Candidate for
Judge - Superior Court; County of Santa Clara; Office 24

The best prosecutors have many life experiences and empathy for all kinds of people. The best judges have the same qualities. Please take a moment and read my story to see why I have the qualities necessary to become a judge that the voters can be proud to have on their court.

For almost 23 years, my career has been in public service as a Deputy District Attorney at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Although it has been hard work and at times dangerous, I am grateful to have spent my time focused on the important goal of making the county a safe place to live, work and raise a family.

I have not always worked in law.

When I graduated from the Pennsylvania State University, my first two jobs were in sales for large national companies that manufactured industrial products for commercial construction and original equipment manufacturers. It was five years before I enrolled in law school.

I graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1988, and my first legal job was at a California Top 20 law firm as a civil litigation associate. There I handled large cases, like a train derailment caused by an unsecured box car that rolled onto the main track and was hit by a passing train, as well as small cases, such as injuries caused by an impromptu wrestling match at a clam bake.

Whether large or small, however, these cases taught me the basic skills that every civil trial lawyer needs to master, including taking depositions, exchanging discovery, arbitration and the law and motions practice.

I joined the District Attorney's Office in 1991. That same year, I was a co-recipient of the Robert L. Webb Award for Trial Advocacy in Misdemeanor cases. In my first three years as a prosecutor, I learned quickly how to handle misdemeanors like DUIs and theft cases and once tried six jury trials in six weeks.

After a brief stint doing Juvenile cases, I joined the general felony trial team. While there, I won a jury verdict in a difficult second degree murder case involving the death of an elementary school student in a collision caused by a repeat drunk driver with six prior convictions. The jury convicted the defendant of murder in short order.

During my third year, I was promoted to the Sexual Assault Team, joining the best deputies trying the hardest cases. I was then asked to take over the preparation and trial of a capital homicide on just a few months' notice, because the original prosecutor was already engaged in another murder case. Jury selection and the trial lasted almost six months and included calling more than 120 witnesses.

The jury convicted the defendant, a paroled rapist from Missouri, of First Degree Murder and the Special Circumstance of Murder Committed in the Course of Attempted Rape, and he is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. I was later named County Employee of the Month by the Board of Supervisors for my work in the case.

I went from trying violent cases to the Economic Crimes Unit, where I prosecuted white collar criminal cases such as embezzlement, forgery and commercial bribery. One large fraud prosecution involved a false billing scheme by a high tech employee whose job it was to approve invoices from vendors. She stole millions of dollars by setting up shell companies and submitting invoices for work that was never done.

The fraud was detected only because she was greedy and continued to submit fake invoices even after she was laid off, and someone finally caught on. Until then, she had lived a lavish lifestyle on stolen money. She was sentenced to prison for her crime.

After a few years working on white collar or "paper crimes", I joined the DA's Special Operations Unit, where I had a mixed caseload of sex, murder and other "major" cases. While there, I was asked to take over and try a child molestation case after the defendant threatened to kill the original prosecutor at the next court date. While I was prepared every day of the trial to jump out of my chair, "just in case", the jury found defendant guilty and no one in the courtroom was hurt. I have also served on the Gang Team where I concentrated on homicides and other violent crimes committed by gang members.

After leaving Special Operations, I was assigned for about 3 years as a "community prosecutor," which is the prosecutor version of community policing. My job was to develop special projects that helped to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in several neighborhoods, such as sponsoring "clean up days", giving seminars to seniors on how to avoid becoming a victim of elder fraud, community courts programs and mending neighborhood disputes by convincing neighbors to attend mediation.

When I left Community Prosecutions, I was cross-designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Jose. For three years I prosecuted criminal cases in federal district court, including trafficking in counterfeit software, asset forfeiture, money laundering, wire fraud, and felon with a gun, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhood, a special program targeting gun crime.

When I returned to the District Attorney's office, I joined the Consumer Protection Unit and was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of civil and criminal cases involving unlawful business practices or deceptive advertising. I was instrumental in recovering tens of thousands of dollars in restitution for victims, civil monetary penalties, and injunctive relief preventing the dishonest business from continuing the illegal conduct.

I spent four years on Consumer Protection.The cases were fascinating. For example there was the company that threw rebate requests in the trash instead of paying them, an internet sales company that took payments without delivering any products and then imposed return and restocking charges when angry customers cancelled orders, cash register scanners at a major retail chain that scanned different prices than the shelf price, and weight loss products that promised results that the company could not prove.

I am now assigned to the Asset Forfeiture Unit, where I bring civil lawsuits against drug traffickers to take the profit out of selling drugs and to prevent the reinvestment of dirty money in other criminal ventures.

On a personal note, I have been married to my wonderful wife "Flor" for 20 years and we have two school age sons. I was privileged for many years to have coached hundreds of kids in the Evergreen area of San Jose in baseball, soccer and basketball.

Finally, I was a competitive fencer from the fifth grade until just a few years ago. Some of my sports accomplishments include winning the 1989 U.S. National Championship in Men's Epee Team, as well as a silver medal in the Olympic Sports Festival Epee Team event. While in college, I was a four year varsity letter award winner, Team Captain, MVP and in 1979 was named All-American after becoming an NCAA medalist (5th) in Foil Fencing, and a Bronze medalist in the team event.

The lessons I learned in fencing have served me well in my work as a prosecutor, including how to set and pursue goals, not to be discouraged in tough times and to look for what you have in your case, not what you don't have. Competition also has taught me to keep cool in stressful or pressured situations.

I have always thought that a criminal jury trial was the same as a fencing match, only slower. The skills I learned in fencing and refined as a prosecutor will allow me to serve the public well as a judge and face the unique and surprising things that happen in court every day.