In 1998, Governor Pete Wilson appointed Anello to a seat on the San Diego Superior Court,[3] where Anello then served until 2008. One of the final cases he presided over in that position was a suit by San Diego firefighters who claimed sexual harassment after being required to drive their fire truck in a city gay pride parade; the suit ended in a hung jury, and Anello declared a mistrial.[4]
In 2016, Anello presided over a securities fraud trial brought by SeaWorld investors who "claimed company officials misled them about the impact of the documentary Blackfish", dismissing the suit due to an absence of evidence that the officials had knowingly misrepresented the cause of declining attendance at the park.[5]