Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Page 3
Governor Names Twenty-Six Judges to Superior Courts
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has named 26 judges to courts around the state, including nine in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The appointments, made public late Friday, represent the largest one-day total of judge-naming in recent memory. They also begin the process of filling the 50 new judgeships authorized last year by the Legislature, with 24 of the appointments being made pursuant to Senate Bill 56.
Named to positions in San Bernardino were Deputy District Attorneys Colin J. Bilash, Cara D. Hutson, and Robert J. Lemkau; Deputy Public Defender Steven A. Mapes, Chief Deputy County Counsel Michael A. Sachs, and private practitioner Wilfred J. Schneider Jr.
Riverside appointees were insurance litigator Mac R. Fisher, Deputy District Attorney Timothy F. Freer, and Superior Court Commissioner Charles J. Koosed.
Bilash, 51, has served as a deputy district attorney in the county since 1989. Previously, he was a deputy district attorney in Tulare County from 1985 to 1989. Bilash earned a law degree from Western State University College of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Hutson, 41, joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1994. She is a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law and UC Santa Barbara.
Lemkau, 60, joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1972, after a short stint as an attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. His degrees are from the University of Texas School of Law and UC Berkeley.
Mapes, 42, joined the Public Defender’s Office in 1998 after serving on the county’s conflict panel from 1995 to 1998. He is a graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law and Brigham Young University.
Sachs, 47, has been a deputy county counsel since 1994 and currently heads the office’s litigation unit. From 1988 to 1994, he was an associate with Roberts & Morgan.
His degrees are from Western State University College of Law and UC Irvine.
Schneider, 56, has been an associate with Ponsor & Associates since 2000. Previously, he was an associate with Fiore, Racobs & Powers and with Anderson & Kriger.
Schneider earned degrees from Southwestern University School of Law and from UCLA.
Fisher, 54, has been an attorney with Bonnie Moss & Associates since 1998 after practicing with Fisher, Weather & Geeting from 1984 to 1998 and with Thompson & Colegate from 1980 to 1984. He holds degrees from Western State University College of Law and UC Riverside.
Freer, 44, has served as a deputy district attorney in Riverside County since 1989 and was a deputy district attorney in Ventura County from 1987 to 1989. He is a graduate of McGeorge School of Law and Marquette University.
Koosed, 39, has served as a commissioner for the Riverside Superior Court since 2005. Previously, he was an attorney in private practice in Indio from 1994 to 2005.
His degrees are from Southwestern University School of Law and UCLA.
Named to judgeships in other counties were:
•Kern County Deputy District Attorney John R. Brownlee and Bakersfield lawyer David R. Lampe to the Kern Superior Court;
•Brian M. Arax, an attorney with Fresno’s McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth; Alvin M. Harrell, assistant district attorney for Fresno County; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi Culver Kapetan to the Fresno Superior Court;
•Chief Deputy Public Defender Roger Ross and Deputy District Attorney Xapuri Villapudua to the San Joaquin Superior Court;
•Deputy District Attorney Gary A. Medvigy and Santa Rosa attorney Dana B. Simonds to the Sonoma Superior Court;
•Superior Court Commissioner Donna Stashyn to the Solano Superior Court;
•Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Montejano to the Tulare Superior Court;
•Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Mark S. Curry to the Placer Superior Court;
•Superior Court Commissioner Carol K. Ash to the Merced Superior Court; and
•State Deputy Attorney General Stacy Boulware Eurie, Superior Court Commissioners Delbert W. Oros and Matthew J. Gary, and Deputy District Attorney Kevin J. McCormick to the Sacramento Superior Court.
Eight of the new judges—Bilash, Hutson, Sachs, Koosed, Kapetan, Ross, Villapudua, and Boulware Eurie—are Democrats. Mapes is registered decline-to-state, and the others are Republicans.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company