Case Issuance & Extradition Division
In 2013, the Case Issuance and Extradition Division was managed by Division Chief Lisa Rodriguez, Assistant Chief Dino Paraskevopolous, Legal Support Manager Ella Bookwalter, and Paralegal Supervisor Jennifer Samaniego. The division is comprised of the following units:
Domestic and International Extraditions Unit- Felony Issuing & Priors Unit
- Lifer Hearing Unit
- DA Liaison Unit
- Realignment and Collaborative Court Unit
Domestic and International Extraditions
The Extraditions Unit is responsible for countywide efforts to return fugitive defendants from other states and foreign countries to San Diego. Our unit also works on cases involving fugitives located in San Diego who face extradition to other states.
- Domestic: In 2013, the unit extradited 77 defendants from other states back to San Diego. Extradition prosecutors also handled 194 hearings to extradite 75 fugitives from San Diego to other states, citizen identity hearings, as well as other related hearings.
- International:In 2013, the San Diego District Attorney's Extradition Unit successfully extradited one serious and violent offender from Mexico and one from Canada. Since 2008, the unit has successfully extradited 18 fugitives from Mexico, all serious and violent offenders. In 2013, six fugitives were arrested in Mexico pursuant to our Provisional Arrest Warrant and formal extradition requests. There are currently nine fugitives in federal custody in Mexico pending extradition at various stages of the extradition legal process. All of these fugitives are wanted to stand trial in San Diego for allegedly committing serious and violent offenses, including murder and child molestation.
High-profile international cases handled by the Extraditions Unit in 2013 Included:
On September 18, 2013, Rene Sanchez was extradited from Mexico to face charges of murder and two counts of attempted murder. On October 27, 2009, Sanchez attended a Halloween party where a dispute between rival gang members erupted. Sanchez allegedly fired shots into the altercation, killing one person and severely injuring another.
On October 18, 2013, Anagryros Karabourniotis was extradited from Las Vegas, Nevada. Karabourniotis was wanted to stand trial for burglary and gaming offenses after allegedly engaging in a sophisticated gambling fraud scheme at Barona Casino resulting in a financial loss of $8,000 to the casino.
On May 14, 2013, Steven Spellane, a local insurance agent, was extradited from Nevada. Spellane was wanted to stand trial for a multiple-count insurance fraud case. Spellane was convicted in June and sentenced to sixteen months in local prison.
On February 16, 2013, Casey Tshida was extradited from Oregon. Tshida was wanted to stand trial for allegedly killing a young woman whom he had stalked for weeks as she left a local bar.
Felony Issuing & Priors Unit
This unit is responsible for reviewing police reports documenting criminal activity that occurs in central San Diego to determine whether felony charges should be filed. In addition, Case Issuance staff decides if a submitted case should be referred to another prosecutorial agency or to another division to be handled vertically – by just one Deputy District Attorney for the life of the case. In 2013, the attorneys in this division reviewed 6,738 felony cases for issuing. There were 4,678 felony cases issued; 720 were rejected; and 890 were redirected to other agencies. Our busy clerical staff processed all of those cases as well as cases issued in the central division (6,867 cases). The division also handled a variety of legal issues and provided legal advice on criminal law, procedure and evidence to the various law enforcement agencies that submit cases to our office for consideration.
The Priors Unit obtains certified court documents for the DA's Office. The prior convictions elevate a defendant's custody exposure so defendants with criminal records are given a commensurate sentence.
As a result of the Criminal Justice Realignment Act of 2011, defendants began serving prison sentences in county jail pursuant to Penal Code section 1170(h). Additionally, instead of a return to state prison for revocations for violations of Parole and Post Release Community Supervision (PCS) conditions, these parolees and PCS offenders are ordered to serve up to 180 days in local jail as well. In order to prove prison priors for these offenders, our Priors Unit has begun using the process we developed with the Sheriff's Department to document local prison priors and revocations for evidentiary use.
CHOP (CODIS Hits Outcome Project)
With a grant from law enforcement, one issuing Deputy District Attorney was assigned to work closely with the San Diego Police Department the San Diego Sheriff's Department to resolve cold case DNA hits through the statewide CODIS DNA system (Combined DNA Index System). This is an exciting development, combining technology and science to achieve a greater measure of justice for San Diego victims in previously unsolved crimes. To date, as a direct result of this new collaborative project with law enforcement, several felons have been tied to older crimes while they were pending new felony cases. This year, our Information Technology Division modified our current Case Management System to be able to electronically input about 5,000 CODIS hits directly from our two labs into our Case Management System. With this technology, our office effectively manages, mines, and tracks the voluminous data and gives our prosecutors real-time information on open CODIS hits related to defendants they are currently prosecuting or who they have prosecuted in the past.
eDiscovery
This year our office completed a massive roll-out of the San Diego County District Attorney's eDiscovery program county-wide. For the year 2013, we scanned in over 3 million pages of discovery into electronic format. Now, over 650 private attorneys as well as the Office of the Public Defender and Alternate Public Defender now receive discovery via eDiscovery on adult criminal matters. The conversion to eDiscovery will allows us to comply with our duty to provide discovery in a cost efficient and a timely manner, and is a model for other District Attorney offices statewide.
