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INTRODUCTION Judge Sandra Margulies was born on March 16th 1952 Alameda County, California where she still currently resides. After an extensive and impressive legal career, Judge Margulies currently sits as an Associate Justice for the First District First Division of the California Court of Appeals. She was appointed in 2002 by Republican governor George Deukmejian, despite being very liberal in her legal ideologies and attitudes. She is known for her very direct questioning while hearing opinions and does not let either side avoid the question by side tracking. She handles both criminal and civil cases, and has ruled on several high profile banking cases, including JP Morgan and Bank of America.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION Justice Margulies was born in Oakland California. She resides there currently as well, with her husband Bart Schenone and son Benjamin Margulies Schenone. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles for her undergraduate career and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor’s degree in History, and is a devoted fan to the UCLA basketball team to this day. She then attended Southwestern University of Law, also in Los Angeles, unclear of what she wanted to do with her career upon entering, and says in an interview with The Recorder, that “being a Judge was the furthest thing from her mind.” She graduated in 1977 with a J.D. Immediately upon graduation, Justice Margulies was hired as a Deputy District Attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, which allowed her to spend significant amounts of time arguing cases and seeing the ins-and-outs of the legal system. One well known case which she argued and won was People v. Ruggles, a case involving a robbery indictment which she successfully prevented an appeal of the outcome of the case before the California Supreme Court in 1985. A summary of the case follows: Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence that was obtained by officers after an informant tipped them off to a robbery he was planning to commit. He had committed a previous robbery by impersonating an officer to get the owner alone, then handcuffed him and took $5000. Police set up surveillance at the sight on the day and time the informant said it was supposed to occur. The officers witnessed the defendant acting in a suspicious manner, and taking a suitcase out of the trunk of his car. He then got back and drove away. Police pursue him, and upon stopping him saw a police call scanner and narcotic paraphernalia in plain sight. They arrested him, and searched the trunk of the car, where they found 2 firearms (causing a charge of felon in possession of a firearm), a police scanner, halloween-like masks, and a sledge hammer. The defendant argued that the evidence from the trunk of the car should be suppressed and considered an illegal search. Margulies argued on behalf of the District Attorney's office and prevented the approval of this motion and possible overturning of the decision. In 1987, two years after her appointment to San Leandro-Hayward Municipal Court as a District Court Judge, she simultaneously served as a faculty member of California Judicial College, California Center for Judicial Education and Research until 1993. This program is a committee of Judges who summarize their position and goals as “The committee makes recommendations to the council for improving the administration of justice through comprehensive and quality education and training for judicial officers and other judicial branch personnel. The committee also recommends rules, standards, policies, and procedures for judicial branch education; recommends a strategic long-range plan for judicial branch education; evaluates the effectiveness of judicial branch education, the quality of participation, the efficiency of delivery, and the impact on service to the public…” Margulies continued to demonstrate her passion for teaching judging as well throughout her judicial career.

JUDICIAL CAREER Justice Margulies began her judicial career in 1985 when she was appointed by Republican Governor George Deukmejian to serve as a District Court Judge for San Leandro-Hayward Municipal Court, although Margulies is a liberal justice herself. Justice Margulies served as a District Court Judge until 1988 when she was elevated to Alameda Superior Court by to hear and rule on felony offences. Margulies served as a Superior Court Judge, until she was appointed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals First Division by Governor Gray Davis in 2002. One of the notable cases in which Justice Margulies ruled on in the Court of Appeals was People v. Cuevas (2013) in which the defendants argued that the blood test that was conducted on them after being arrested for a DUI was unconstitutional and performed without their explicit consent, which violated their Fourth Amendment rights and filed a motion to suppress the results of the blood test. Although the police officers could not be considered expert witnesses, they did say that the defendants did not tell them that they did not consent and did not seem to be in any discomfort during the test. Additionally, anyone arrested for a DUI is required to do one of two sobriety tests to determine their BAC. Justice Margulies was in the majority opinion and denied the motion to suppress the results of the blood test due to the testimony of the officers and other witnesses who stated that the blood test did not result in any discomfort or infection, injury etc. after it was performed. It was performed by a medical professional in a sterile environment. There was no protest from the defendants at the time of the blood draw, which Margulies and the other justice in the majority stated as the main reasons for their decision to deny the motion. Another notable ruling made by Justice Margulies involved the defendant, the mother and diagnosed schizophrenic LaShaun Harris, who was convicted of three counts of second degree murder when she threw her three young sons off a bridge into a bay where they drowned, due to voices telling her that she had to sacrifice them to God. While the conviction was not being appealed, the sentence was. The Superior Court Judge who sat on the case sentenced Harris to 25 years to life in prison. The Justices ruled that due to the fact that Harris had already been diagnosed and found not guilty by reason of insanity, she was not entirely aware of the consequences of her actions. They ruled that her sentence be upheld to and she be placed in Napa State hospital, and could be released after 25 years minimum, and only until she was able to prove that she had regained her sanity.

AWARDS AND HONORS While there is no record of any particular awards that Justice Margulies received, she did sit as a chairman for the Judicial Council Criminal Jury Instruction Committee, which works to create more clear and plain english language of jury instructions in order to provide more consistent and informed decisions in the future.

PUBLICATIONS Justice Margulies has two published cases by her own choice, the first being Kanter v. Warner-Lambert Co. and the second Hackett v. John Crane Inc. Kanter challenged the labeling of a lice-treatment company which was moved up to the California Supreme Court. Kanter was filed by a man who had been exposed to asbestosis and sued the company for unsuitable and dangerous working conditions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY https://votersedge.org/ca/en/ballot/election/area/73/contests/contest/18128/candidate/141823?&election_authority_id=7&date=2018-11-06 https://www.law.com/therecorder/almID/900005381924/Judicial-Profile%3A-Sandra-Margulies/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/07/01/court-uphold-convictions-of-s-f-mother-who-threw-three-sons-into-the-bay/ https://blog.judicata.com/judge-insights-understanding-the-forest-and-the-trees-c3164b767a4c http://www.courts.ca.gov/cjergovcom.htm

6. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914e431add7b049348ff134