Marta S. Diaz Superior Court of California County of San Mateo Judicial Profile =============================================== == Career Highlights: Appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson, 1997; sole practitioner, Burlingame, 1994-97; deputy district attorney, San Mateo County, 1981-94 Law School: UC Berkeley School of Law, 1981 Age: 55 By John Roemer Daily Journal Staff Writer SAN MATEO - San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Marta S. Diaz still seethes about the teenager accused of murder who escaped from the juvenile lockup right outside her chambers window. "I wish I’d seen him," said Diaz, gazing at the spot where a year ago the youth boosted himself through netting over a recreation yard and fled to the border. "I’d have caught the little bastard myself before he got to Mexico." Diaz, the county’s juvenile supervising judge, just might have nabbed the kid. The 55-year-old jurist is a runner who hits the pavement every morning without fail. On a recent morning, the judge practically vibrated with vigor as she led visitors through the county’s new, $148 million youth services center. "You all been good?" she asked a group of girls on a bench near her courtroom. They nodded shyly at the judge. "That’s not what I hear," she laughed while heading down the hallway. Colleagues give Diaz, the daughter of a Cuban-born jockey, credit for tirelessly working to promote the funding, creation and design of the center. It opened in 2006 on a hill overlooking Crystal Springs Reservoir. The center’s staff works with delinquents and abandoned, neglected or abused youth. It includes a school for juveniles expelled from other institutions and also features a 30-bed girls justice camp, named for one of Diaz’s mentors, former Judge Margaret J. Kemp. The camp integrates probation, education and mental health services for young women ages 14 to 17, who have been sentenced to stays at the facility of three to six months. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Clifford V. Cretan, who has known Diaz since both were deputy district attorneys in the 1980s, said Diaz made the center happen. "She put her heart and soul into building that place," Cretan said. "She worked on conceptual things, and she spent hundreds of hours on the nuts and bolts of deciding where the doors and windows would go. It was a huge burden, and she deserves tremendous credit. It is obvious she has a passion for what she’s doing." Every two weeks, Diaz holds "girls court" in her courtroom to check on each of the young women in the facility’s locked wards and to congratulate those about to be released. Last Wednesday, she called out a girl who’d been caught stealing a ring and some perfume from a fellow inmate. "I’m not happy," Diaz told the girl, who sat shamefaced in a courtroom packed with peers and parents. "I wasn’t thinking," the girl responded. "Of course you were thinking," Diaz shot back with echoes of the television’s tough cookie Judge Judy. "That’s extremely low. I’m very disappointed. Here’s the deal. Therapy says you’re making progress, but this is a major step backward. The police will decide whether to take this case to prosecutors." The tough tone continued during Diaz’s brisk tour through the lockdown wards, where she seemed to know everyone and greeted staff and kids alike. She told one young man in a tone both stern and friendly to obey his parents and his lawyer. "I just sentenced him this morning," Diaz said. "I’m letting him go home to get his stuff together." She added, "I like to stroll through the facility. No one is going to think of not taking care of the kids in the right way if they never know when the judge is coming through." Taking care of kids has long been a priority for Diaz, especially after the tragic death of an 8-month-old foster child named Angelo Marinda. He died during an unsupervised visit with his parents on Christmas holiday 2003. Marinda’s father was accused of shaking the child to death the child. The boy had been in San Mateo County’s custody after he was discovered with broken bones just days after he was born. Diaz blamed herself and two social workers for approving the Christmas visit, despite warnings from the child’s foster parents about the father. Responding to the tragedy, Diaz proposed a series of reforms in the county’s child welfare system in a detailed report she wrote about the case. Diaz’ voice still fills with emotion when talking about the case. "Angelo changed everything for me," she said. "That was the worst year of my life. I was totally consumed that something like that could happen to a child in the county’s care. How awful."
