Annual Report 2006 - San Diego County District Attorney

name change and addition of responsibilitiesA are two big changes for the Appellate Divisionduring 2006, when it merged with the Training Unit.The new Appellate and Training Division not onlyprovides support to the District Attorney’s Officethrough its work on motions, appellate and writs—now it’s also responsible for conducting effective andcutting-edge office-wide training.…the District Attorney’s Officecontinues to be on the cutting-edgeboth technologically and topically…DDA Cathy Stephenson was appointed chief of thenew division. Her background in both training andthe appellate function helped make the consolidationof the two entities a seamless transition.In addition, the division moved its offices—includingthe entire law library—to another floor of the Hall ofJustice. This major undertaking was supervised byAssistant Division Chief Craig Fisher.In spite of all the changes, the outstanding workof the division continued unabated. There was asignificant increase in post-conviction discoveryrequests in capital cases under Penal Code section1054.9. This relatively new statute is expected tocontinue generating more litigation in the future andsteps were taken to deal with the added workload ina systematic way.Members of the division also took a lead role instemming the sudden tide of defense constitutionalchallenges to the manner in which jury venires aredrawn in San Diego County.Significant cases included work by Deputy DistrictAttorneys Charles Nickel and James Atkins, whocollaborated on an amicus curiae brief on behalfof the California District Attorneys Association,supporting the Attorney General’s winningargument that expands the applicability of the 10-20-Life sentencing scheme in People v. Shabazz.In an appeal to the Fourth Appellate District Courtof Appeal in People v. Dye, Deputy District AttorneyMichael Zachry succeeded in reinstating an Illinoisattempted robbery prior as a serious felony andstrike prior. The defendant’s sentence was increasedto 25-years-to-life in prison.On the training side, the District Attorney’sOffice continues to be on the cutting-edge bothtechnologically and topically. Traditional office-widetraining sessions were held in February and Octoberon a variety of useful topics, including computerforensics, demonstrative evidence, and sentencing.Training staff presented several smaller trainingsessions as well, covering specialized topics of vitalinterest to attorneys, investigators, and paralegals.Assistant Training Director Jim Kelly created anumber of streaming live video presentations.Demonstrating a mastery of new technologies, thesepresentations were then edited and made availableon the DA’s internal website.Appellate And TrainingDivision 2006 StaffingAttorneys 11Paralegals 1Support Staff 8TOTAL 20San Diego County District Attorney 15