Justice Consuelo Marie Callahan, Circuit Judge, United States Courts of Appeal [65:39-70:45]

hung juries than a lot of people that's interesting I think that's and what you said is absolutely true not only about the judge asking the question the attorneys purposefully evading for whatever whatever strategy but it because you were a trial attorney it sounds like it really informed your abilities as a superior court judge I think and I can get people to talk to me that I think I was not threatening in that capacity and jurors would say things to me that sometimes they would not say to someone that was maybe less friendly or less open and the attorneys like that because it wasn't them pulling the information out I was getting the information out there for them the jurors seem to to love to pour out their hearts and then they have some concept of what they're dealing with and whether that's a good juror for their particular case I know and I said this earlier that you were the first woman and the first Hispanic judge appointed to the San Joaquin County Superior Court do you have any particular challenges or triumphs I think that I've often said to people it it unfortunately in San Joaquin County 1992 for the first woman to be on the court that's pretty late and I think San Joaquin County was fairly provincial and you found women on the superior court in larger areas much much earlier than that and so I think it was breaking a glass ceiling and they since have had fortunately that there are many more now but it even took time for that to happen but I also think that my disadvantages turned out to be advantages sometimes when the time was ready I was there I and when they decided they did want a woman I was a qualified woman when they decided that they you know that it was time to be more ethnically diverse I was a qualified ethnic candidate and I always tell people that I'm sure I did not get some jobs because I was a woman or other reasons but you know what I didn't give the jobs back that I got because I was a woman and so life is I think life is karmic in those ways that you you know there are times that what you can control is being qualified and being the best that you are and at certain times the the plus factors are going to be the things that help you get a look job at another time that was maybe something that you didn't get a job for so there's no sense in in being better about things I look at it you know I've had advantages and disadvantages along those lines and so I I feel pretty fortunate to be have had all the wonderful jobs that I've had and so I can't say that any disadvantages I've had have been lasting over my lifetime tell us about your appointment to the Court of Appeal well that was it was it was interesting because they've only at the time well they've only actually ever had two people from San Joaquin County on the third district Court of Appeal and its entire history and it had been 73 years and my understanding is the one that was before me I think ended up he ended up going to the the state Supreme Court and I think he died in a duel or something I mean he was a little a little disreputable at some point so he wasn't exactly my my my role model for the whole thing but I think that what was surprising is because of their district Court of Appeal is located in Sacramento in the capital and people in the it's always had a little bit of a different dynamic and most of the judges even though it covers 23 counties and San Joaquin was the second largest county to Sacramento Sacramento has always sort of been the center and most of the judges always come from Sacramento and so there was a little bit of a disadvantage for people that were outside the Capitol because you're outside the Capitol you're not as likely to know the governor who's the appointing authority you're not as likely to have worked in government and and it's only natural that a governor is going to favor people that have worked for the governor's office that the governor knows those people's work knows more about them as opposed to an unknown that comes from you know another county either way up by Oregon or down in down in the Delta so that presented I think that it wasn't that the governor's were unwilling to appoint people it's just that we were off the radar and so I think I was even I even think that the court was pretty surprised when I got appointed because I didn't know these people and my presiding judge at the time was someone named Robert Pullia and he has commented since he's passed away now but he we got to be very good friends he said I was the first person under his tenure that had actually been a person appointed that he didn't know so I was definitely an outsider you are a dark I was a surprise and I kind of like that it was it was a little bit it was a