Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Judge Lance Ito, famous for presiding over the O.J. Simpson murder trial, says he's given up on replacing nameplates stolen from his courtroom. Ito's ninth-floor courtroom at the criminal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles has gone without an identifying placard for years, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Ito used to replace the nameplate each time it was filched but in an e-mail to a court public information officer he confirmed he gave up years ago, the newspaper said. Advertisement Courthouse officials said they suspect the nameplate thefts were carried out by souvenir hunters. Ito's image became so familiar during the televised Simpson trial NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" had a regular feature called "The Dancing Itos" -- a group of Ito lookalikes in judges' robes. Ito did not comment for the Times report, maintaining his refusal to grant virtually all interviews since the trial in which Simpson was acquitted on charges he killed his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a friend, Ron Goldman.
