For which department is your candidacy?
I am running for Department #2, which
at the current time, deals primarily with civil issues.
How long have you resided in Calaveras County?
My wife and I purchased a home here
in the late 1990’s and made that home our primary residence in approximately
2002.
What are your qualifications?
I have been in private practice since
1974. I have been primarily involved in civil litigation including family law,
personal injury, and civil litigation. In the initial stages of my career, I
also handled misdemeanor and felony defense litigation and criminal appeals. I
have helped over a thousand family law clients alone, and handled hundreds of
other cases in other areas of the law. Family law requires significant
litigation in the courtroom, and I have been in courtrooms throughout the state
helping my clients. I know the law as it pertains to those cases that I have
handled and I am very familiar with what needs to be done to properly adjudicate
cases. Forty years of appearing before the courts has given me the
qualifications necessary to be a good judge.
What are your greatest strengths?
I know the law well as it pertains to
civil and family law issues. I also have some background in criminal
litigation. I believe that I know what a good judge needs to do, and how to do
it. I also believe that I am extremely patient and fair.
What are your greatest weaknesses?
A few years ago, I gave up coffee,
and now I drink too much hot chocolate.
Do you feel you can be impartial?
Absolutely! One of the things that a
good practicing attorney has to do is look at their own case from a neutral
position so that they understand what their opponent is going to focus on.
Although you advocate for your client, you are always aware of both sides. As a
judge, I feel that it would be very easy for me to use the skills that I have
developed to understand the truth regardless of who is standing in front of me.
Why have you chosen to be a candidate for civil/criminal superior
court judge?
Department 2 is primarily civil at
this time. However, both of our two judges will be involved in many different
areas of the law. I believe that my experience over the last forty years has
put me into a unique position where I can bring my knowledge and experience to
the bench, especially in regards to those issues before the court dealing with
civil litigation and family law.
What do you perceive as the greatest obstacles to justice
within our County?
I believe
that with a small county such as ours, and with a two judge system, it is
extremely important for each of the judges to be experienced and knowledgeable
in many areas of the law, so that when they are asked to make a decision, they
can make one based upon their years of experience. The more experience and the
more knowledge that a person has, the better decision that person can make. The
budgetary problems of the state make it difficult for our judicial system to
function at its absolute optimum. It is always better in a court system to have
the funds and resources available to provide programs and procedures to better
serve the public. The budgetary constraints are applicable to all counties, but
certainly seem to effect the smaller counties more. The voting population,
therefore, must be keenly aware of the judges that they pick so that they
obtain the best possible service from the bench.
How would you address the perceived rise in juvenile crime?
It is, of
course, the court’s responsibility to deal with those parties that come before
the court in a proper and fair manner. The courts themselves are there to
provide justice to all concerned, under the law as it currently exists. It is
not the court’s responsibility to make political decisions to create measures
and policies to reduce crime, or the perception of crime. It is the judge’s
responsibility, instead, to deal with those that have been charged with crime.
Do you support specialty courts? (Please explain your answer
and define which specialty courts you would like to see continue or implemented
in Calaveras County.)
The phrase
“specialty courts” can mean a lot of different things for both criminal and
civil law. If one judge is appointed to a domestic violence calendar, that can
be considered a specialty court. If one judge is assigned nothing but family
law for several years, then that can be considered a specialty court. If, in
the criminal system, one judge is assigned to a special calendar whereby drug
offenders can avoid certain sentences by participating in a review process by
the court, then that particular calendar of the court may be considered a
specialty court. It is a judge’s responsibility to follow the law and to
administer to any specialty court that has been put into existence by the
voters. To the extent that any specialty court is already in existence because
the state voters have voted it into existence, then the judge must follow the
existing state law, whether he favors the program or not.
It is my
philosophical belief that specialty courts, for the most part, can offer a
judge a better opportunity to understand the cases that they have by giving the
judge more time to deal with those cases. I do not believe it can ever be a bad
thing for a judge to gather more information and more facts before making decisions.
I also do not believe that it can be a bad thing for a judge to be able to
focus their attention in certain specific areas. The more that we can study,
the more information we can obtain, and the more facts that we can ascertain
about any particular case, the better we are prepared to make an appropriate
decision. To the extent that specialty courts can be developed and allow judges
the opportunity to obtain the information that I mentioned above, then I would
consider that as a positive thing to do. Unfortunately, we have a county that
has a smaller population than many, such as Los Angeles, Santa Clara, or
others, and as a result, we, as a county, often do not have enough funding to
allow for some of these programs to be developed. The judges that are elected
certainly have to live within the budgetary confines that we are given, but
philosophically, we can always hope for more.
What is your general judicial philosophy?
Listen
carefully, stay objective regardless of initial appearances, use all the
experience and knowledge that you have gained, make your decision in a fashion
that is fair, and do so in a speedy manner.
Would you favor or oppose a system in which all sentencing
decisions were routinely reported in local newspapers, indexed by the name of
the judge?
This
appears to be a decision that would be left up to the various media. As long as
the sentencing decisions were not restricted or held confidential, then it
would be up to the media outlets to determine what they wanted to do in their reporting
and how to do it. It is the judge’s responsibility to look at each case
separately and to make a decision based upon all of the facts and the law in
that case only. No decision on a particular case should ever be made in the
context of determining how it may appear on some judges score card that may be
developed by the media. That would be a totally inappropriate way to make a
decision as to a sentence for any particular individual. From the media’s
perspective, however, the media may feel that it is important for the general
public to understand the sentencing that is being given out by any particular
judge on any particular case. As long as the records have not been sealed, or
the sentencing held confidential for some legal purpose, the freedom of speech
gives the media the right to do so, and the freedom of speech is also an
extremely important right that the people have.
Have you ever been disciplined by the State Bar association?
In my forty
years of practice, I have never been disciplined by the State Bar association.
What are your outside interests?
I enjoy
hanging out with my children, playing with my grandchildren, traveling to the
beach with my wife and family, hiking in the mountains, enjoying the big trees,
and playing golf.
At this point I will allow any additional information the
candidate would like to disseminate to the public within the parameters of the
judicial canon, limited to 200 words.
I have been in
private practice for nearly forty years focusing on civil, personal injury, and
primarily family law matters. My main office is currently in Murphys, where my
wife and I reside.
I have argued
in hundreds of contested hearings, and represented clients in numerous trials
dealing with life-changing events such as custody, support and property issues.
These trials have taken place in Santa Clara, Tuolumne, and Calaveras Counties.
The court has
requested me to represent children in some of the more highly-contentious
cases. I have also been asked by various judges to serve as a temporary judge
for purposes of mediating many issues in family law.
Having argued
before dozens of different judges with varying styles, I have been able to
observe their procedures and behaviors, giving me a significant understanding
on how to best resolve issues that come before the court, and to do so with
strength and compassion. I believe all the above gives me insight and
experience on how to be a good judge for Calaveras County.
I graduated
with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco in 1974, and
passed the bar the same year.
