He was nominated by Governor Luis Fortuño to succeed retired Justice Efraín Rivera Pérez.
[1] Nominated on August 3, 2010, he was confirmed by the Senate of Puerto Rico on September 8, 2010.
[2] Born on January 3, 1955, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rivera García studied at the Liceo Interamericano Castro before obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, in 1977.
He was appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló as a district attorney in 1994, resigning in 1997 to become then-Senate President Charlie Rodriguez's Director of Legislative Affairs until 2000.
That year, Rosselló nominated him to be a Superior Court Judge in the judicial region of Arecibo, Caguas and special designations in the judicial region of Utuado, a post he held until Fortuño appointed him to the court of appeals in 2009.