Presiding Justice, Fourth Appellate District BAR ADMISSION: Admitted to California Bar in 1976 EDUCATION: Graduate of Loyola University School of Law (now Loyola Law School), J.D., Los Angeles, 1974; Graduate of Whittier College 1970. Major: political science and international relations. PROFESSIONAL LEGAL BACKGROUND: Admitted to California Bar in 1976 and to practice before the Federal Central District; Deputy District Attorney, Orange County from 1976 to 1983, misdemeanor prosecutions, writs and appeals, felony panel assignment (major felony cases, including death penalty), charter member of sexual assault and vertical prosecution unit, and Assistant Division Chief, Family Support Unit. JUDICIAL BACKGROUND: Appointed to Municipal Court by Governor George Deukmejian, December 1983 - while there, served in law and motion, small claims, traffic, felony arraignment and preliminary hearing calendars, and misdemeanor jury trials; appointed to Superior Court by Governor George Deukmejian, October 1986. While in superior court, served in the court’s civil, criminal, juvenile, adoptions and minor’s compromises, and mental health departments; appointed to the Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Two, as Presiding Justice, November 1990; Associate Justice pro tempore, California Supreme Court, on three occasions: 1992, 1994, 1995 (see Menendez v. Superior Court (1992) 3 Cal.4th 435; Applied Equipment Corp. v. Litton Saudi Arabia Ltd. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 503; In re Sassounian (1995) 9 Cal.4th 535). PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES/ASSOCIATIONS/AFFILIATIONS: Member, California Judges Association, 1984-1991; Member, Orange County Bar Assocation, 1976 (honorary since 1983); Member, Riverside County Bar Association, 1992-present (honorary); Member (including offices of Secretary/Treasurer and Board member), Orange County Deputy District Attorneys Association, 1980-1983; Member, Orange County Mexican-American Bar Association, 1976-1983. EDUCATIONAL/PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS: Richard M. Nixon Scholarship Award, Whittier College; Richard M. Heyden Memorial Scholarship, Whittier College; Outstanding Hispanic Alumni Award, Whittier College, 1987; Constitutional Rights Trial Judge of the Year, 1989; Developmental Disabilities Center of Orange County Trial Judge of the Year, 1989; California State Senate, Certificate of Recognition, John Seymour, 35th Senate District, 1990; Serafines De Orange County Judge of the Year, 1990; Loyola University School of Law (now Loyola Law School), Outstanding Hispanic Alumni Award, 1991. PROFESSIONAL TEACHING/EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES: Continuing panelist at Riverside County Office of Education’s “Superintendents’ Legal Seminar,” 1992 to present. Topics have included First Amendment Rights for Students; District and Superintendent Liability Regarding Student Harassment and Sexual Abuse; School Security and Safety: Crime and Violence on School Campuses; Religion in the Schools; Drug Testing of Students and Employees. Orange County Mock Trial Judge, 1984 to present; Instructor, Extension Program, Paralegal Studies, University of California Irvine, 1988-1996; delivered commencement speech, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Academy graduating class, 1991-1993. Faculty, Seminar Leader, California Judical College, Berkeley, 1986. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Inaugural member and co-founder, Casita de San José (home for abused children), 1983-1986; Charter member, co-founder and co-chairman, Efren Herrera Scholarship Foundation, 1987-1996; volunteer, Adopt-a-Class Program, 1988-1997; volunteer cook for the homeless, Southwest Community Center, Santa Ana, 1993 to date; coached Little League, soccer, National Junior Basketball, Pop Warner Football and Bobettes Baseball, 1968-1996.