Who is the D.A.? SLO County's District Attorney avoids the limelight

An inconspicuous, brown wooden door at a far corner on the second floor of the San Luis Obispo County Library opens to the Local History Room, where one can find a wealth of reference material about the county origins, from books about its early settlements to old censuses.

Inside a maroon metal file cabinet at one end of the room, newspaper clippings are neatly organized into several categories, from historical buildings to old grand jury reports. Inside a file labeled "SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY" a couple dozen aged clippings highlight achievements and critical decisions by the county's district attorneys over the years. The D.A. from 1979 until 1984, Christopher Money, is the subject of many of the articles as is his successor, Barry LaBarbera. Beyond LaBarbera, there's nothing.

Who's missing? If you don't know, you're not alone.

A New Times reporter wandered among the crowd at a Farmers Market in downtown SLO, randomly posing one question: "Can you name our D.A.?" Of the 50 people asked, just one-a middle-aged, silver-haired man in a blue collared shirt and leather jacket-answered correctly.

"Gerry Shea," he said. Bingo.

Gerald T. Shea, 59, has headed the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office for more than a decade. Elsewhere, aside from supervising teams of deputies and investigators, district attorneys are the public faces personifying the local justice systems. They typically court and revel in publicity.

Shea, on the other hand, is rarely recognized in public or quoted in the media. He's been mentioned or quoted only 43 times since 2001 in The Tribune, for example: just over four times per year on average, and most of those quotes were in 2003 and 2004 regarding his controversial handling of a vehicular manslaughter case against the son of the county's treasurer. In light of how infrequently he's been quoted in local media or has stepped into the public spotlight, unless you're a lawyer or behind bars you probably would not have been able to name him, either.
Why would Shea's name matter to anyone other than lawyers and defendants? In less than a year, county residents will vote on who will run the office responsible for administering justice here and keeping criminals off our streets. Shea has declined to state whether he will run again in 2010 for another four-year term. If he continues at his position, he would be the longest-serving D.A. in SLO County in more than 50 years, yet hardly anyone knows anything about him.

New Times wanted to know more about this important elected official who steers clear of the limelight and what his reelection would mean for the county.


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Golf Cart Driver Accused Of DUI

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Police arrested a golf-cart driver on suspicion of driving under the influence.
David Loucks, 61, was taken into custody at about 6:15 p.m. Thursday in the 2500 block of Rio Linda Boulevard, a police report said.
An officer spotted the golf cart traveling along Rio Linda Boulevard near Plaza Avenue and became suspicious. There are no golf courses in the area.
The officer pulled the car over and noticed that Loucks appeared to be intoxicated, the report said.


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