Ten new judges have taken office in the Inland Empire.
Elected judges sworn in
David Tulcan and Melissa Rodriguez were sworn in to San Bernardino Superior Court Jan. 3. Voters elected them to judge in the June 7 election.
Tulcan was raised in Crestline, and has worked in the district attorney’s office since 2005. He said he wants to educate the community as a judge.
Rodriguez has been a prosecutor for 17 years. She said she wants to work on the diversion courts, and said Girls’ Court, for victims of human trafficking, is near to her heart.
Read more about the San Bernardino judges from the candidate forum hosted by Follow Our Courts here.
Riverside Superior Court also swore in their new judges Jan. 3.
Kristi Kirk was a deputy district attorney who grew up in a Northern California farming town. She said the court should focus on expanding technology and enforcing courtroom consistency to deal with the court’s resource shortage. She also said judges should be involved in their community.
Jay Kiel was a deputy district attorney raised in downtown Baltimore. He was on the gang and homicide unit before the election, and prosecuted major narcotics and cartel cases before that. He stressed the importance of humility, kindness and an education.
Jason Stone has been a prosecutor since 2006, and grew up in Riverside County. He handled 100 felony cases a day, and said he has worked to get mental health treatment for criminal defendants.
Natalie Lough was a senior deputy district attorney before her election. She’s worked on a variety of case types, including child molestation to death penalty cases, but has specialized on appellate cases for the past 10 years. She said an inadequate understanding of mental health is the root cause of inadequate justice.
Four new San Bernardino appointments
Gov. Gavin Newsom also appointed four new San Bernardino Superior judges.
Rasheed Alexander has been San Bernardino Assistant Public Defender since 2021, and joined the office in 2017, according to the governor’s office. He became a supervising deputy public defender in 2013. He was a deputy public defender in Orange County from 2001 to 2006. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 2000.
Alexander was disciplined and put on probation in 2009. According to the California State Bar, Alexander was representing a defendant in the case People v. Pulliam (FSB48983) in San Bernardino Superior Court in 2006. During direct examination of his client, San Bernardino Superior Judge Arthur Harrison sustained the prosecutor’s objection. Alexander then argued and shouted at Harrison, and said, five times in front of the jury, that the court was unfair to this client. He also said the court was not letting the client tell his story. Harrison also told Alexander, outside the presence of the jury, that Alexander raised his eyebrows and acted surprised when Harrison ruled on objections. Harrison said it was contemptuous. The court found Alexander guilty of violating Section 1209 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, and fined him $1,000. Alexander did not report the matter to the State Bar in a timely way. In 2009, the State Bar found that his “failure to follow the direction of the court significantly harmed the administration of justice.” The bar also found that Alexander had good character and that the event was an isolated incident. The bar placed him on stayed suspension from practicing law for a year, and placed him on probation for two years.
Jeffrey Erickson had been a partner at Redlands’ litigation firm Raynes Erickson since 2012, and at La Follete, Johnson, DeHaas, Fesler and Ames from 2000 to 2012. He was an associate there from 1990 to 2000, and an associate at Bonne, Jones, Bridges et. al. from 1988 to 1990, according to the governor’s office. He joined the bar in 1988. He fills the vacancy created by Judge Christopher Marshall’s retirement.
Marie Moreno Myers has been a sole practitioner specializing in family law in Riverside since 2010. Her website describes her as a child advocate attorney, protecting the rights of minors in cases involving divorce, child custody, neglect or abuse and juvenile court proceedings. She was an associate at the Law Office of Swanson and Myers from 2004 to 2010, and joined the bar in 2004. She fills the position previously held by Judge David Williams.
Stephanie Tanada was a research attorney for Orange County Superior Court for the past year. She was an associate at Jackson Lewis PC from 2020 to 2022, and helped the firm open its 62nd office, in Riverside, in 2021. She was a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith from 2018 to 2020, and an associate there from 2008 to 2018, according to the governor’s office. She joined the bar in 2008.
San Bernardino Superior Court has eight current vacant positions, not including the recent appointments of these judges, according to Julie Van Hook, San Bernardino Superior Court communications & public affairs office.
California Supreme Justices sworn in
New California Supreme Justice Patricia Guerrero and Kelli Evans were also sworn in Jan. 2.
Guerrero joined the California Supreme Court as an associate justice in March, 2022, and was an associate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, since December, 2017. Prior to that, she was a judge in San Diego Superior Court, starting in 2013. She was an associate at the international law firm Latham & Watkins LLP from 1997 until her appointment to the bench. “I look forward to protecting the rights of all Californians and ensuring equal access to justice. Just as I did not get here alone, I do not move forward alone, and I look forward to embarking on this exciting new journey with family, friends, and colleagues,” Guerrero said.
Evans was a judge in Alameda Superior Court before her nomination. She served as chief deputy legal affairs secretary to Newsom before her appointment to the Superior Court. Before that, she was special assistant to the California Attorney General. “The California Supreme Court is a beacon, and I am immensely humbled and proud to be joining the court today. I pledge to serve the people of our beautiful state to the very best of my abilities, doing all I can to help fulfill the promise of equal justice under the law,” Evans said.
