California Courts Will See a Raft of New Judges

SACRAMENTO (CN) - Gov. Jerry Brown went on a judge-appointing rampage this week, naming a dozen new judges to benches throughout the state, including six in Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles' six new Superior Court judges are Kerry Bensinger, 51, of San Marino; Michelle Williams Court, 45, of Los Angeles; Holly Fujie, 56, of Los Angeles; Michael Garcia, 54, of Alhambra; Roberto Longoria, 48, of Pasadena; and Michael Raphael, 43, of Los Angeles.

Riverside County is getting three new Superior Court judges. Raquel Marquez, 45, of Valley Center will become the first Latina judge in Riverside County history. Otis Sterling, III, 42, and John Vineyard, 50, both of Riverside, will replace retiring judges.

Christopher Plourd, 56, of San Diego has been appointed to Imperial County Superior Court.

Donald Segerstrom, Jr., 60, of Sonora has been appointed to Tuolumne County Superior Court.

Matthew Guasco, 53, of Ventura takes the bench at Ventura County Superior Court. Shelyna Brown, 41, of San Jose has been appointed to Santa Clara County Superior Court.

All the new judges are registered Democrats except Plourd, who declined to state his political affiliation.

Brown also appointed Kathleen O'Leary, of Santa Ana, to the state's 4th District Court of Appeals Division 3.

O'Leary, 60, has been associate justice for the district since 2000. Before that she sat on the bench in Orange County Superior Court for 14 years and on the West Orange County Municipal Court for 5 years.

She will replace Justice David Sills, who is retiring.

O'Leary will be the first female presiding justice in the history of the 4th District's Division 3.

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