Samuel Anderson Thumma
Education and employment
JUDGE DAVID BRUCE GASS grew up in central Pennsylvania but spent a year taking classes in Chihuahua, Mexico. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ruth V. McGregor before joining the Phoenix law firm of Lewis and Roca, LLP. He spent seven sessions working as Counsel at the Arizona House of Representatives, before going to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
In 2009, Judge Gass was appointed to the Superior Court in Maricopa County. He served on all four major assignments. He sat on the Arizona Bar Association’s Civil Jury Instruction Committee and served as President of the Arizona Judges’ Association. He and Judge Pamela Svoboda established the STRENGTH Court in Maricopa County. STRENGTH Court works with victims of sex trafficking who are in the juvenile justice system.
In 2019, Judge Gass was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One. He began serving as the Vice Chief Judge in June 2021. He began serving as Chief Judge in 2023. He is a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Diversity, Equality, and Justice. He chaired the 2022 Child Support Guidelines Review Subcommittee.
Judge Gass was awarded the 2005 Arizona State University College of Law Alumni Association recognition for outstanding service, the 2014 Michael D. Ryan Award for Judicial Excellence from the State Bar of Arizona Public Lawyers Section, the 2018 Pete Dunn Above and Beyond Award as outstanding ambassador of the Judges in Arizona, and the 2018 Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Judicial Officer of the Year. The State Bar of Arizona awarded him its 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. In 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court’s Committee on Judicial Education and Training awarded him the Excellence in Education Award.
Judge Gass is on the Arizona Town Hall Training Committee and has worked with Arizona Anytown Youth Leadership.
Judge Gass is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He focuses and speaks on diversity and inclusion issues. He has been active in many related projects. Several are listed here. He developed a training module to unpack and demystify the judicial application process to encourage diversity in Arizona’s courts. He also developed an undergraduate internship program at the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One to give diverse undergraduate students experience working in the courts and to encourage them to go to law school.
Most notable, Judge Gass felt strongly that Arizona should officially recognize the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution so that we never forget the wrongs done to persons of Japanese descent and their families. He spent five years making it a reality so we always remember our constitution and our civil liberties are fragile and require our constant attention.
And he saves stray dogs on the side.
Judicial record
1537 opinions where Samuel Anderson Thumma sat on the panel, spanning 2014–2026.
By court
By disposition
Panel votes per year
How Samuel Anderson Thumma's panel-seat count has shifted year by year. Overlaid with Randall M. Howe for comparison (drop the overlay).
- Samuel Anderson Thumma
- Randall M. Howe
Most-frequent co-panelists
Judges who appeared on the same opinions. aligned = same bucket (both majority, both dissent); partial = concurred in result but wrote separately; split = the meaningful disagreement (majority vs dissent).
- Kent E. Cattani 319 shared 315 aligned 1 partial 3 split compare
- Michael J. Brown 230 shared 228 aligned 1 partial 1 split compare
- Randall M. Howe 196 shared 195 aligned 1 partial compare
- Paul J. McMurdie 175 shared 175 aligned compare
- Lawrence F. Winthrop 157 shared 157 aligned compare
- Margaret H. Downie 150 shared 150 aligned compare
- Maria Elena Cruz 140 shared 140 aligned compare
- D. Steven Williams 129 shared 128 aligned 1 split compare
- Peter B. Swann 120 shared 120 aligned compare
- James P. Beene 109 shared 109 aligned compare
Recent opinions
15 most recent opinions where Samuel Anderson Thumma sat on the panel.
| Docket | Court | Filed | Disposition | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 CA-CR 24-0500 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-24 | Affirmed | State v. Pacheco |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0533 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-24 | Reversed and remanded | ALDASARO v. PAVLINCH |
| 1 CA-CV 25-1027 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-11 | Affirmed | HICKS v. HSBC |
| 1 CA-IC 26-0009 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-10 | Affirmed | Halloum v. Black diamond/federal Insurance Co |
| 1 CA-CR 25-0445 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-08 | Affirmed | State v. Cloud |
| 1 CA-CV 26-0055 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-09-08 | Affirmed | Metke v. Oxford Bank |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0891 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-28 | Affirmed | PAVLAK v. FUNK |
| 1 CA-JV 26-0019 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-28 | Affirmed | In Re Term of Parental Rights as to S.M. |
| 1 CA-SA 26-0232 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-27 | — | Williams v. State |
| 1 CA-CR 25-0241 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-24 | Denied in part | State v. Campo |
| 1 CA-JV 26-0098 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-11 | Affirmed | In Re Dependency as to L.G. |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0647 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-06 | Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded | Phoenix v. Equity Recovery |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0829 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-08-05 | Affirmed | Foreclosure v. Asset |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0759 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-07-31 | Affirmed | TORRES v. REEVES |
| 1 CA-CV 25-0755 | Ariz. Ct. App. Div. 1 | 2026-07-30 | Affirmed | AZ HOLBROOK v. VAN HO |