By City News Service Photo: Universal Images Group Editorial LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Sheriff Alex Villanueva's legal bid to avoid meeting with county Inspector General Max Huntsman to discuss deputy “secret societies'' that many criminal justice advocates characterize as gangs was dismissed today by a judge who nonetheless said there is another avenue the sheriff can take to block a subpoena. The legal option chosen by Villanueva -- known as a writ of mandate --- “is not available to compel the Inspector General to set aside his subpoena,'' Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant wrote. Because Villanueva has the ability to raise the appropriate defenses in response to the Inspector General's request for an order to show cause why he should not be held in contempt, the judge said he was dismissing the sheriff's case without giving him a chance to amend it.