Friday, January 4, 2008
Page 3
Schwarzenegger Reappoints Michael Hersek as State Public Defender
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday reappointed Michael Hersek as state public defender, a position to which the governor first appointed him in 2004.
“Michael’s comprehensive understanding of public defense coupled with his extensive experience including serving as the state public defender for the last four years makes him the perfect person for this position,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “I thank him for his continued service to the people of California and I am confident that Michael will continue to provide the best possible representation for inmates who cannot afford legal help.”
At the time of his original appointment, Hersek was central staff attorney for the California Supreme Court, overseeing the court’s research on criminal appeals, a post he had held since 1999. He was a deputy state public defender from 1991 to 1999, having previously served for more than two years as a research attorney for the Supreme Court.
He has served as an adjunct professor at the Golden Gate University School of Law since 2000. He has also served on the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice.
“I share Governor Schwarzenegger’s commitment to criminal justice and indigent defense services,” Hersek said in a release “I am deeply honored he has asked me to continue serving in this immensely important role.”
Hersek, 44, is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and Hastings College of the Law. The appointment must be confirmed by the Senate and the annual compensation is $142,965.
Hersek is a Democrat.
The Office of the State Public Defender was created by the California Legislature in 1976, prior to restoration of the death penalty, and originally represented indigent defendants in a broad range of criminal appeals in both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Since 1998, its focus has shifted entirely to death penalty appeals, and it maintains offices in Sacramento and San Francisco.
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company