Crime fighter

MEET THE DA: : As Santa Barbara County’s chief law enforcement official, District Attorney Joyce Dudley says, “My job is to ensure laws are upheld and make sure Santa Barbara is kept safe, and a key part of that is making sure charges are filed. My job is to rigorously prosecute the guilty, rigorously defend the innocent, and prevent crime. And also to help victims transition into survivors.” Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

KNOW THE CODE: : Dudley keeps a full anthology of West’s Annotated California Codes in her office, though she doesn’t seem to need it often. During her time with the Sun, Dudley frequently references specific codes when recounting details from cases, past and present. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Joyce Dudley is a busy woman. As Santa Barbara County’s top prosecutor and law enforcement official, she spends each day defending the public from crime.

“If I’m not rigorously trying to prevent crime, I’m not doing my job,” Dudley says during an interview with the Sun.

The public usually has a good grasp of what other crime-fighters—fictional superheroes, real-life law enforcement officers, or otherwise—do in the community, but what about the district attorney?

IT’S A TOUGH JOB: : Chief Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer shows off his mess of paperwork as Dudley looks on. The District Attorney’s Office is currently down three chief deputy district attorneys—one in South County and two in North County—because of budget cuts. Staff members like Dozer are working overtime to fill the gap, with some retiring attorneys staying on as volunteers. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

IT’S A JUNGLE IN THERE: : Dudley–an avid animal lover and dog owner–decorated her personal office and many hallways in the District Attorney’s Office with photographs of wild animals. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

She might sport a power suit and heels instead of a cape or a bulletproof vest, but that doesn’t stop Dudley—who was elected almost a year ago, in June 2010—from doing justice on a daily basis.

The mission of the District Attorney’s Office is “To pursue truth and justice by employing the highest ethical standards in vigorously prosecuting the guilty, protecting the innocent, and preventing crime.”

FRESH AIR: : Dudley steps out to the office’s second-story patio, which is open to all staff members. “It’s a great place to just take a moment,” she says. “I do all my employee evaluations out here.” Dudley is also a self-acknowledged “manic exerciser” who enjoys working out at home and at the office, where she frequently takes the stairs instead of the elevator to ease stress. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

ALL WORK, SOME PLAY: : Dudley shares a laugh with business manager JoAnn Flattery. As the head attorney, Dudley says she tries to keep up morale with humor. A favorite trick of hers is to hide a broken-down card table in different locations throughout the office. Her favorite location, to date: over a toilet in the men’s restroom. The office also has a paper crown and a plastic tiara for lawyers who win important cases. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

The office has more than a dozen divisions with specialized focuses, including, but not limited to, criminal prosecution for elder abuse, domestic violence, gang and drug enforcement, and various forms of fraud. There’s also the juvenile division, a civil prosecution division, a victim/witness program, an arson unit, and an investigations unit.

DOWN TO BUSINESS: : Dudley takes time out from the interview to sign a case filing presented by her assistant and right-hand woman Rosemary Moll. “She’s almost always 24/7. She’s always available,” Moll says of Dudley. And the DA expects the same of her head staffers: “I sleep with my smart phone, and I tell my executive staff to do the same. They joke about it, too. I’ll hear them keeping track of me—‘Well, I heard from her at 11:30 [p.m.]. What time did you hear from her?’” Dudley says, adding, “I sleep sporadically. [My schedule] is early, early mornings, nights, and weekends, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

The district attorney oversees the office’s more than 100 employees—including lawyers, investigators, and support staff—in three different locations throughout the county. She’s also the top authority responsible for managing all of the county’s legal filings, as well as the office’s multi-million dollar budget.

ON HER MARK, GET SET: : Dudley checks her cell phone before heading out to a Sexual Assault Awareness Month event at UC Santa Barbara. Dudley has long been an advocate for victims of sexual assault and other forms of abuse. Earlier this month, she traveled to Sacramento to lobby for AB 765, the Bill to Protect Unmarried Victims of Rape. The bill, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, clarifies statutes so attackers who impersonate a victim’s live-in boyfriend or girlfriend can be prosecuted for felony rape. Under current law, such attackers can only be prosecuted as felony rapists if the victim lives with a spouse the attacker impersonates. Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

“My job is to ensure laws are being upheld and to make sure Santa Barbara is safe,” Dudley says. “And a key part of that is making sure charges are filed.”

Another key element of the District Attorney’s Office, she says, is providing “prevention, intervention, education,” and, if need be, “long prison sentences.”

To illustrate her point, Dudley recounts a trip she made several years ago to the California Men’s Colony in SLO to talk to convicted child molesters.

COMMUNITY SERVICE: : Dudley and UC Santa Barbara student Patty Monroy (left) pass out T-shirts in exchange for written statements about what students can do to end sexual assault. The T-shirt booth is part of the Women’s Center’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign. “There’s a desensitization toward rape,” Monroy says. “People think it can’t happen to them or they don’t know anyone who’s been raped or has raped someone. … The campaign is really about breaking the silence.” Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

“Across the board, they told me, ‘If you had been there for me when I was a victim, I wouldn’t be here now,’” she says.

PRESENTING HIS CASE: : Grad student Nicolas Pascal approaches Dudley during the event to ask her to support his college organization, the Human Rights Council. “I’m so excited to see her,” Pascal says. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone from the city on campus. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I’ve been doing activism here for a while.” Credit: PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Statistically, most offenders were abused as children. That chronic abuse, Dudley explains, creates a sense of hopelessness—a sense that abiding by laws is pointless.

The abuse certainly doesn’t excuse such behavior, she says, but rather illustrates the importance of providing justice to victims at various stages.

“The prosecutor has to be all things to all people,” Dudley says. “Once you see someone going off track—boom—you do whatever you can to put them back on it.”

Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Apr 28 – May 5, 2011.