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DA Newsletter Press Releases Opinion Editorials


	DA Newsletter Press Releases Opinion Editorials

For Immediate Release
(print version)

Contact: Ingrid Wyatt
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(951) 955-5626

DA ROD PACHECO NAMED TOP 100 LAWYERS IN CALIFORNIA

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, September 20, 2007: Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco was named one of California's Top 100 Lawyers by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals. The Daily Journal is most highly respected and widely read legal newspaper by attorneys throughout the state of California. The announcement was made Tuesday night at a reception at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was the Daily Journal's tenth anniversary honoring California's most influential lawyers.

"I am deeply honored to receive this distinction in the company of such an esteemed group of colleagues," said District Attorney Rod Pacheco.

According to the Daily Journal, Pacheco was honored for "standing by his convictions even if it meant ruffling the feathers of the local legal community. He received heat from judges who said his tough stance against most pre-trial plea bargaining pushed too many cases onto the court's packed calendar. Pacheco refused to bend, vowing not to 'surrender justice' to expediency or cave 'in the face of criticism.'"

Pacheco was instrumental in leading the drive by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George to send a strike force team of judges to help clear up the backlog of cases in Riverside Superior Court.

Pacheco was sworn as Riverside County District Attorney in January of this year. He leads the third largest district attorney's office in California with a staff of more than 800 employees, including 300 prosecutors.

Pacheco began his career in the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 1984. During his tenure, he specialized in homicide and death penalty cases. Five of those murderers are currently awaiting execution on California's death row.

In 1996, Pacheco became the first Latino Republican elected to the California State Assembly in more than a century. After serving his term in the California legislature, he returned to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 2002.

When then District Attorney Grover Trask announced his retirement in 2004, Pacheco announced his intention to run for Trask's seat. He ran unopposed in the June 6, 2006 primary and was elected District Attorney.

Pacheco is a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1980 at the University of California Riverside and in 1983 received his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.