The Judicial Nomination Commission has sent three names to President Barack Obama for consideration to fill a vacancy on the D.C. Superior Court bench created by the retirement of Judge Odessa Vincent. Obama has 60 days to select a nominee from the list.
The list of candidates includes:
Superior Court Magistrate Judge Joseph Beshouri , who has served in the Criminal Division since his appointment in 2009. Before joining the bench, Beshouri was a criminal defense solo practitioner. He earned his J.D. from Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.
Teresa Howie, an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington. Since June 2007, she has served as the deputy chief of the Superior Court Division. Prior to that, Howie served as chief of the Major Crimes Section, chief of the Fourth District, Homicide/Major Crimes, and deputy chief of the General Felony Section, in the United States Attorney’s Office. Before becoming a prosecutor in 1990, Howie was an associate at Sidley Austin. She earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law and received a master’s degree from Antioch School of Law.
Maria Elizabeth Raffinan, a supervising attorney in the Trial Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Raffinan has been with PDS since 1999 and has represented numerous indigent defendants facing criminal charges. Raffinan has also worked in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia. She earned her law degree from Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.
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