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Kern County D.A. - Criminal Division
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Criminal Division Home
Branch Operations | Complaint Desk and Calendars | Gangs
General Felony | Juvenile Court Division | Misdemeanor | Preliminary Hearing
Prison Crime | Special Prosecution | White Collar Crime
 

Branch Operations
Cynthia Norris
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
The main office of the Kern County District Attorney's Office is located in Bakersfield, the county seat. Regional (branch) offices are maintained in other Kern County communities where the Superior Court hears criminal cases. These communities are Delano, Lake Isabella, Lamont, Mojave, Ridgecrest, Shafter and Taft. All offices are open every court business day, except Lake Isabella, which is open only on Wednesday of each week. Contact Information for Branch Offices

The Delano, Shafter, Mojave and Ridgecrest offices are staffed with two full time deputy district attorneys. The Taft and Lamont offices are staffed with one full-time deputy district attorney. The Lake Isabella office is covered by an attorney from the Ridgecrest office.

Branch office attorneys prosecute all misdemeanor cases originating in their respective offices from filing to conclusion. With the exception of vertical prosecution program cases, they also prosecute all felony cases originating in their respective offices through preliminary hearing, and through trial and sentencing for some offenses.
Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program
Since 1999 Kern County has been a participant in the Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program. This program is a multi-jurisdictional collaboration of the Agricultural Commissioners, Sheriff's Departments and District Attorney Office in the eight San Joaquin Valley counties, which are Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties.

The Rural Crime Prevention Program is a state-funded program that is administered by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. It specifically targets offenders who commit oil and agricultural crimes.

In fiscal year 2006-07 there were 841 crimes reported to the Kern County Rural Crime Unit, with an aggregated loss of over $2,900,000. Program investigators succeeded in recovering over $1,400,000 in the same period, and made 121 arrests.

Cases within the Rural Crime program are filed in the judicial district where the crime was committed; for that reason supervision of the program id part of Branch Operations. The Kern County District Attorney's Office commits the services a full time investigator and a Deputy District Attorney to the Rural Crime Prevention Program.

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Complaint Desk and Calendars
Cynthia Zimmer
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Over 31,000 requests for criminal prosecutions were submitted to the Kern County District Attorney's Office by law enforcement agencies in fiscal year 2006-07. The investigation reports in each felony case, and in most misdemeanor cases, submitted for filing must be read by an experienced attorney, and evaluated for sufficiency of the admissible evidence to prove the suspect's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the branch offices the assigned attorney is responsible for reviewing all cases submitted for complaint. In the Bakersfield office all complaint requests, except those cases that are part of one the vertical prosecution programs, are reviewed by attorneys assigned to the Complaint Desk and Calendars section.

Cases meeting the criteria for prosecution are issued, and cases needing further investigation or lacking sufficient evidence are returned to the requesting agency. In fiscal year July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007, 7,294 felony complaints and 35,947 misdemeanor complaints were filed in the Superior Court of Kern County.

An attorney from the Complaint Desk and Calendars section appears every court business day at the Criminal Calendar, where defendants are arraigned on new cases, hearings on various motions are conducted, and most defendants who have entered a plea of guilty at the preliminary hearing stage are sentenced. An attorney from this section also appears every day at the Revocation calendar, where defendants on felony probation appear for hearing and sentencing on violations of probation.

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Gangs
Michael Vendrasco
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Every community in Kern County is affected by crime committed by members of street gangs. There are over 30 such gangs in the county, with 4,412 known members and affiliates. In fiscal year 2006-07 the Kern County District Attorneys Office filed 286 cases against 441 gang defendants. Of these 441 defendants, 19 were charged with first degree murder, almost half of the 40 first degree murder defendants charged in that same period of time.

The Gangs section is responsible for prosecuting all defendants who commit crimes in furtherance of criminal gangs. It is staffed with a Supervising Deputy District Attorney, seven Deputy District Attorneys, one Paralegal and one Legal Secretary. A gang attorney is dedicated to prosecution of gang cases originating in communities located in north Kern County, including Delano, McFarland, Ridgecrest and Shafter. Another is dedicated to the south county communities, including Arvin, Lamont, Mojave, Rosamond and Taft. A third is assigned to prosecution of gang cases in Juvenile Court. The majority of gang crimes are committed in metropolitan Bakersfield, and all Gang attorneys share this caseload.

