Candidate for
Superior Court Judge; County of San Diego; Office 14

Judge Lewis has served as a Superior Court Judge since 1998. Due to his background and experience in criminal law, he is assigned to handle some of the Court's most serious cases, including Three Strikes and death penalty trials. Recently, Judge Lewis completed a three year assignment hearing Family Law cases and was commended for his "Outstanding Service to Family Law" by the Foothills Bar Association.

After a thorough evaluation of the qualifications of each candidate for Superior Court Office 14, Judge Lewis received the highest rating of "well qualified" from the San Diego County Bar Association.

Judge Lewis was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1990 and served as a Municipal Court Judge in El Cajon until 1998. There, he handled criminal cases along with limited jurisdiction civil cases. In addition, he served a term as Presiding Judge and helped implement the first program in California to consolidate the work of Municipal and Superior Courts.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Lewis was a prosecutor admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court, United States District Court for the Southern District of California, and the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. He served with the San Diego County District Attorney and successfully prosecuted crimes of violence, including hate-crimes and gang murders. While serving as a Deputy District Attorney, he was designated a Special Assistant United States Attorney and prosecuted major financial crimes in Federal Court. He received the "Executive Directors Award" from the Department of Justice for his work in Federal Court.

Judge Lewis earned his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. While attending the evening program at the law school, he was appointed Criminal Justice Planning Coordinator for the San Diego County Law and Justice Agency. As such, he was responsible for executing the policies of the San Diego Regional Criminal Justice Planning Board. The board included the Sheriff, chiefs of all local municipal police departments, the District Attorney, and the Chief Probation Officer. Prior to this appointment, Judge Lewis was on the staff of the San Diego City Manager and evaluated municipal police and fire programs.

After obtaining his Bachelors Degree in Social Science from San Diego State University, Judge Lewis enlisted in the Marine Corps and completed basic training at MCRD and Camp Pendleton. While continuing his service with the Marine Corps Reserve Battalion at Camp Elliott, he earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University.

Judge Lewis has served on the Police/Community Relations Committee of the San Diego Human Rights Commission. He was a member of the faculty of the College of Advocacy, San Diego Inn of Court. He judges moot and mock court competitions sponsored by the University of San Diego School of Law and San Diego Unified School District and makes presentations about our justice system to high school and middle school students in East County.

Judge Lewis and his wife Yvonne have been married for 22 years and have two adult sons. Yvonne is a psychology professor and a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight.

Judge Lewis is committed to applying the rule of law fairly to insure equal and impartial justice for all. His independence, sense of fairness, and commitment to the rule of law have earned him the respect of his fellow judges, attorneys, peace officers, and the citizens who appear in his courtroom.