Active Trial judge
Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa
California · Contra Costa
Overview
Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.
Background
No nonjudicial career history is documented in this source.
Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project public biographical data. Demographic and political labels are incomplete, source-attributed, and are not used to infer judicial behavior. “Via appointer” describes CourtListener’s attribution method, not verified personal party membership.
Before you appear
Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.
Statewide and courtwide guidance is labeled by scope and is not evidence of a personal preference. Division, judge-specific, or case-specific orders may control.
Presentation rules
Department 16 prefers electronic or digital trial documents and exhibits on an indexed USB thumb drive; paper binders are accepted but are unnecessary when electronic copies are provided.
Department 16 prefers electronic copies of documents loaded on a thumb drive
The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.
Department 16 requires parties to meet and confer about audio or visual presentations, test them before jury use, submit objections two court days before trial, and arrange advance courtroom testing with the clerk.
All audio or visual presentations are to be tested before use in front of the jury
The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.
Contra Costa civil departments permit parties to appear remotely through Zoom; Zoom is the court's sole remote-appearance platform and CourtCall is not supported.
Zoom is now the Court's sole remote appearance platform. CourtCall is no longer supported.
The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.
Certain general-civil discovery disputes may be assigned to Department 57; all other discovery matters remain in the assigned judge's department on law-and-motion days.
All other discovery matters will be heard in their assigned departments on Law & Motion days
The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.
A party offering an electronic sound or sound-and-video recording must provide the court and opposing parties a transcript and provide opposing parties a duplicate of the recording.
the party must provide to the court and to opposing parties a transcript of the electronic recording and provide opposing parties with a duplicate of the electronic recording
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
California courts should permit remote participation in covered civil proceedings, subject to the statute, local rules, and controlling orders.
courts should permit parties to appear remotely at conferences, hearings, and proceedings in civil cases consistent with Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
Covered civil parties and witnesses may appear remotely, and the court may conduct proceedings in whole or in part using remote technology.
that party or witness may appear remotely and the court may conduct conferences, hearings, and proceedings, in whole or in part, through the use of remote technology
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
Court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast except as Rule 1.150 permits.
Except as provided in this rule, court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast.
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
In expedited jury trials, parties may use slides, electronic presentations, projections, exhibit notebooks, and other methods approved at the pretrial conference.
the parties may present summaries and may use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, individual notebooks of exhibits for submission to the jurors, or other innovative methods of presentation approved at the pretrial conference
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
Voluntary expedited jury trial submissions must identify party agreements concerning electronic presentations and other proposed presentation methods.
Any agreements of the parties to use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, notebooks of exhibits, or other methods of presenting information to the jury
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
An exhibit must be admitted by the judge before it may be used in the case.
The judge must to allow you to admit the exhibit as evidence in order for you to use it in your case.
The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.
Courtroom technology
equipped with integrated, state-of-the-art evidence presentation equipment
Open official source ↗Published opinion footprint
This does not mean the judge has no published opinions or no caseload. KYJ will only show opinion counts after transparent, source-linked CourtListener matching is available.
Sources
Identity source · HTML · retrieved July 28, 2026
https://www.cc-courts.org/divisions/civil/complex-litigationIdentity source · HTML · retrieved July 29, 2026
https://www.courtlistener.com/person/14167/benjamin-t-reyes-ii/Courtroom-specific · HTML · retrieved July 28, 2026
https://www.cc-courts.org/divisions/civil/complex-litigationStatewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/two/rule2_1040Statewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_672Statewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=367.75.&lawCode=CCPStatewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/one/rule1_150Statewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1551Statewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1548Statewide · HTML · retrieved July 26, 2026
https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/how-introduce-exhibits-trialCourtroom-specific · PDF · retrieved July 28, 2026
https://www.cc-courts.org/system/files/general/standing-order-trial_revised_2025_civil_for-d16-cases-2.pdfCourtroom-specific · HTML · retrieved July 28, 2026
https://www.cc-courts.org/divisions/civil/evidence-presentation-equipmentCourtwide · HTML · retrieved July 28, 2026
https://www.cc-courts.org/divisions/civil/civil-discoveryChange history
Identity imported from Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa. 12 presentation-related claims migrated with source provenance.