Mike Flory is an Orange County Deputy District Attorney and a candidate for the Superior Court judge seat currently held by retiring Judge James Gray. He's a Democrat and the son of former Fullerton Councilwoman Jan Flory. He got a pretty hard public rebuke from District Attorney Tony Rackauckas for falsely claiming to have Rackauckas' endorsement for judge.

Until recently, that pretty much encapsulated what I knew about Flory. And it was enough, in and of itself, for me to decide I wouldn't be voting for him.

Last weekend, I learned more about Flory that should render him unfit for Judge in the eyes of voters. I heard it from a source in the court system, and every conversation I've had has confirmed what my original source told me.

Flory is what is known in the vernacular of the court system as a "dump truck": a deputy D.A. from whom criminal defense attorneys and public defenders know they can get a good deal. I've been told his record as a Deputy D.A. is so poor that his chances for advancement are nil (he's been there since 1997), and he's stuck doing preliminaries (which is a story in itself).

Not only that, but he has twice appeared as a character witness for the defense in criminal trials in Riverside County, one of which benefited a gang member.

Just what we need on the Superior Court bench.

Sometimes you hear negatives things in politics about candidates that, upon further investigation, turn out to be mis-characterizations, exaggerations, half-truths or just plain untruths. This is one of those instances where the more I look into it, the worse it gets.

I'm doing some more digging and I'll keep readers posted as I learn more.