Opinion ID: 7347069
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Judge Saucedo ’s Background and Character Witness Evidence

Text: Judge Saucedo presented evidence about his personal and professional background. His parents were immigrants who worked as farm workers. The judge received financial aid to abend the University of California at Berkeley and worked with his family in the farm fields on weekends and breaks. After earning his law degree from Stanford, he practiced law for more than 24 years in the Central Valley, primarily with rural legal service agencies and at a private law firm representing plaintiffs in employment class action matters. The judge was on the Lindsay City Council, and was later appointed mayor. Judge Saucedo presented substantial character evidence, including the testimony of 16 witnesses and more than 100 supporting declarations from judges, community leaders, community members, religious leaders, attorneys, court staff and former mentees. 9 In general, the witnesses described the judge as a fair, generous, honest, respectful, courteous, caring and hardworking judge, attorney and leader. He devotes substantial time to volunteering for organizations and mentoring young professionals. The judge provided bar examination tutoring to a number of recent law school graduates who came from underprivileged backgrounds and who had difficulty passing the bar exam. He also provided mentoring and support to many young lawyers starting out their careers in public interest law and has been a positive influence in the lives of members of his community. Based on this evidence, we adopt the masters’ finding that Judge Saucedo has had a distinguished career as a judge, attorney, and community leader, has very strong support from his colleagues, attorneys, community leaders and community members, and has provided substantial assistance to many individuals in need of his assistance.