Judges and Judiciary
Mar. 12, 2005
Judge Isn't Afraid to Take a Stand
SAN FRANCISCO - In two terms on the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, Jeff Almquist developed a reputation as an environmentalist. The Sierra Club endorsed him twice. He promoted recycling and restored streams. He founded the Fisheries Network of Central California, a multicounty effort to protect and restore the salmon population.
The Sierra Club endorsed him twice. He promoted recycling and restored streams. He founded the Fisheries Network of Central California, a multicounty effort to protect and restore the salmon population.
So one can imagine the dismay felt by the two UC Santa Cruz fraternity brothers when, following Almquist's appointment to the Superior Court, they landed in his misdemeanor courtroom charged with stealing and killing a jumbo koi fish.
As MTV cameras rolled, filming a new reality TV show, Casey Loop and Matthew Cox had traveled to nearby Porter College and snagged Goldie, the school's mascot, from a pond on campus. They then brought it back to their frat house, bludgeoned it to death with a beer bottle and fried it in a skillet.
The two pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of grand theft and vandalism, and Almquist ordered them to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and volunteer at a local marine laboratory. When one of the defendants didn't comply, Almquist sentenced him to 45 days in jail.
A defense lawyer in the case said he was aware of Almquist's green-friendly reputation, and his history working with fish. But he said his client has no complaints about the way he was treated.
"We were aware of his history," said attorney Greg Coben. "He was very open about that. But he was very fair and straightforward. My client felt he had a fair day in court."
Almquist had long coveted a black robe. Even as a county supervisor, he said, he tended to act like a judge. His approach to problems was the same then as it is now: Review the data, determine where he stood, solve the problem to the extent possible and move on to the next project.
"I didn't have a lot of axes to grind," Almquist said. "I had certain philosophies - that government should be run cheaply, that the purpose of government is to help people. But I tended to decide where I stood on an issue by gathering facts and deciding what is the right thing."
Almquist said his lawmaking days prepared him well for the bench. He feels he better understands criminal justice because he got a big-picture view of the system as a supervisor.
His years as a lawmaker also enhanced his gift of gab. Almquist talks easily, speaking in full paragraphs. He often speaks directly to defendants. With other judges, lawyers said, that might come off as scolding.
But Almquist "has an ability to talk to my clients like I talk to them," Deputy Public Defender Erikson Albrecht said. "I think they take away a lot more than if they felt they were being lectured."
Almquist was raised in Montclair, N.J., a middle-class suburb of New York City. His father taught English and American studies to students in every grade from junior high to postgraduate. He also had a wide range of interests: He played jazz piano, wrote a grammar book and penned three installments of the Hardy Boys series. His mother was a jewelry designer at Cartier in New York.
Almquist names his father as his hero, not only for his eclectic talents, but also for his honesty.
"He was fearless in his assessments," Almquist recalled of his father in an e-mail message. "[H]e gave me something to emulate each day, as I make decisions and try to tell people in my court why I feel the way I do about their issues."
His parents regularly predicted that Almquist would attend Yale and become a lawyer, and their prophecy held true. At Yale, he played football, baseball and rugby. His classmates included President George W. Bush and "Doonesbury" comic artist Garry Trudeau.
He graduated in 1970 with a degree in political science and enrolled at the University of Connecticut Law School. Interested in politics, Almquist worked on some political campaigns through law school. Upon graduation, he worked as an administrative aide to Gov. Tom Meskill. He also spent a year in a Hartford civil litigation firm before heading west at the request of his wife, a California native.
He joined the law office of Jim Matthews in San Jose, where he handled mostly real estate litigation. In 1983 he left to start his own general civil practice in Scotts Valley. The practice consisted of "whatever I could find to keep the doors open," he said, including bankruptcy, estate planning and family law.
The flexibility gave him time to do devote to the community. He worked for nonprofit groups, coached soccer teams and sat on the local school board. This experience led him to run for supervisor in 1996.
