More than 600 Students Participated in Annual Program Cathedral Catholic High School’s Mock Trial team outperformed 31 other County High Schools to win the annual legal competition. The San Diego County Mock Trial program provides high school students with actual experience in courtrooms rather than learning about the rule of law from books and lectures. The student teams undertake the roles of lawyers and witnesses facing off on a hypothetical case in front of actual state and federal judges. The fourday competition was held at the downtown courthouse over the past three weeks.

Starting Monday, March 2, 2020 North County residents will no longer be required to drive to downtown San Diego to file their Probate matters. A dedicated Probate counter will be open in the Court’s Family/Civil Business Office located at 325 Melrose Drive in Vista. Court services dealing with decedents' estates, trusts, guardianship of minors, and conservatorship of adults who are unable to provide for their personal needs or manage their financial resources, were discontinued at the North County courthouse in 2012 as the Superior Court faced historic budget cuts.

An imaginary case involving self-driving vehicle technology, civic activism and a murder has drawn hundreds of local high school students into courtrooms for the 14th Annual San Diego County High School Mock Trial Competition. The annual event, sponsored by the San Diego Superior Court, the San Diego County Bar Association, and Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF), is a program that gives students hands-on experience in learning about the law and the Constitution. This year’s pretrial issue involves the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Judge Gale E. Kaneshiro, a jurist who spent a three-decade judicial career presiding over criminal and appellate cases, will officially retire from San Diego Superior Court on February 29, 2020. Appointed to the Municipal Bench in 1989 by then governor George Deukmejian, Judge Kaneshiro elevated to the Superior Court in 1998 through court consolidation. Judge Kaneshiro presided for more than two decades in criminal courtrooms and numerous high profile cases including: People v.

A well-known, experienced jurist who has presided over some of the court’s most high-profile cases is stepping down. Judge Louis R. Hanoian is retiring after serving more than 27 years on the bench. Appointed to the municipal bench in 1993 by then-governor Pete Wilson, Judge Hanoian elevated to the Superior Court in 1998 through court consolidation. Assigned to the East County courthouse at the beginning of his judicial career, he has spent the remainder of his time on the bench at the Central Courthouse downtown.

After a nearly seven-year absence, court reporters will once again be available in certain Family Court proceedings. Court reporters were eliminated from Family Court cases beginning in 2012, and further reduced in 2017 as the Superior Court faced unprecedented budget cuts. Beginning March 2, 2020, court reporters will now be available in all Family Court proceedings at court expense, with the exception of Family Law trials.

The San Diego Superior Court is closing all its courtrooms and business offices two days in February. The Court will be closed on: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Monday, February 17, 2020 The holiday closures are in observance of the statewide holidays commemorating Lincoln’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day.