DOWNEY - Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Mario Trujillo was installed as president of the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA) on Saturday, in a gala ceremony at the Los Angeles Downtown Marriott Hotel.Trujillo, a Downey resident, was installed by Los Angeles Superior Court judges Teresa Sanchez Gordon and Kathryn A. Solorzano. Trujillo has tried 120 jury trials (30 misdemeanors and 90 felonies). He is currently assigned to Administration, serving as a special assistant to the directors of Branch and Area Operations. His last trial assignment was with the Hardcore Gang Division, which is responsible for prosecuting the most serious of crimes and gang-related murders. Trujillo received his juris doctorate from the Southwestern University School of Law in 1995 and was admitted to the bar in 1996. He joined MABA in 1996 and was one of the first prosecutors ever to sit on the board of the organization. Trujillo was born in California and then raised in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico until the age of 6. He grew up in San Francisco, and obtained his bachelor's degrees from UC Berkeley in 1990, where he majored in Sociology and Chicano Studies. While at Berkeley, Trujillo was active in MEChA, the Raza Recruitment and Retention Center, and student government. After Berkeley, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in education. He was employed by the LAUSD as a bilingual elementary teacher from 1990-1996. After obtaining his teaching credential in 1992, he completed his juris doctorate at night while continuing to work as a teacher at South Central elementary schools. Trujillo resides in Downey and is president of the Downey Kiwanis. He also serves on the board for the Latino Prosecutors Foundation of Los Angeles County and on the board for the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse. ********** Published: January 30, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 41