Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
His senior assistant, Randy Krantz, passed on an equally bright career as a medical administrator to become a trial lawyer and prosecutor.
Now both men are at a crossroads again, as Updike is poised to become the next General District Court judge in Bedford County and Krantz is seeking to succeed him as commonwealth's attorney.
"As a prosecutor, you're an advocate, but a judge has to be impartial and fair to both sides of the case. That's a definite change for me, but because it's a change, that's what attracts me to it," said Updike, who will fill the seat of Judge James Farmer, who retires in June.
The 41-year-old Democrat said Monday he had decided last year that he would not seek another term as commonwealth's attorney this November. He will start taking classes in the next few months to ease the transition from lawyer to judge.
"I've been here 17 years now, and I'm very much looking forward to different challenges and different responsibilities." Updike said he had considered a private law practice or a second run for state attorney general if the judgeship hadn't panned out.
But "to start running for attorney general, I'd have to start campaigning now, and I'd have to raise $2 million," the Bedford native said, adding that he's still paying off bank loans from his unsuccessful 1993 bid for the Democratic nomination for attorney general.
First elected in 1979 at the age of 26, he was the youngest commonwealth's attorney in the state at that time. He had just earned his law degree from the University of Virginia a year before.
Updike gained national exposure for his successful prosecution of the Jens Soering murder case, in which the UVa honor student and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom, were convicted of killing Haysom's parents.
Krantz, who joined Updike's office in 1992, hopes to follow in his boss's footsteps.
He said he will seek an appointment to serve out Updike's term of office, which expires in December, and he plans to run for the office as an independent in November.
A former assistant professor who taught emergency medicine at Virginia Western Community College and then became interested in law, the 34-year-old Bedford native and father of two still teaches some volunteer rescue classes. He also is a member of the board of directors for the Blue Ridge Emergency Medical Services Council.
"Randy is an excellent prosecutor," said Harry Garrett Jr., a defense lawyer and former commonwealth's attorney. "He's no Jim; he doesn't have the flamboyance that Jim had, but he has his own style, and he's not trying to copy Jim, and that's a good thing.
"I think he's honest as the day is long; he's able, and I'm certainly going to do what I can to support Randy."
A panel of five Circuit Court judges, including Bedford County Circuit Judge William Sweeney, will decide if Krantz should become the next commonwealth's attorney.
If Krantz is elected in November, he might have to run for office again as soon as 1997 if voters approve a proposed merger of Bedford and Bedford County. The commonwealth's attorney's usual term is four years, but Krantz's term would be shortened because there's a two-year difference between county and city election cycles.
As Updike and Krantz ponder career moves that promise to shake up the county courthouse, the county's legal professionals are eager to speculate on how Updike will fare in the more somber role of judge.
"I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at what kind of judge he'll be," Garrett said. "Because he was such a hell-bent-for-leather prosecutor, they might expect the same thing on the bench, but Jim also knows the law, and I think he'll be eminently fair."
Public Defender Webster Hogeland said, "There's really no indication about what kind of judge Jim will be, stylewise, because it's an utterly new role for him.
"I'm going to miss Judge Farmer, but I think Jim will be fair. I think he understands the difference between his role as a prosecutor and his role as a judge."
Sweeney has worked with Updike since the soon-to-be-judge was a junior prosecutor in the late '70s under Garrett.
"I would say the commonwealth certainly got their money's worth out of Jim Updike, and I'm very happy to see him move up as a district judge," Sweeney said.
"I've had a better chance to observe him than any other judge, and I was very impressed by the improvement he showed as he came along.
"I really feel he was one of the best commonwealth's attorneys in the commonwealth. He was always well-prepared, he seemed to be at his best in the bigger cases, and he's about the only lawyer I ever saw who could argue a case to a jury for an hour and never refer to a note.
"I would think his elevation to the bench might come as a mixed blessing to the defense lawyers of Roanoke, Bedford and Lynchburg who won't have to face him as a [prosecutor] anymore."
by CNB