Assemblyman, ex-public defenders on governor’s new judge list

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl was nominated Monday to fill a vacancy on the 3rd District Court of Appeal by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who also appointed 11 superior court judges across the state.

The governor's choices include Assemblyman Edwin P. Chau, D-Monterey Park, a sole practitioner since 1994 and school board member from 2000 until he was elected to the state Legislature in 2012.

Chau, a Southwestern Law School graduate who would have been term-limited out of the Assembly in 2024, was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Newsom also appointed two other judges to the Los Angeles County bench.

They are Patricia A. Young, a supervising deputy federal public defender since 2014 who has worked in the federal public defender's office since she moved from Latham & Watkins LLP; and Donald A. Buddle Jr., a Los Angeles County deputy public defender since 2007.

Earl, the appellate court nominee, is a former Sacramento County deputy public defender who in 1995 joined the district attorney's office. She left the office in 2004 and spent a year as a county inspector general before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to the superior court.

Earl must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta and 3rd District Court of Appeal Senior Presiding Justice Vance W. Raye.

She is a graduate of Lincoln Law School in Sacramento.

The 3rd District court covers 23 counties from the Oregon border to the San Joaquin Valley. If Earl is confirmed, she would fill a vacant seat on what is meant to be an 11-person court.

The court has drawn criticism from Healdsburg appellate attorney Jon B. Eisenberg, who has tried to draw attention to long delays in appeals by criminal defendants and civil plaintiffs -- some of whom have had cases decided in their favor after their sentences were completed or their cases were moot.

"It's about time!" Eisenberg wrote in response to the news of the nomination. The attorney said he doesn't know Earl but hopes her addition would help the court move cases more quickly.

Newsom appointed Peter E. Borkon to a vacancy on the Alameda County Superior Court. An expert in securities law, he is a partner at plaintiff's firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP and was a partner and associate at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro from 2007 to 2018.

Kings County Deputy District Attorney Melissa R. D'Morias was picked to serve on that county's superior court.

Stephanie L. Jamieson, a deputy public defender in Merced County since 2013, was appointed as a judge there.

In Modoc County, Wendy J. Dier was tabbed as a superior court judge. A sole practitioner, she has worked on contract for the court, the district attorney's office, and the Department of Social Services.

Yvette Durant, who has served since 2016 as a Sierra County Superior Court judge, was appointed as a judge in Nevada County, where she previously was a commissioner.

Newsom appointed two judges to the Sacramento County Superior Court: Andre K. Campbell, a partner with Hanson Bridgett LLP since 2010, and Allison M. Williams, who has worked at the public defender's office there since 2006.

Tulare County Chief Deputy Public Defender Sylvia J. Hanna was chosen by the governor to fill a vacancy on that county's court.

This was the second time in November that Newsom announced new judges. He also nominated an appellate court justice and 11 superior court judges earlier this month.

If confirmed, Earl would make $256,138 per year. The new superior court judges will earn $223,829 a year.