She said she took a long time to write and edit her report because she wanted to avoid a judicial tone and instead educate readers about solutions. What has changed? "There have been two big shifts in the paradigm," she said. "I see a higher degree of vigorous advocacy for children in my courtroom. And I am getting a lot more information from the Department of Social Services. It means a lot more reading and a lot more hearings, but that’s a good thing." Diaz tries to spark through her sentencing such soul-searching in the people who appear in her courtroom. In one vehicular manslaughter case, she ordered the girl found guilty of the crime to write a biography of her victim while in lockup. "I wanted her to get past thinking only about herself," Diaz explained. "I wanted her to have to interview the family and friends of the victim, to realize what she had done. At first, the family didn’t want to talk to her. They finally acquiesced, and she wrote a tremendous biography. She did a lot of time, too." The attorney representing the family, name partner Jerry E. Nastari of Millbrae’s Corey Luzaich Pliska de Ghetaldi & Nastari, said he’s become familiar with that emotional sensitivity during the more than 20 years he’s known Diaz. "She thinks outside the box, and that biography assignment was an example," Nastari said. "She was thinking of the victims, and I admired her handling of a very sensitive and heart-wrenching case. She’s really young at heart in relating to these kids. She helps change young lives, and I consider that a high compliment to pay to a judge or any person." Not everyone is a fan. Diaz is among a number of county officials who have come under fire recently for referring juveniles to a child psychiatrist who was later charged with molesting three young male patients. Dr. William Ayres is set to stand trial later this year. Local government watchdog Michael G. Stogner, of Belmont, has insisted that county officials, including Diaz, continued sending patients to Ayre, despite knowing about the accusations. New York-based journalist and victims’ advocate, Victoria Balfour, has accused Diaz of protecting Ayres. Diaz shrugged off the attacks. "Stogner and Balfour have this little jihad against me," she said. "I don’t care. I know it’s all bullshit. All will come out." Her supporters say Diaz is a tough but patient defender of the county’s troubled children. "She’s extremely bright, which you can’t say for every judge," said Adam Wells Ely, a Foster City sole practitioner. "She’s tough on kids, but she understands they’re kids. She lets them make kid mistakes, to a point. Beyond that point, she’s no-nonsense." Here are some of Judge Diaz’ recent cases and the lawyers involved: In re Cailin F., 72777 -homicide For the defense: Vincent J. O’Malley, sole practitioner, Foster City For the prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth L. Raffaelli, Redwood City In re Andrew L., 76089 - assault For the defense: Regina H. Jett, sole practitioner, Half Moon Bay For the prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Sandra L. Belluomini, Redwood City In re Julio P., 79156 - robbery For the defense: V. Roy Lefcourt, sole practitioner, San Francisco For the prosecution: Deputy District Attorney James A. Wade, Redwood City In re Kelly K., 72337 - homicide For the defense: Kathryn L. Yolken, sole practitioner, Half Moon Bay For the prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Eddie C. Thomas Jr., Redwood City In re Colleen S., 69355 - vehicular manslaughter For the defense: Peter F. Goldsscheider For the prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Eddie C. Thomas Jr., Redwood City This profile originally appeared in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal on March 9, 2009.
Biography =============================================== == CURRENT ASSIGNMENT
Court Name: Title: Dates:
Superior Court of California County of San Mateo Judge 1997 to Present
Status: Appointed Date Appointed: February 25, 1997
Appointed By:
Governor Pete Wilson
EDUCATION
Law School
UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
Location: Date: Degree:
Berkeley, CA 1981 J.D.
College Location: Date:
San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA 1978
Degree:
B. A.
PRACTICE HISTORY
Organization: Location: Dates:
Sole Practitioner Burlingame, CA 1994 to 1997
Organization: Location: Dates:
Deputy District Attorney San Mateo County 1981 to 1994
BAR AND RELATED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Organization:
San Mateo County Bar Association
Organization:
California Public Defender's Association
PERSONAL HISTORY
Sex:
F
