WESTLAKE : Hearing Date Settled in Shooting Case

After being assigned to three different courtrooms in the past two weeks, a high-profile Westlake shooting case finally found a home Monday--at least for the time being.

William Huang, John Yi and Oubansack (Andy) Sonethanouphet have been ordered tried as adults on criminal charges stemming from a Feb. 4 melee at North Ranch Park that left two Westlake High School football players wounded. All three suspects were 16 at the time of the crime.

But their preliminary hearing was stalled June 16 when defense complaints led to the case being bounced to three different courtrooms.

Defense attorney John E. Meyers first complained when the case was assigned to Acting Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Clark, who is an elected judge on the county’s Municipal Court.

Meyers, who represents Huang, said he did not want Clark or another acting Superior Court judge, Herbert Curtis III, hearing his client’s trial.

But court officials transferred the case from Clark to Curtis anyway.

Meyers then accused Curtis of bias, sending the case to the courtroom of Charles W. Campbell, the supervising felony judge.

On Monday, Campbell put Clark back on the case, ruling that Meyers’ original motion to disqualify Clark had not been filed in a timely manner.

Now the preliminary hearing is set for July 12 before Judge Clark.

As for Meyers, he said Monday that he has no problem with Clark holding the preliminary hearing.

But if the defendants are ordered to stand trial, Meyers said he wants a duly elected Superior Court judge hearing the case, rather than one serving in a temporary capacity.