Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Sandoval, one of the city’s first openly gay prosecutors, died Feb. 28 at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte. He was 56.

“Sandoval died of a heart attack while undergoing treatment for leukemia, said Bill Martin, his partner of 23 years. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in January, after successfully battling lymphoma.

A Glendale native, Sandoval specialized in consumer fraud cases after he joined the city attorney’s office in 1978. In 2001, after serving as a commissioner in Municipal Court and Superior Court, he was appointed to the judgeship by then-Gov. Gray Davis. He was believed to be the first openly gay judge to be appointed by a California governor in 20 years.”

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