In January, 2008, the gang prosecution staff of the Kern County District Attorney's Office will be expanded by six additional attorneys.

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General Felony
Drug Trafficking
Michael Yraceburn
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
The General Felony Section prosecutes all felony offenses that are not handled by one of the vertical prosecution sections, which is the great majority of crimes that are committed each year.

The General Felony section is responsible for the prosecution of all felony offenses that are not included in one of the vertical prosecution sections. General Felony has the highest felony case assignment per prosecutor in the office, and prosecutes the most felony jury trials of any section every year. Typical cases include vehicular homicides, residential burglaries, grand thefts, and assaults involving great bodily injury or dangerous weapons.

Three deputy district attorneys are assigned to the Narcotics Trafficking unit, and vertically prosecute crimes involving the sales of controlled substances. Each attorney is assigned to one of three vertical prosecution grant programs: the Major Narcotic Vendor Program, the California Methamphetamine Task Force and the Kern Narcotic Enforcement Task Force.

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Juvenile Court Division
Three deputy district attorneys are assigned to prosecute all juvenile court cases from the issuing stage to conclusion. Their offices are located in the Juvenile Justice Center.

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Misdemeanor
Judith Krech Dulcich
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
The Misdemeanor Section handles all misdemeanor pre-trials and jury trials in the Kern County Superior Court, Metropolitan Division, which is located in Bakersfield. Misdemeanor cases filed in courts other than Bakersfield are handled by the attorneys assigned to the branch office serving that court.

Although most misdemeanor offenses are not as serious as are felony offenses, the Misdemeanor Section is responsible for the prosecution of all driving under the influence cases filed in Bakersfield. Over 3,000 misdemeanor DUI cases were filed in the Metropolitan Division of the Superior Court during fiscal year 2006-07.

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Preliminary Hearing
Scott Spielman
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
A preliminary hearing is a contested hearing before a judge, sitting as a magistrate, at which the prosecution must prove facts to establish probable cause to believe that the defendant has committed the felony offense(s) charged in the complaint. If the magistrate finds that probablecause has been proved, the defendant(s) in the case will be set for trial on the crime(s) charged. If probable cause is not established, the case will be dismissed, and the defendant released from custody on the dismissed charges.

Four attorneys are assigned full time to the Preliminary Hearing section, which is part of the staff in the main office in Bakersfield. They present the evidence in all preliminary hearings in cases that are not assigned to one of the other sections, such as Gangs or Special Prosecutions. Preliminary hearings in branch courts are handled by the attorneys assigned to those offices.

A total of 1,998 defendants were held to answer for trial in fiscal year 2006-07 in the Kern County Superior Court. Most of these defendants, 1,398 of them, were defendants in cases handled by the Preliminary Hearing section.

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Prison Crime
Andrea Kohler
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Four major state prison facilities are located within Kern County, housing an average monthly population of over 22,000 inmates. These prisons are: California Correctional Institute, North Kern State Prison, Kern Valley State Prison, and Wasco State prison. Further information about these and other state prison facilities can be found on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Web page.

Crimes committed in state prisons located within Kern County are prosecuted by attorneys assigned to the Prison Crime section. The costs for these prosecutions are fully reimbursed by the State of California.

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Special Prosecution
Lisa Green
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
As the name suggests, the Special Prosecution section is responsible for those cases and/or defendants that are particularly violent, or that require more time to prepare that the typical felony offense. The crimes include sexual assaults, child abuse, and most murder cases, including some gang cases. The Statutory Rape Vertical Prosecution program attorney is included in this section.

Two Domestic Violence grant programs are also part of the Special Prosecution section. The three attorneys assigned to these programs handle the filing and prosecution of felony spousal abuse cases in all branches of the Kern County Superior Court.

A total of 327 felony spousal abuse cases were filed during fiscal year 2006-07. During that same period a total of 52 defendants were sentenced to state prison. Another 78 defendants were sentenced to serve time in the Kern County jail, and placed on felony probation.

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White Collar Crime
Investigation and prosecution of white collar crime requires specialized training and experience. The White Collar Crime section handles most fraud cases, including:
  • Asset Forfeitures
  • Child Abduction
  • Civil Actions
  • Consumer Frauds
  • Insurance Frauds
  • Welfare Frauds
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