Monday, July 23, 2018
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Nora Manella Elevated to Post of Court of Appeal Presiding Justice
Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Dhanidina, Kim, Stratton, Raphael Appointed to Appeals Court Posts; All Are Democrats
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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NORA MANELLA Court of Appeal Justice |
Court of Appeal Justice Nora M. Manella of this district’s Div. Four was elevated Friday to the post of presiding justice of her panel, and four Los Angeles Superior Court judges were appointed to associate justice slots.
In conformity with his recent tendency, Democratic Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed only members of his own party.
The trial court judges gaining elevation were Halim Dhanidina, Dorothy C. Kim, and Maria E. Stratton, who will sit in this district, and Michael J. Raphael, who will serve in the Fourth District’s Div. Two, headquartered in Riverside.
The appointments require confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, consisting of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and the district’s senior presiding justice—Arthur Gilbert, in this district, and Manuel A. Ramirez in the Fourth District.
•Manella, 67, has been an associate justice since 2006. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1990, was elevated to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1992, served as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 1994-98, and was appointed U.S. district judge for that district in 1998, where she sat for eight years.
She will replace Presiding Justice Norman Epstein, who is retiring.
•Dhanidina, 45, a judge since 2012, was appointed to Div. Three to fill the vacancy left by Richard D. Aldrich’s retirement. Brown’s office noted that he “will be the first American-Muslim justice and the first South Asian American justice in the history of the California Courts of Appeal, if confirmed.”
•Kim, 45, has been at her present post since 2014, following 13 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. In announcing her appointment to Div. Five, to fill the seat created by the retirement of Justice Sandy R. Kriegler, the Governor’s Office pointed out: “She will be the first Korean American justice in the history of the California Courts of Appeal, if confirmed.”
•Stratton, 65, a judge since 2006, was federal public defender for the Central District of California for 13 years, the first woman to hold that position. She fills the vacancy on Div. Eight created by the retirement of Justice Madeleine I. Flier.
•Raphael, 50, was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 1999 until taking the bench in 2012. He was appointed to the seat previously held by Justice Thomas E. Hollenhorst, who retired.
Alameda Superior Court Judge Alison M. Tucher was appointed as a justice of the First District’s Div. Four, replacing Justice Maria P. Rivera, who retired.
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HALIM DHANIDINA Superior Court Judge |
DOROTHY C. KIM Superior Court Judge |
MICHAEL J. RAPHAEL Superior Court Judge |
MARIA STRATTON Superior Court Judge |
Copyright 2018, Metropolitan News Company