Central Pretrial & Case Disposition Division
In 2009, the Central Pretrial and Disposition Division was led by Assistant Division Chief Dwain Woodley while Division Chief Dave Greenberg took a leave of absence to work with the San Diego City Attorney. The division has two teams with distinct but related functions. These teams are the case disposition team and the preliminary hearing team.
The case disposition team works to appropriately assess felony cases in an attempt to reach fair and equitable resolutions of the cases at the earliest possible opportunity. The team encourages the immediate sentencing of defendants, where appropriate, significantly reducing costs to the County of San Diego.
In 2009, the number of defendants sentenced immediately following the
disposition and plea of their case was approximately 697. The fact that those
defendants were sentenced immediately, instead of having separate and full
sentencing hearings, resulted in a savings of millions of dollars to the
County and taxpayers.
The preliminary hearing team handles a large number of serious cases. They arraign defendants charged in felony complaints, then prepare and conduct preliminary examinations in front of a judge to prove the charges based upon a probable cause standard. In doing so, the preliminary hearing deputies essentially are liaisons between the DA’s office, law enforcement and the victims and witnesses of crime.
The preliminary hearing deputies also handle suppression motions, bail reviews, plea negotiations, change of plea proceedings, and miscellaneous court calendars. Occasionally, they conduct misdemeanor trials, which result if felony charges are reduced at the time of issuing or at the preliminary hearing.
Training and development of Deputy District Attorneys is an important aspect of the Central Pretrial and Case Disposition Division. Monthly training sessions are presented on various aspects of criminal prosecution. Riding along with law enforcement officers is encouraged as well.
The unique combination of senior trial attorneys and junior deputies in the division helps junior deputies develop the skills and knowledge necessary to become formidable felony trial attorneys.
