Tuesday, June 5, 2001
Page: 4
Davis Appoints Trial Lawyer, Commissioner as Judges in San Diego
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A leading San Diego trial lawyer and a court commissioner were named to the San Diego Superior Court yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis.
Steven R. Denton, 51, replaces Judge Peter Riddle, who retired. Denton, of the San Diego firm of Ludecke and Denton, is president of the local American Board of Trial Advocates chapter and a former president of Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.
He was named Outstanding Trial Lawyer by the latter organization, formerly the San Diego Trial Lawyers Association, in 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, and 1999.
Margie G. Woods, 47, was named to succeed Judge Richard Murphy, who retired following his election as mayor of San Diego.
She has been a commissioner since 1993, and was a referee between 1987 and 1990, having been in private practice in between.
She is a former deputy city attorney in San Diego, and practiced criminal law with Defenders, Inc., the nonprofit organization which provided contract attorneys for indigent defendants prior to the creation of San Diego’s Public Defender’s Office.