Thursday, October 4, 2007
Page 3
Schwarzenegger Names 13 as Superior Court Judges in Nine Counties
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday named 13 attorneys and court commissioners to superior court judgeships in various counties around the state.
The governor named Thomas S. Garza, Dwight W. Moore and Gilbert G. Ochoa to the San Bernardino Superior Court, Brian F. Haynes and Clare M. Maier to the Contra Costa Superior Court, Willie Lott Jr. and Carrie McIntyre Panetta to the Alameda Superior Court; Judith Krech Dulcich to the Kern Superior Court; Mitchell C. Rigby to the Madera Superior Court; Candace S. Heidelberger to the Nevada Superior Court; Marc A. Garcia to the Merced Superior Court; Sharon A. Lueras to the Sacramento Superior Court; and Antonino J. Agbayani to the San Joaquin Superior Court.
Garza, 49, has been an attorney in the firm of Garza & Garza since 1993 and previously was a law clerk in the same office from 1985 to 1993. He is a graduate of UCLA and Western State University College of Law , and fills a position created by SB 56.
Moore, 56, has been a San Bernardino deputy district attorney since 1981, and a supervising deputy since 1989. He was an associate with the law firm Thistle, Krinsky, Idler & Lambert from 1977 to 1981 and with Beard, Krinsky & Idler from 1975 to 1976.
Moore earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of San Diego and fills a position created by SB 56.
Ochoa, 49, has served as managing attorney for the firm now known as Bollington & Ochoa since 1993. Prior to joining that firm, he had a solo practice, was a deputy district attorney in Orange County, and spent two years as an associate with Haight, Brown & Bonesteel.
A graduate of the University of Santa Clara School of Law and of Whittier College, he fills a position created by SB 56.
Haynes, 42, has served as a deputy district attorney in Contra Costa County since 1988. He holds degrees from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and California Western School of Law and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Peter Spinetta.
Maier, 50, has been a Contra Costa Superior Court commissioner since 2001. She previously served as a deputy public and deputy alternate public defender in that county, and previously was an associate at a law firm.
She is a graduate of Los Angeles City College, UCLA, and Boalt Hall School of Law, and fills a position created by SB 56.
Lott, 60, of Danville, has served as a commissioner of the Alameda Superior Court since 2002. Previously, he served as deputy county counsel for Alameda County from 1979 to 2002 and deputy city attorney for San Jose from 1974 to 1979.
He is a graduate of what was then California State University, Hayward and of UC Davis School of Law, and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Fairwell.
Panetta, 40, has served as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County since 1999. Previously, she was an associate in the now-defunct law firm Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison from 1992 to 1999.
A graduate of the University of North Dakota and the University of Virginia School of Law, she fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Ronald Sabraw.
Dulcich, 44, has served as a deputy district attorney in Kern County since 1990. She graduate from San Diego State University and the University of San Diego School of Law, and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Romero Moench.
Rigby, 55, has been a Madera sole practitioner since 2005, after working for firms in the area from 1978 to 2005. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Hastings College of the Law, and fills one of the new positions created by SB 56.
Heidelberger, 53, is a Nevada City lawyer who as a panel attorney for the Central California Appellate Program since 1997, as a contract attorney handling juvenile court cases for Placer County since 2002, and as a contract attorney for Nevada County since 2004.
She previously represented indigent criminal defendants in Placer County from 1997 to 2002 and in Nevada County from 2002 to 2004. She was a partner in the law firm Heidelberger and Heidelberger from 1994 to 1997.
She succeeds retired Judge Al Dover.
Garcia, 39, been a sole practitioner in Merced since 2004. Previously, he was a partner in the law firm Morse, Pfeiff & Garcia from 2001 to 2003 and was an associate with the firm’s predecessor.
Garcia served as a deputy district attorney for Merced County from 1995 to 1999. He graduated from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and San Francisco Law School and fills one of the new positions created by SB 56.
Lueras, 50, has served as lead corporations counsel with the California Department of Corporations since 2005. Previously, she served as a state deputy attorney general from 2002 to 2005, a deputy district attorney for Yolo County from 2001 to 2002 and a deputy district attorney for Sacramento County from 1992 to 2001.
She graduated from California State University, Sacramento and McGeorge School of Law, and fills one of the new positions created by SB 56.
Agbayani, 51, has been a San Joaquin Superior Court commissioner since last year, after having been a trial attorney with his own firm since 1992. Prior to that, Agbayani served as a deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County from 1983 to 1992.
He is a graduate of California State University, Stanislaus and UC Davis School of Law, and fills a position created by SB 56. Garza, Maier, Panetta, Dulcich, Garcia and Lueras are Democrats; Moore, Ochoa, Rigby, Heidelberger, and Agbayani are Republicans.
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