Monterey County Superior Court is getting a new judge from its neighbor to the north.
Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Rafael Vazquez, 42, to the bench. Vazquez is filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Albert H. Maldonado.
Vazquez comes from Santa Cruz County, where he's served as an assistant district attorney since 2010. Before that he worked for two different law firms, after serving as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County from 2004 to 2007.
In 2014, Vazquez was part of a coalition in Santa Cruz County that worked on combatting sexual abuse of farm workers.
“We are trying to reach out to migrant farmworkers and extend help to a segment of the community that is voiceless,” he was quoted as saying in the newspaper Good Times on Dec. 3, 2014. “They are targeted because they will not speak up. But there are steps to report these types of crimes.”
Vazquez told the paper that he grew up in a family with many migrant workers, and that he understands their struggles.
In August he acted as the prosecuting attorney against Adrian "A.J." Gonzalez who is accused of raping and killing 8-year-old Madyson Middleton of Santa Cruz in 2015.
Gonzalez was 15 at the time. Vazquez argued the teen should be tried as an adult. In October, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge John Salazar agreed.
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