THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Judges’ Junk : Ito’s Hourglasses and Other Bench Bric-a-Brac

Judge Lance A. Ito keeps four hourglasses on the bench. But Ito is not the only judge with a knack for keeping knickknacks on the bench while he presides in court.

The supervising judge of the Los Angeles probate courts keeps three porcelain ducks on the bench. That way he knows he has all his ducks in a row.

The chief federal judge in San Diego has a bouquet of dried flowers and herbs on the bench. Supposedly, it wards off evil spirits.

And a Superior Court judge in Pomona admits that he used to keep a Captain Marvel coloring book at hand when he took the bench. Plus, of course, the 32-color box of Crayola crayons. “It’s like doodling,” he says.

Lots of judges keep a whole bunch of unusual stuff on the bench. Along with useful items such as calendars, code books and computers, there are cartoons, coffee cups, signs and plaques of all sorts, potted plants, photos, musical instruments, sports memorabilia and various other sundries--all in plain view but rarely on TV, like Ito’s hourglasses.

Confined in the courtroom by the stultifying uniformity of their black robes, judges find in the stuff an outlet for personal expression. Under those robes are real people--with an enduring need to feel more at home while at work, to bring a measure of life to a work site that’s drab, institutional, regimented and often dull.

“It sort of personalizes the place,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin, who keeps on the bench a two-colored Ping-Pong paddle--one side green, the other orange--that is a memento from a mentor.

“I spend a lot of time there,” Chirlin said. “Just like I like to have things I like around my house, I like to have things I like around my chambers and my courtroom.”

It’s a nice balance, she said, to the useful stuff that is mostly dreary.

On the bench, almost all judges keep a fat red book that contains jury instructions and a fat blue book that lists many state laws. There is often a white cardboard blotter that spells out the state’s complicated sentencing rules.

Also taking up space on most desks is what is called a Drake calendar, which helps a judge calculate when a trial must begin under California’s speedy-trial rules.

Veteran judges, said San Fernando Superior Court Judge Judith Ashmann, often use those little sticky squares to make notes--usually handy phone numbers, such as the one to call the Sheriff’s Department bus to take a prisoner back to jail. And “a variety of pens, pencils, paper clips, rubber bands, stapler, all that mishegos s,” she added, using the Yiddish word that translates in that context as “stuff.”

After that, almost anything goes.

It is widely known around the Criminal Courts Building that Ito alludes frequently to time--hence, the suspected reason for the four hourglasses, one little one stacked atop a big one and two medium-sized ones nearby.

Ito was obviously busy and did not return a call Wednesday seeking the definitive explanation.

A well-documented fact, meanwhile, is Ito’s devotion to Peet’s Coffee & Tea, the Emeryville-based java emporium that the judge has patronized since he was a law student in the early 1970s at UC Berkeley in the next town north.

The mug that’s a fixture on Ito’s bench comes from Peet’s. It’s the purple-on-white “Monkey, Dog, Star” model and sells for $6.95, Peet’s President Sam Salkin said. “We feel he’s a great judge--of coffee,” Salkin said Wednesday of Ito.

Some judges feel a coffee cup doesn’t say quite enough.

In San Diego, Superior Court Judge Frederic Link maintains a colorful display of souvenirs celebrating the 1986 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears, who were led by fiery coach Mike Ditka and quarterback Jim McMahon, known for his flamboyant headbands. “The team exudes a certain attitude I like,” Link once told an interviewer.

This week, in honor of the Super Bowl-bound San Diego Chargers, Link started wearing a blue-and-yellow lightning bolt--the team’s symbol--as a sash on his robe. “Why not?” Link asked. “The jury foreperson (of a just-concluded murder trial) made it for me.”

Other judges are suckers for sentiment--often for gifts.

Next door to Ito, Judge J.D. Smith proudly displays a shillelagh given to him by other judges when he took the bench in 1982.

Robert Letteau, the supervising judge of Los Angeles County probate courts, has displayed his porcelain ducks ever since a former bailiff gave them to him. “It’s nice to have some of the stuff you enjoy close by, as a security blanket,” he said.

Judith Keep, the chief federal judge in San Diego, got her dried bouquet from her staff. “They felt I needed something to keep evil spirits away from the bench,” Keep said. “It’s not working, but it’s up there.”

However, she said, the bouquet is not a total loss. It contains rue, the yellow flowers that long ago were scattered on courtroom floors in the belief that they would protect against “jail fever.” Said Keep: “I can tell you that has worked. I do not have jail fever.”

Many judges opt for stress relief. In Laguna Niguel, Orange County Municipal Court Judge Pamela Iles keeps photos of her Labrador retrievers, Rex and Cleopatra, on the bench. “When I’m (angry) at the lawyers, I look at my dogs and then my blood pressure drops 20 points,” Iles said.

And in Pomona, Judge Clarence (Red) Stromwall admits he used to color his Captain Marvel coloring book while he was listening to and thinking of the goings-on in his courtroom.

“The job looks exciting, but it’s really not,” he said, adding, “Some people doodle while they think. I just happen to like a coloring book.”

Stromwall no longer has his coloring book. He finished all the pages. “I don’t happen to have one at the moment. But I’ll accept donations.”

Then there’s the one thing that almost every judge has on the bench--a gavel. It almost never gets used.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge David Rothman, who has been on the bench for 19 years, has used his gavel exactly once. “It made too much noise.”