Rick Distaso
Rick Distaso is an American lawyer and judge in California. He has served as a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge since 2005, after being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Born Joseph Richard Distaso on January 25, 1967, in Los Angeles County, he is a Republican. He earned a BA from the University of Southern California and a JD from Loyola Marymount University, and was admitted to the California Bar in 1992.
Distaso began his career with the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, serving through 1996 with the rank of captain. He then joined the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, where he became the senior deputy district attorney and led the 2002 prosecution of Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son Conner.
In addition to his state duties, Distaso has ongoing military involvement. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the Army Reserve, and in 2008 served there as a Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Commander of the 75th Legal Operations Detachment in the JAG Corps. As of December 2019, he was a judge in the Army’s 4th Judicial Circuit.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:03 (CET).