In the News

Office of the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger: April 14, 2005
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Three to the Los Angeles County Superior Court

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of Sanjay Kumar, Craig J. Mitchell and Alex Ricciardulli to judgeships in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Kumar, 40, of Calabasas, has served as court commissioner in the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2001, where he is assigned to the criminal court. Previously, Kumar worked as supervising deputy attorney general for 11 years, where he handled many high profile appeals including the Keating securities fraud case and the Menendez brothers' murder case. Kumar earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Pepperdine University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University of Chicago. He is a member of the California Judges Association, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association, and the California Asian Peace Officers Association. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Susan Isacoff. Kumar is a Republican.

Mitchell, 48, of Pasadena, has served as a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office since 1994, where he has handled primarily child abuse and murder cases. From 1992 to 1994, he was an attorney in private practice while also teaching at a Los Angeles law magnet school. Mitchell's experience also includes 17 years as a high school teacher in Los Angeles Unified School district and the Catholic Arch Diocese of Los Angeles from 1978 to 1994. Mitchell earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Law School and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John Ouderkirk. Mitchell is a Democrat.

Ricciardulli, 43, of Los Angeles, has served as deputy public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office since 1987, where he has handled misdemeanor and felony trials and criminal appeals. Prior to joining the Public Defender's Office, he served as a law clerk first for Smith, Gould, Kotchka & Trenberth in Las Vegas and later for Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges in San Francisco. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and the University of Southern California Law School since 2002. Ricciardulli earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lawrence W. Crispo. Ricciardulli is a Democrat.

The compensation for each of these positions is $139,784.