Joseph Richard "Rick" Distaso (born January 25, 1967, in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

) is an American lawyer and judge. He was the

Stanislaus County, California , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

, senior deputy district attorney who served as the lead

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

in the case against

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mod ...

, charged with and later convicted of murdering his wife

Laci Peterson The ''lac'' repressor (LacI) is a DNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of genes coding for proteins involved in the metabolism of lactose in bacteria. These genes are repressed when lactose is not available to the cell, ensuring that ...

and their unborn child Conner Peterson in 2002. Laci was eight months pregnant with Conner at the time of the murder.Skoloff, Brian (20 November 2004)
In Peterson Trial, Substance Won Out Over Flash
''

The Day (New London) ''The Day'' newspaper, formerly known as ''The New London Day'', is a local newspaper based in New London, Connecticut, published by The Day Publishing Company. The newspaper has won Newspaper of the Year and the Best Daily Newspaper Award from t ...

'', Retrieved November 19, 2010 Distaso attended

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

as an undergraduate, and attended

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

for his law education. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1992.(31 May 2004)
Legal styles collide in Redwood City / PROSECUTION: Is the charisma gap a benefit or burden?
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', Retrieved November 19, 2010 After graduation from law school, he was a lawyer for the

Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army, also known as the U.S. Army JAG Corps, is the legal arm of the United States Army. It is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers and who provide legal services to the Army at a ...

through 1996, with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and then joined the Stanislaus County district attorney's office. In 2005, Distaso was appointed a

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judge by

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

. Distaso was deployed to Afghanistan for a tour in the

Army Reserves A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...

. In 2008, he was deployed to Afghanistan where he served as a

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and Deputy Commander of th
75th Legal Operations Detachment
in the U.S. Army Reserves JAG Corps.The Honorable Joseph R. Distaso
/ref> As of December 2019, he is a judge for the Army's 4th Judicial Circuit.Rocket List
/ref>

References

1967 births California state court judges Loyola Law School alumni Living people {{California-state-judge-stub