Steve Cooley
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Stephen Lawrence ("Steve") Cooley (born May 1, 1947 in Los Angeles, California) is a veteran prosecutor who was elected as Los Angeles County's 36th District Attorney on November 7, 2000. He was sworn in for his second term on December 6, 2004. He is also a former reserve Los Angeles Police officer.
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[edit] Background
The second of five children, Steve Cooley was born at St. Vincent's Hospital (now St. Vincent's Medical Center) in Los Angeles, California. His father was an FBI agent and his mother a homemaker. Cooley attended schools in the Silver Lake area.
At California State University, Los Angeles, Cooley served two terms as Student Body President and was selected for membership in Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society. In 1970, He was commencement speaker for his graduating class. Cooley later entered USC Gould School of Law. He graduated in 1973, receiving the Am Jur Award for Criminal Law. That same year he joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
[edit] Life as District Attorney
In a campaign featuring a record-breaking 15 debates, Cooley captured nearly two-thirds of the vote. He was the first trial-tested attorney to be elected District Attorney in almost 30 years.
Among the achievements of Steve Cooley’s first four years in office were his crackdown on corrupt politicians, his enforcement of the open meeting law: the Brown Act, and his protocols for allegations of law enforcement criminality. Cooley has reshaped the District Attorney's Office with the most sweeping reorganization that has occurred in the last 40 years.
The Justice System Integrity Division, which Cooley created, has also filed an unprecedented 24 cases against corrupt attorneys and achieved a 100 percent conviction rate. Cooley also changed the office's policy on California's Three Strikes Law, hoping to assure proportionality in sentencing and even-handed application countywide.
Cooley's creation of a Forensic Science Section recognizes the scientific advances that have occurred in the investigation and prosecution of crimes. As part of this effort, the use of DNA and other new techniques in solving so-called "cold cases" (unsolved homicides and sexual assaults) have been given priority.
A new Victim Impact Program assures special protection and assistance for the most vulnerable crime victims: the elderly, victims of child abuse and sexual abuse, targets of hate crimes, victims of stalking and domestic violence. The creation of the Los Angeles County Prosecutors Association, inspired by the District Attorney, has brought a new level of cooperation among city prosecutors within the county.
[edit] Flirting with higher Office
Steve Cooley was preparing to run as a Republican in the 2006 election to replace the termed out California Attorney General, Bill Lockyer. However, following Robert Blake's acquittal, where Cooley publicly called members of the jury who acquitted him "incredibly stupid" [1], Cooley dropped out of the race citing he wants to finish out his term as Los Angeles County District Attorney which runs until 2008 [2]. Robert Blake's civil trial was not without controversy as well. A defense witness with evidence and an alternate theory of who killed Bonnie Lee Bakley, Brian Allan Fiebelkorn, testified that Steve Cooley sent an intimidating LAPD detective named Ron Ito to interview him. A secretly recorded tape by the LAPD detective of one of Fiebelkorn's interviews seemed to prove Fiebelkorn's claims of police intimidation.
[edit] Personal Information
He and his wife Jana Cooley have lived in Toluca Lake, California for over 30 years. They have a son, Michael, and a daughter, Shannon.
[edit] Quotes
- "The worst public works disaster in the nation", referring to Belmont Learning Center. [3]
- "This cold-blooded killer, Stanley Williams, now seeks mercy, the very mercy he so callously denied". [4]
- "Quite frankly, based on my review of the evidence, he is as guilty as sin. He is a miserable human being" referring to Robert Blake's 2005 acquittal. [5]
