Wednesday, June 21, 2006
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Schwarzenegger Names Four to Los Angeles Superior Court
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday named three deputy district attorneys and a former assistant U.S. attorney to judgeships in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Stanley Blumenfeld, a former assistant U.S. attorney and now a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, was chosen along with Deputy District Attorneys Charles Chung, Lori Ann Fournier and Darrell S. Mavis. The appointments were made on a day that saw a total of 11 judges named to California trial courts by the governor.
Fournier, 44, has been a deputy district attorney since 1990, and is currently the deputy-in-charge in Downey, an assignment she has held since April. She was previously assistant head deputy in the Hardcore Gang Unit.
Fournier is a graduate of Loyola Law School and California State University, Los Angeles and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge T.K. Herman.
She told the MetNews she expects to be sworn in within the next few days and hopes to be assigned to a criminal court, “but I’m up for the challenge of any assignment they think I’m qualified for.”
She applied for the bench last year, she said, because “I’ve been a prosecutor for a long time and I wanted to have a more significant impact on the community.” She said she knows a number of ex-prosecutors who are now judges and they “are all very happy with their decision” to move to the bench.
While she hates the thought of leaving the District Attorney’s Office, Fournier added, the office “has been very supportive” of her application for judicial appointment.
Replacing Flynn
Chung, 39, has been a deputy district attorney since 1996. His law degree is from Southwestern University and his bachelor’s degree from USC. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Paul Flynn.
Chung, who was born in Argentina and goes by Carlos, said he was “very grateful for the wonderful opportunity” and would likely be sworn in by early next week. He is currently assigned to the Major Crimes Division, having moved over from the Hardcore Gang Unit in February.
He has two brothers who are also deputy district attorneys, Jonathan and William Chung.
Mavis, 40, was admitted to the State Bar in 1992 and worked for the District Attorney’s Office ever since—he actually joined as a law clerk in 1991—except for stint on loan to the U.S. Department of Justice from 1998 to 2000. That assignment entailed work on extradition and other international criminal issues, he explained yesterday.
He also teaches trial advocacy at Southwestern University School of Law.
He said he expects to be sworn in quickly, and as for as an assignment goes, “would be happy to wherever they would like me to go.” He has been with the Major Crimes Division for four years and was previously in the Hardcore Gang Unit.
He is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Law School. Mavis fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jacob Adajian.
Clerked for Hall
Blumenfeld, 44, joined O’Melveny in 1993. He previously served as assistant U.S. Attorney from 1989 to 1993 and was a law clerk for Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall from 1988 to 1989.
Blumenfeld earned a law degree from UCLA, a masters’ degree from New York University, and an undergraduate degree from State University of New York at Binghamton.
He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John Sandoz.
Schwarzenegger yesterday also named Anne-Christine Massullo, a supervisor in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, to the San Francisco Superior Court; San Luis Obispo Assistant County Counsel Jac A. Crawford to the San Luis Obispo Superior Court; Santa Cruz Deputy District Attorney Denine J. Guy to the Santa Cruz Superior Court; Imperial Superior Court Commissioner William D. Lehman as a judge of that court; San Jose sole practitioner Hector Ramon to the Santa Clara Superior Court; Riverside Deputy District Attorney David Downing to the Riverside Superior Court, and D. Tyler Tharpe, a partner in the law firm of Kimble, MacMichael & Upton, to the Fresno Superior Court.
Fournier, Ramon, and Downing are Democrats. Mavis is unaffiliated and the remainder of yesterday’s appointees are Republicans.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company