The Players
The Courts of Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County has four court locations: Santa Barbara, Santa
Maria, Lompoc and Solvang.
While the Solvang Division does handle traffic infractions, all
felonies and misdemeanors (which includes all DUI cases) are heard
in one of the other three divisions.
Santa Barbara
The courts of Santa Barbara are organized into two divisions and
distributed among three physical buildings. The Anacapa Division
includes the historic courthouse at 1100 Anacapa Street and the
Jury Services Building across Santa Barbara Street. The Figueroa
Division is housed in the facility at 118 East Figueroa.
There are five courtrooms that handle DUI cases. DUI arraignments
are done in Department 8 in the Figueroa Division, presided over
by Commissioners Edward DeCaro and Deborah Talmage. Preliminary
hearings in felony DUI cases are done in Department 9, Judge Joseph
Lodge presiding. After arraignment, DUI cases are assigned to Department
1 (Judge Frank Ochoa), Department 2 (Judge Thomas Adams) or Department
12 (Judge Brian Hill) for trial.
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Santa Maria
The courts of Santa Maria are organized into two divisions and
distributed among several physical buildings at the corner of Miller
and Cook Streets. The Cook Division is the name given to the civil
courts in Santa Maria; the criminal courts are called the Miller
Division.
There are 4 courtrooms in the Miller Division that handle DUI cases.
DUI arraignments are done in Department 7 before Commissioner John
McGregor. After arraignment, DUI cases are assigned to Department
3 (Judge Timothy Staffel), Department 7 (no judge assigned permanently)
or Department 8 (Judge Arthur Garcia) for trial.
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Lompoc
All criminal cases in Lompoc are heard in Department 1 before Judge
James Iwasko, from arraignment through trial.
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The Prosecutors of Santa Barbara
County
The elected District Attorney for Santa Barbara County is Tom Sneddon.
You may have heard of him from his prosecutions of Michael Jackson.
In 2003 Mr. Sneddon began serving his sixth term as D.A., having
first been elected in 1983.
The District Attorney employs some fifty prosecutors with offices
in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc.
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In Santa Barbara
Deputy D.A. Desmond McIntosh handles most of the arraignments in
Santa Barbara. Mr. McIntosh is assigned to Department 8, where most
arraignments take place in Santa Barbara.
After arraignment, most DUI cases are prosecuted by the deputy
assigned to a particular courtroom department, currently Departments
1, 2 and 12.
Department 1 is Judge Frank Ochoa's courtroom, and the assigned
deputy is Joshua Webb.
Department 2 is Judge Thomas Adams's courtroom, and the assigned
deputy is Aimee Libeu.
Department 12 is Judge Brian Hill's courtroom, and the assigned
deputy is Brian Cota.
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In Santa Maria
Deputy D.A. Tom Muscio handles most of the arraignments in Santa
Maria. Mr. Muscio is assigned to Department 9, where most arraignments
take place in Santa Maria.
Department 3 is Judge Timothy Staffel's courtroom, and the assigned
deputy is Sidney Weiser.
Department 7 currently does not have an assigned judge or deputy.
Department 8 is Judge Arthur Garcia's courtroom, and the assigned
deputy is Ed Alston.
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In Lompoc
In Lompoc all criminal matters are handled in Department 1 before
Judge James Iwasko.
A DUI in Lompoc may be prosecuted by any deputy in that office,
which currently includes Ed Bullard, Jerry McBeth and Rick Henry.
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