Field of Superior Court Candidates Closes at 31

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

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Field of Superior Court Candidates Closes at 31

Period for Filing Declarations of Intent to Seek Open Seats Ends, Nomination Period Begins; Six Candidates Join the Fray

By SEAN P. THOMAS, Staff Writer

Five additional Los Angeles Superior Court candidates have thrown their hats into the ring before the declaration of intent window for open seats closed yesterday, but with eight candidates each signed up for two offices, the lineup is not yet solidified.

State Bar Court Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioners A. Verónica Sauceda and Armando Durón, Deputy District Attorney Kenneth M. Fuller and private practitioners Michael Ribons and Shlomo Frieman joined races, widening the field of prospective jurists to 31.

Yesterday also marked the first day in which candidates could file their nomination papers and submit candidate statements at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office. The deadline is March 9.

Candidates who have filed declarations of intent in connection with more than one office will have to make a choice when filing nominating papers.

Candidates Shake Up

In other developments, Deputy District Attorney David A. Berger, Deputy Los Angeles City Attorney Matthew Schonbrun, attorney David A. Diamond, and former assistant U.S. attorney David DeJute, each of whom previously filed a declaration of intent to run for one office, yesterday paid a second filing fee to seek a second office.

Berger filed a declaration of intent to seek Office No. 71, indicating a possible contest between him and Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Danielle R.A. Gibbons; DeJute and Schonbrun will potentially battle Deputy District Attorney Alfred Coletta for Office No. 4; David A. Diamond filed a declaration of intent to run for Office No. 146, as Sydne Jane Michel, a prosecutor for two bay area cities, and Deputy District Attorney Emily Theresa Spear had previously.

Candidates’ Backgrounds

Armendariz, who filed for Office No. 67, was appointed as a State Bar of California judge in 2007 after serving as the chief of staff for then-Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero in Sacramento. She also served as counsel to the Assembly Public Safety Committee and was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis as the ombudsman for California’s women’s prisons.

Armendariz graduated from UCLA before earning her law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1997.

Ribons, a civil litigator for 20 years in both California and federal courts, ran unsuccessfully for a judgeship in the 2016 primary election, losing to Alicia Molina and the eventual winner Judge Efrain Matthew Aceves. He finished last out of the four candidates with 10 percent of the vote.

Ribons, a candidate for two offices, No. 67 and No. 113, graduated from California State University Northridge before attending Whittier Law School. At Whittier, he was an extern for Bankruptcy Judge Vincent P. Zurzolo of the Central District of California.

He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1996.

Fuller graduated from the University of Southern California Law School in 2005 and was admitted to the State Bar that year, and became a deputy Los Angeles district attorney in 2006. He has also served as an assistant staff judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force since 2012.

He is targeting Office No. 126.

In 2015, Sauceda was hired as a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner. She currently is assigned to the South Central District.

She received her bachelors degree from UCLA, before attending the UCLA School of Law. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2001 and will vie for Office No. 4.

Frieman received his law degree from New York Law School after graduating from Rutgers University. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1975.

He is seeking Office No. 126.

Duron, an attorney, filed both declaration of intent to run and nominating papers for Office No. 146 yesterday.

He graduated from Loyola Marymount University, prior to attending UCLA School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1981.

Below is a list of the candidates. The descriptions are not the official ballot designations which candidates may submit when filing their nominating papers.