Candidate for
Judge, Superior Court; County of Los Angeles; Office 94

Biography

Michael O'Gara has worked as a Deputy District Attorney with Los Angeles County for nearly seventeen years, trying over 75 jury trials and handling thousands of cases as a trial attorney and Calendar Deputy in the downtown criminal courts. He was hired as a Deputy District Attorney in 1991 and has since worked in a number of courts throughout the County including Compton, Glendale, David V. Kenyon Juvenile Justice Center, Burbank, Alhambra, Santa Anita, El Monte, Bellflower, East Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pomona, and the Criminal Courts Building + now called the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

He has prosecuted criminal matters of all levels and complexity from misdemeanor trials, felony preliminary hearings and juvenile adjudications, to very difficult felony trials involving fraud and violent crime which include murder, rape, robbery, and cases involving violent gangs. He was specially assigned as a Sexual Assault Deputy and as a Calendar Deputy. Currently, he is the sole prosecutor assigned to over 30 complex insurance fraud investigations and prosecutions involving over $35 million in losses.

Michael O'Gara is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles County. He attended UCLA for his undergraduate studies, and earned his Law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. His wife is a high school Spanish teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and also grew up in Los Angeles County. They have two children, ages seven and four. Both Michael and his wife are active members of the community, volunteering in such local organizations as AYSO, PTA, the Parent And Community (PAC), and Boy Scouts of America.