Congratulations to Assistant Federal Defender Francine Zepeda, who Governor Brown appointed today to the Fresno County Superior Court bench. Francine has been the chief of the Fresno Branch of the Office of the Federal Defender since 2010, where she has served as an assistant federal defender since 1991. Before that, she was an assistant public defender at the Fresno County Office of the Public Defender from 1989 to 1990 and served in multiple positions at California Rural Legal Assistance from 1986 to 1990 and 1979 to 1980, including directing attorney and staff attorney. She earned a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
I worked with Francine on a number of cases during my time at the Federal Defender's Office in Fresno, including an acquittal in a double bank robbery case. Since leaving the office, I've been fortunate to have served as co-counsel with her on a few capital cases. The office and I will miss her!