No burning policy issues drove him to run for the seat, he said. Rather, he was looking for new ways to contribute to community life.
"If you are not tuned in to local issues, which I really wasn't, you spend your first nine or 10 months campaigning for office just figuring out what you think about everything," he said.
He was elected to two terms on the board. Even on a liberal board, in a liberal county, Almquist had a reputation as a liberal. His colleagues say Almquist tended to take on difficult issues, such as advocating for the widening of Highway 1.
"He is not afraid to take on a controversial project," said his colleague, Supervisor Tony Campos. "If he wants something he will roll up his sleeves and take it on."
Almquist agrees with that assessment.
"It didn't bother me to take a stand on an issue once I decided my position was right," Almquist said. "I live in a district where there was a lot of loud political discourse. There were numerous issues where people were screaming at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, 'Uh-huh, uh-huh. I don't agree with you, but thank you for being here tonight.'"
Almquist first applied to be a judge in the early 1980s, before he declared himself a Democrat. (He previously was a Republican, and for a period declined to state his political affiliation.) Gov. Gray Davis appointed Almquist to the bench the day before voters ousted him in favor of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Though he had very little criminal law experience, Almquist was stationed in a criminal department where he hears a misdemeanor calendars in the morning and trials in the afternoons. He said he likes criminal court because "it's just an interesting window on a world you don't see too often."
Lawyers who practice in his courtroom say it's sometimes obvious that Almquist isn't familiar with criminal law, but they credit him with having the intellect to learn quickly and the diligence to do whatever research is required. One lawyer said she has spotted Almquist's car at the courthouse late on weekend nights.
"If you present him with statutes and cases, he will take the time and do the research," said Assistant District Attorney Erica Engin. "He is not one to fake his way through a hearing."
Defense lawyers agree.
"He is not afraid to be a student," said Deputy Public Defender Albrecht.
Some public defenders said Almquist is more willing than some judges to learn about the underlying causes of their client's behavior and entertain treatment as a sentencing option. One public defender said Almquist is particularly sympathetic to defendants who have drinking problems.
In fact, Almquist has worked to establish a new program, called the Serial Inebriate Program, which channels habitual drunks into residential treatment facilities.
Almquist lives in Felton with his wife, Julie Fehrin Almquist, a teacher and teaching consultant. They have two sons. Though he leaves open the possibility of someday angling for an appeals court position, Almquist said his current career ambitions are to stay in criminal court, where he is feeling increasingly comfortable.
"In the criminal process, the stakes are always very high," he said. "But you get past all that and quickly get to what happened and what you are going to do about it. And I like that. I like making decisions and getting things done."
Jeff Almquist
Judge,
Santa Cruz Superior Court
Career highlights: Appointed by Gov. Gray Davis, 2003; Santa Cruz County Supervisor, 1996-2003; Santa Cruz County School Board, 1983-1996; Sole practitioner, Scotts Valley, 1983-1996; Matthews, Marzulla, San Jose, 1976-1982
Law school: University of Connecticut School of Law, 1973
Age: 56
Following are five cases that were recently heard in Judge Almquist's courtroom
• People v. Loop, M17971 - theft and vandalism
For the prosecution: Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Brock
For the defense: Paul Meltzer
• People v. Martinez, F07985 - possession and sale of heroin
For the prosecution: Assistant District Attorney Thanh Ngo
For the defense: Charles Stevens
• Egger v. Michael Turner Construction, CV147314 - breach of contract
For the plaintiff: Laura Uddenberg
For the defendants: Robert Darrow
• Farnsworth v. Farnsworth, FLSFL018215 - custody dispute
Petitioner appeared pro per
For the respondent: John Hannon
• People v. Rader, S5-03294 - regarding sanity of a man accused of attempted murder
For the prosecution: Assistant District Attorney Paul Marigonda
For the defense: Kristin Carter
Tyler Cunningham
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