Passing of Presiding Justice Puglia

Justice Puglia gave me my job at the court. From a pool of 175 applicants, 40 were chosen to intereview with the principal attorney. Then 10 of us were selected to be interviewed by the entire court (10 justices). Two women were hired, one for the chambers of Justice DeCristoforo and the other for central staff, leaving one position. The principal attorney wanted to hire another person, so Justice Puglia, the ultimate decisionmaker, deferred to the principal attorney. The position was offered to the other attorney, but he took the offer and tried to use it as leverage in negotiations for another job. Justice Puglia got wind of that situation and called the assistant to the principal attorney -- the principal attorney had left on vacation -- and said, "Call Hogge and offer him the position." I accepted on the spot, becoming, at the time, the youngest attorney out of about 30 on the court's staff. That was in July 1990. The next month, Justice Nicholson was elevated from the Superior Court and soon selected me as one of his chambers attorneys.

Judge Robert Puglia: A fine life

Conservative jurist's keen intellect shone in elegant legal opinions

By Steve Gibson -- Bee Staff Writer

Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, March 12, 2005

Robert K. Puglia, a legal scholar who served 24 years as presiding justice of California's 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, died Friday of complications from cancer.

The 75-year-old jurist, an avowed conservative known for his prodigious energy and whose gracefully written legal opinions reflect keen intellect and clear reasoning, retired from the bench in 1998.

His family terminated life support Thursday evening following surgery for a brain hemorrhage, said Dave Puglia, one of his sons.

A former prosecutor and trial lawyer, Mr. Puglia was appointed to Sacramento Superior Court in 1971 by Gov. Ronald Reagan. Three years later Reagan elevated him to the 3rd District court, which hears appeals from trial courts in 23 northern counties.

"Bob was extremely bright, terrific in the courtroom and very personable," said criminal defense attorney Hamilton Hintz, a longtime friend. "He had it all.

"As a judge, his intuition, his insight, his knowledge of the system, made it impossible for an attorney to put anything over on him. He was always one step ahead."

Mr. Puglia, who authored more than 4,000 opinions - more than 400 of them published - was an early voice for open government.

In a 1985 Stockton case, he authored an opinion that expanded the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state's open meeting law. His opinion holds that government agencies can't conduct telephone polls of their governing board members if those calls result in official actions.

Years later, Mr. Puglia wrote, "When government is permitted to operate clandestinely, informed citizen involvement necessary to guard against government usurpation of fundamental liberties is thwarted."

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George called Mr. Puglia a leader who influenced the administration of justice throughout California.

"For years, he was on an administrative committee of presiding appeals court justices," George said, "and the efficiency he managed to obtain in Sacramento he would share with others."

Among other things, Mr. Puglia served on the California Judicial Council, was an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law and was a past president of the California Judges Association.

"While he was by anyone's definition a 'law and order' judge, when he reviewed a case where a defendant was actually denied a fair trial, he would reverse the conviction without hesitation and support it with an elegant and persuasive opinion," said Fred Morrison, an associate justice on the 3rd District Court of Appeal.

Mr. Puglia was also an inveterate traveler and avid baseball fan who visited most of the country's Major League parks. Widely read, he was also a student of Civil War history.

"His memory was legendary," Morrison said. "He seemed never to forget the details of cases he tried 40 years ago. He could cite literally thousands of legal cases from memory and he knew more about the Civil War than anyone I ever knew or knew about."

Associate Justice Coleman Blease, another appellate court colleague, remembered Mr. Puglia as "a model of collegiality: fair, yet firm; dignified and civil in all his dealings.

"His approach was direct, if sometimes subtle. Somewhere between Dale Carnegie and the Marquess of Queensberry.

"I remember the first opinion I sent him. He responded with a concurrence in the form of a separate opinion, which showed the abundant defects in the form and substance of my own draft," Blease recalled. "I quickly adopted his concurrence as my opinion."

Although Mr. Puglia was a registered Republican, Blease described him as "a democrat with a small 'd.'

"He led by example and by involving us in major administrative decisions. He spent untold hours on the details of administration ... (but) carried more than a full caseload despite the burdens of his position.

"He vigorously defended our independence as an appellate court ... (and) protested bureaucratic intrusions on his time."

Born and raised in Ohio, Mr. Puglia first traveled to California when he was 17 and started college at the University of California, Berkeley. But paying out-of-state tuition proved too costly. Returning home, he enrolled at Ohio State University, eventually earning a bachelor's degree.

After graduation, he enlisted in the Army and saw combat as an infantry sergeant in the Korean War. Back in the United States, while stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., and intent on becoming a lawyer, he mailed an application to UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.
It was the only law school he applied to, Mr. Puglia recalled years later. After graduating, he moved to Sacramento to work as a deputy state attorney general.

Mr. Puglia later joined the Sacramento County district attorney's staff as a prosecutor, rising to the No. 2 spot before leaving to join a Sacramento law firm, McDonough, Holland & Allen.
In private practice, he tried civil cases and became active in local politics. He chaired Duane Lowe's successful 1970 campaign for Sacramento County sheriff, defeating incumbent John Misterly.

"Without his support I would never have seen the office of sheriff," Lowe said. "He was always my mentor ... the absolutely most wonderful friend. I am heartbroken. I shall never forget his genuine kindness."

After leaving the bench, Mr. Puglia rejoined his old law firm, where he focused on mediation and alternative dispute resolution.

Almost invariably, judges and lawyers familiar with Mr. Puglia's career end up talking about his skillfully written opinions.

"In this wordy profession," Blease said, "Robert was a star ... a master craftsman of lucid prose, the more animated and muscular the better."

Some examples:

Regarding one expert witness' shortcomings: "Either the expert, contrary to (his) claimed qualifications, is utterly lacking in experience and thus not qualified or the 'expert opinion' is simply tendentious psychobabble."

Writing about an unaccountable judicial lapse: "The trial court suffered a momentary bout of dyslexia."

Addressing inadequacy of counsel: "To the list of serious felonies ... should be added the following: 'prosecutorial sloth.' "

Mr. Puglia's no-nonsense demeanor was sometimes formidable and intimidating, masking what Morrison called "a delightful wit and heart of gold."

Blease recalled the time a novice lawyer became tongue-tied during his first appearance before the appellate court.

"Despite Bob's gentle prodding, he was unable to proceed. (Later) Bob wrote a personal letter to him to ease his embarrassment, observing that many of us had suffered similar misadventures. He urged him to 'mount the horse' and try again."

Robert K. Puglia

Born: Oct. 16, 1929

Died: March 11, 2005

Remembered for: His career as a trial lawyer and appellate court judge whose legal opinions reflected a keen intellect and clear reasoning

Survived by: Wife, Ingrid Werdenbach Puglia of Carmichael; sons, Dave of Carmichael, Tom of Salt Lake City and Peter of Rescue, El Dorado County; daughter, Susan Puglia of Elk Grove; brother, Richard Puglia of Urbana, Ohio; and three grandchildren

Funeral services: Pending