DA Will Increase Pot Prosecutions

[Ganjarden]

Mendocino County marijuana cases will again be prosecuted on merit rather than a 200-plant, 20-pound limit established by an internal District Attorney's Office memo in May.

The move comes following the appointment of three new deputy district attorneys by DA Meredith Lintott.

The new hires, she said, restore staffing levels in the DA's office. Lintott has said her no-prosecution policy was not iron-clad, but necessary at the time because of staff shortages.

"It was not so much that we would never do it, but I have to move cases through the system in a businesslike fashion," Lintott said.

An August 19 internal memo officially terminated the May policy.

The three new deputy district attorneys are Douglas V. Parker, Sergio Fuentes and Sara Dabkowski.

Parker is assisting Lintott in developing the DA's new environmental and elder abuse unit. The programs are possible due to settlement funds received by Mendocino County in the statewide pollution litigation against MCM Construction.

Before joining the District Attorney's Office, Parker worked for the national business litigation firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges. He also has worked as a law clerk for the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Parker received his bachelors of arts from Stephen F. Austin State University and his law degree from Ohio Northern University.

Currently assigned to the DA's Willits office, Fuentes began working at the DA's Office in 2001 after graduating from Santa Clara University. While working as a Victim Witness Advocate, he attended Empire Law School of Law.

"His years as an advocate and his fluency in Spanish make him a valuable addition to [our] staff," Lintott said.

A recent Santa Clara School of Law graduate, Dabkowski, interned at the San Francisco and Santa Cruz District Attorney's offices. She will work traffic court in Ukiah and also will handle Attendance Improvement Monitoring (AIM) truancy cases.

Established by Lintott in fall 2007, the AIM program is designed to increase school attendance as a crime prevention strategy.

Dabkowski also is handling drug treatment court.


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Source: The Willits News
Contact: The Willits News
Copyright: 2009 The Willits News
Website: DA Will Increase Pot Prosecutions