The territory’s chief public defender has been appointed to serve as a magistrate judge in Superior Court for the St. Thomas-St. John district. An announcement about the appointment of Julie Smith Todman to the magistrate’s bench is the latest addition to the roster of judges serving the Virgin Islands.
Superior Court Presiding Judge Jessica Gallivan signed the Order of Appointment formalizing the move on Monday. In doing so, Gallivan cited Title 4, Section 122 (a) of the Virgin Islands Code and Rule 310.2 (a) of the Superior Court, which gives her the authority to appoint magistrates for a four-year term “upon affirmative vote and recommendation of a majority of active judges …”
Todman’s appointment took effect Sunday. She spent 24 years serving as a defense attorney in the Office of the Territorial Public Defender and led the division as chief from July 2023. She joins Superior Court Magistrate Judge Paula Norkaitis, carrying out the daily duties, presiding over initial appearances in criminal cases, traffic offenses, issuing warrants and subpoenas, and performing marriage ceremonies.
Her path to the bench is preceded by that of former Territorial Public Defender Harold Willocks, who began representing indigent criminal defendants in 1988 and became chief of the division in 1992. Willocks was appointed for a six-year term as a judge by then-Gov. John de Jongh in August 2009, and was reappointed by Gov. Kenneth Mapp.
In 2024, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. nominated Willocks to serve a 10-year term as an associate justice of the V.I. Supreme Court.
Willocks and Todman are joined along their respective career paths by Superior Court Judge Melanie Lark Turnbull, who spent part of her career serving as a federal public defender.
