Gov. Newsom appoints 5 new Superior Court judges in Bay Area, strengthening judiciary

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed five new Superior Court judges for the Bay Area.

Three of them were appointed for Alameda County while the others were for San Francisco and Solano County, Newsom’s office said in a statement Monday.

The three new Superior Court judges for Alameda County are:

Brian Caruth – Caruth was an assistant public defender at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office since 2021 and has served in several positions there since 1995, including deputy public Defender and associate public defender. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Richard Seabolt.

Elizabeth Riles – Riles served as a commissioner in Alameda County Superior Court since 2023. She also was an administrative law judge for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board from 2022 to 2023. She fills the vacancy created by the transfer of Judge Kevin Murphy to Marin County Superior Court.

Bentrish Satarzadeh – Satarzadeh served as a commissioner in Alameda County Superior Court since 2018 and was a legal research attorney there from 2004 to 2018. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jacob Blea.

Meanwhile, Brian Stretch was appointed to serve as a judge in San Francisco Superior Court. Stretch served as U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California from 2016 to 2018 and served in several roles there from 1999 to 2016, including First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division. He fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Rita Lin to the federal bench.

Kelly Trujillo was appointed to serve as judge in Solano County Superior Court. Trujillo served as an assistant city attorney at the Napa City Attorney’s Office since 2022. She served as an assistant city attorney at the Livermore City Attorney’s Office from 2020 to 2022 and at the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office from 2012 to 2020. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David Scott Daniels.

The five appointees, all of whom are Democrats, were among the 16 judicial appointees  announced Monday by Newsom’s office.