By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

The state Supreme Court today turned down Robert G. Spitzer's bid for review of his removal from his Riverside County Superior Court bench last year.

The decision this afternoon appears to have ended Spitzer's career as a judge and throws into question his place on the June 3 ballot, where he qualified to run for his old judicial office.

Reached by phone, Spitzer had no comment.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance removed Spitzer from his bench last October, citing willful misconduct and dishonesty.

Spitzer could not act as a judge after the commission's removal, but the decision was not final until the Supreme Court acted on his petition for review.

Spitzer and three other candidates are running for Judicial Office No. 18, a countywide post.

Today's denial by the state's high court came one day after one of the candidates, Deputy District Attorney John Molloy, filed a lawsuit seeking to have Spitzer removed from the ballot as unqualified.