Inspired by stories from her father and other family members who were confined in Japanese internment camps during World War II, Justice Motoike was motivated to become a lawyer who could give them a voice. After receiving a BA in Social Ecology from the University of California Irvine, she attended Loyola Law School and after graduation spent 17 years as an Orange County California public defender and two years as a trial attorney for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal. She was thereafter appointed to the Orange County Superior Court where she served for a time as Presiding Judge and led the creation of a collaborative Youth Development Court.
Justice Motoike was appointed in 2022 to serve as an Associate Justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Upon confirmation as Presiding Justice by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments, she will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary.