No charges against former judge arrested in Fresno on suspicion of domestic violence

No charges were filed against a former federal judge who was arrested by Fresno police last month on suspicion of domestic violence.

Oliver Wanger, 82, had been booked into the Fresno County Jail back on Dec. 17, 2022, and spent a little more than two hours there before getting released.

That’s the extent of time Wanger will deal with behind bars after the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office decided earlier this month not to pursue charges against the former judge.

“It is our conclusion that we are unable to proceed with criminal charges in this matter due to a lack of sufficient, admissible corroborating evidence to support a charge,” Janet Wise, Supervising Deputy District Attorney, wrote in a letter addressed to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and the Fresno Police Department.

Wanger had been a federal judge from 1991-2011 and presided over some of central California’s most high-profile cases, including a political corruption case in Fresno known as Operation Rezone.

He’d also served previously as a deputy district attorney in Fresno County, which caused his recent arrest case to be handled by the Tulare County DA’s office to avoid potential conflict on interest with those in Fresno.

In the Tulare County DA’s letter to the Fresno County DA’s Office and Fresno Police, Wise said the victim in the incident regarding Wanger expressed she would refuse to testify against the judge and did not want to move forward in the investigation or talk to police or prosecutors further based on a letter from her attorney.

In a statement by Wanger’s attorney back in December, Peter Kapetan said he was “hopeful that an objective review of the facts will mandate that no charges be filed.”

Kapetan also added: “It is unfortunate that (Wanger) has had this allegation leveled against him.”