“I kept it,” Elias said. “From the time she gave it to me, I kept it on my bench.”
He also worked outside the courtroom as part of several organizations. Elias is the chair of the state’s Children’s Justice Act Task Force for the State of California, which supports work to improve handling of cases involving such areas area abuse and neglect. He’s also a member of Judicial Council’s Violence Against Women Education Project.
And he teaches orientation classes for new judges.
When he was a rookie prosecutor, Elias tried his first felony case in North County in 1981. His opponent was defense attorney Brad Patton.
Patton remembers the case — his client was charged with stealing a parrot from an open garage.
In the 30 years Elias was on the bench, Patton tried several cases in front of him.
“He handles himself as a real human being on the bench,” Patton said. “He does it realistically, honestly — as opposed to someone sitting up there playing the role of a judge.”
Elias reads everything, Patton said, and stays on top of rulings and the law. He doesn’t let social or political pressure dictate his decisions.
“And that makes him just an outstanding jurist anytime you are in his courtroom,” Patton said.
Elias, who said he will most miss the camaraderie of his job, plans to take the bench occasionally as a judge on temporary assignment.
But retirement will let him indulge in his passions — spending time with his wife, visiting kids and grandkids, and playing golf. Lots of it, and not just anywhere. Elias has memberships at three small golf clubs in Scotland. He also has kilts.