Kern County District Attorney's Office

Winners of the DA Halloween Costume Contest....Group: Kern County Regional Crime Lab Toxicology Unit Army Men/Women; Individual: Barbara Miller Pirate and Kim Marshall Flapper. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and DA Cynthia Zimmer wants to remind all of Kern County that the Family Justice Center is open for business, as it has since May with additional Covid precautions. The Family Justice center offers a myriad of services to help those suffering from domestic violence to gain the independence they need to end the cycle of violence.

National First Responders Day. Today we honor the men and women from the Kern County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation who serve our community. Thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty every day, especially during these difficult times. #NationalFirstRespondersDay2020 #kerncountydistrictattorney #kerncountydistrictattorneybureauofinvestigation

The SoCal Route 91 support group has been launched, creating a forum for survivors and those affected by the Route 91 Las Vegas Harvest Festival Shooting to join together and take steps forward for emotional wellness and healing. Check the link to join the community, which meets on Thursday evenings at 6pm. More victim resources will continued to be made available in the coming weeks and months, and will be available at this site as well. https://giveanhour.org/route91/kern-santa-barbara-counties/

OPEN Kern County Businesses and Schools! Employees at the District Attorney’s Office did our part today in hopes of opening businesses and schools by getting tested for Covid-19. The testing was free, fast and painless. We were all symptom free and join others in Kern County in taking the test to satisfy the Governor’s metrics in order to reopen. This group and many others in our office will be testing each week in order to help our struggling businesses have the opportunity to reopen. Sally Medrano Andrea Kohler Christine Antonios Joe Kinzel Joe Marcano Mark Pafford

Within the past month we've had the pleasure of welcoming three new Deputy District Attorneys who have committed to making our county a safer place to live. Teri Filkins, Emma Merangulyan, and Thomas Beasley all have been sworn in by DA Cynthia Zimmer to uphold the Constitution and have begun their assignments handling misdemeanor trials or felony preliminary hearings.

Today the 2019-2020 Kern County Grand Jury was dismissed and the 2020-2021 Grand Jury was empaneled. The ‘19-‘20 Grand Jury graciously agreed to be held over three months because of the pandemic and worked very hard during its term, including hearing five criminal indictment proceedings. We are grateful for their service and look forward to working with the newly selected members. Chief Deputy DA Mark Pafford and I are pictured with the outgoing and incoming Grand Jury Forepersons. Thank you so much for your dedicated service to the citizens of Kern County.

Convicted killer Leslie Chance was sentenced today to 50 years to life for the murder of her husband of 17 years, Todd Chance. Judge Charles Brehmer imposed 25 years for the murder and refused to strike the firearms enhancement, adding another 25 years to life. Assistant DA Andrea Kohler and DDA Arthur Norris (pictured here) were the prosecutors responsible for bringing Chance to justice in a case that was investigated by the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. Leslie Chance carefully premeditated and successfully executed a plan to murder her husband, but was not successful in avoiding the ramifications of the criminal justice system. As stated by Judge Brehmer, No one has won, but justice has been served.

Expanded Victim Resources Available for Survivors of the 2017 Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting: As we honor and remember those lost in the 9/11 attacks today, we also address another tragedy that affected Kern County. In 2017, the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting resulted in 59 lost lives, and hundreds more injuries. Many of the attendees came from Southern California, with more than 300 estimated from Kern County. KCDA dispatched two victim advocates ...to assist victims in the immediate aftermath of the shootings, but the focus turns now to long-term care. Resources dedicated to assisting survivors have recently expanded due to grants that include Give an Hour, a national nonprofit organization that later this month will begin offering no-cost support groups, peer support, mental health services, and memorial events in each county, including Kern. Further information about this program designed to assist victims, including details of how to share a survivor's story for memorial events, can be found in the included release or at www.giveanhour.org/route91.

So, we’ve got a mechanical security door at the office that wear and tear had made difficult to actually open. If you did a series of steps *just right* and had a bit of luck, you could get it open. We had some fun with the challenge this week, and this morning we were greeted by the County’s General Service Maintenance Department’s come-from-behind declaration of victory. They did fix the door, so we’ll honor the win. Well played.

Please join us today from 11:00 to 2:00 for a drive-thru tri-tip sandwich lunch featuring some of Kern County’s best brands, all for the benefit of the Secret Witness program.

Yesterday, we received two major guilty verdicts, each on cases involving crimes against children. DDA Courtney Lewis presented evidence resulting in the first-degree murder conviction of Kaleb Kessinger, who murdered a two year-old child. Within hours, DDA Alexandria Ottoman also received a guilty verdict after presenting evidence regarding molestation perpetrated by Cesar Valenzuela Soto of 4 juveniles -- 3 of which were under 14 years old. Kessinger faces up to 43 years to life in prison; Valenzuela Soto faces between 15 and 45 years to life in prison.