Lifer Hearing Unit
The DA's Lifer Hearing Unit has two main goals: to ensure that dangerous prisoners with life sentences are not released carelessly and to ensure that crime victims and their families are given an opportunity to participate in the parole hearing process and have their voices heard.
The Lifer Hearing Unit processes all cases when a defendant earns a life sentence for future parole suitability hearings, preserving victim's statements and documenting the gravity of the crimes to ensure the offenders serve sentences proportional to their crimes. Last year, there were 259 lifer parole hearings. Of those, 44 inmates received parole grants from the California Board of Parole Hearings. Ninety-nine offenders were denied parole at their hearings, and the remainder either stipulated to a parole denial or continued their hearings. Of the 44 parole grants this year, three were overturned by Governor Brown. While there has been a shift statewide to a higher rate of parole grants, our county has a much lower grant rate than other counties without a Lifer Unit.
Lifer Hearings handled in 2013 included:
- Marcus Threats was denied parole for seven years in May 2013. Threats accosted his victim as she was walking home by hitting her over the back of the head and then carried her to a deserted parking lot, where he attempt to sexually assault her. Good Samaritans heard the victim's screams for help and thwarted his plan.
- Brooke Rowland was denied parole for 10 years in October. The inmate was involved in an international pornography ring in which pornographic images (photographs and video) of his sexual acts with his minor victims were exchanged with others online.
- Joseph Daily was denied parole for 7 years in December 2013. Daily was convicted for the brutal murder of his 7-week-old son.
DA Liaison Unit
Two very experienced prosecutors are assigned as liaisons to local law enforcement agencies including the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Sheriff's Department. These prosecutors work closely with law enforcement by assisting with investigations. The liaisons provide critical assistance in assuring evidence is collected lawfully so it can be introduced in court by the prosecutors. They also assist police with drafting legal documents such as search warrants, arrest warrants, and other court orders. The DA liaisons are available seven days a week, 24-hours-a-day to answer legal questions. This year, the unit was responsible for collaborating with law enforcement and the Court to respond to the legislative changes brought about by new case law, and helped to develop an electronic process for submitting probable cause declarations from law enforcement to the Court for review.
- In 2013, the two liaisons reviewed over 1,200 search warrants and over 50 arrest warrants. They also provided legal advice on over 2,000 inquiries from law enforcement and prosecutors.
- Our liaisons also conducted more than 40 law enforcement trainings and classes on topics as varied as search warrants, privileged information, and courtroom testimony for agencies both locally and throughout the state.
Realignment and Collaborative Courts Unit
The Criminal Justice Realignment Act, or AB 109, became law on October 1, 2011. It shifts the supervision, housing and treatment of felony offenders from the state to the county. As a result, new populations of offenders has been created, which caused a shift in how the County and the Court must address sentencing and re-entry into the community. To provide a uniform and consistent response to this, the Realignment and Collaborative Courts Unit was created.
This unit provides District Attorney representation on the Behavioral Health Court, the Central and East County Drug Courts, the Parolee Reentry Court, and Veteran's Treatment Court. This unit also staffs the multi-disciplinary team meeting for the recently developed Vista Detention's Center Veterans Housing Unit, and provides a link between the team and the Court process. Additionally, this unit is responsible for the handling all Post Release Community Supervision revocation matters and acting as the office wide liaison with the Probation Department's PRO Unit (Post Release Offender). This year, together with our Justice Partners, we created and staff a Mandatory Supervision Court. This is the first court of its kind in the state.
In July 2013, the Court was tasked with handling all parole revocations. We assigned a Deputy District Attorney to take on this new project and learn this complex area of law. This Deputy DA handles all parole revocation matters and is the liaison between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Department of Adult Parole and our office.
This Unit participates in the county's implementation of the Criminal Justice Realignment Act and advocates the best solutions to protect public safety while transitioning offenders back into the community with treatment and supervision to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Finally, we provide training in-house, countywide and statewide on all the legal aspects of AB 109 and evidence-based practices.
