Monday, July 26, 2004
Page 3
Schwarzenegger Makes First Judicial Appointments to Yuba, Alpine Courts
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made his first judicial appointments Friday, filling Superior Court vacancies in Yuba and Alpine counties.
The governor, who recently completed his judicial selection team by naming John Davies as judicial appointments advisor, named Debra L. Givens to the Yuba Superior Court and Richard K. Specchio to the Alpine Superior Court. The governor had previously assigned Chief of Staff Patricia Clarey and Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins to vet applicants for the bench.
Givens and Specchio were elected to the superior courts of their respective counties in March. By appointing them now, the governor enables them to take office immediately rather than waiting until January.
Givens, 38, has been Yuba County’s contract public defender since 1996. She was a Yuba County deputy public defender for four years before that.
Givens is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and has an bachelor’s degree from UCLA. She serves on a number of civic boards in Yuba County.
She fills a seat that has been vacant for several years as a result of the retirement of Judge Thomas F. Matthews.
Specchio, 57, has more than 27 years of criminal law practice experience. He has owned and operated a law firm in South Lake Tahoe for more than 20 years, where he has handled primarily criminal and personal injury cases.
Prior to starting the firm, Specchio served as deputy district attorney for El Dorado County from 1977 to 1980. Specchio’s experience also includes two years as a law clerk in the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.
Specchio is a graduate of Western State University College of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. He succeeds Judge Harold F. Bradford, who retired from the bench in the state’s smallest county.
Superior Court judges are paid $139,784 annually.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company