GOVERNOR APPOINTS NEW JUDGES TO

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

Release Date: December 18, 2018

Contact: Marita C. Ford, Public Information Officer

RIVERSIDE COUNTY:

On December 7, 2018, Governor Edmund G. Brown announced the appointment of Johnnetta E. Anderson and on December 14, 2018 he announced the appointments of Cheryl C. Murphy and Samah Shouka to vacant judgeships in the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside.

Johnnetta E. Anderson, 41, of Eastvale, has served as a supervising deputy public defender at the Law Offices of the Riverside County Public Defender since 2016, where she has served as a deputy public defender since 2006. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the California Western School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, San Bernardino. She fills the vacancy of a new position created on July 1, 2018.

Cheryl C. Murphy, 56, of Rancho Cucamonga, has been a sole practitioner since 1999. She was an associate at the Rancho Law Center from 1997 to 1999 and at the Law Offices of Tuckerman and Thompson from 1990 to 1996. Murphy earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Western State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jeffrey Prevost.

Samah Shouka, 46, of Orange, has served as senior deputy district attorney at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office since 2013, where she has been a deputy district attorney since 2003. She served as a law clerk in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 2002 to 2003. Shouka earned a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School and a Bachelor of Education degree from the College of New Jersey. She fills the vacancy created by the death of Judge Victoria E. Cameron.

A state Judicial Needs Assessment has found that the Riverside Superior Court is in dire need of judgeships to help process the growing caseloads in its communities. The filling of these vacancies by Ms. Anderson, Ms. Murphy, and Ms. Shouka will greatly assist the Court’s goal in continuing to provide access to justice for court litigants.

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Electronic version available at: www.riverside.courts.ca.gov under Media Center.