3 Key Prosecutors Are Stepping Down in Ventura County

After years of struggling to retain young lawyers, the Ventura County district attorney’s office is losing three of its veteran prosecutors to retirement.

Bob Calvert is stepping down this summer, Pete Kossoris expects to leave on his 64th birthday in October, and Don Glynn, though he still works part time, formally retired in June. Collectively, they have 82 years on the job, and have tried scores of homicide cases and sent seven men to death row.

Their departures will leave a gap in expertise and experience in the 118-lawyer office.

“When you see people like Bob and Don and Pete leave an office, you have to have people willing and capable enough to replace them,” said Mark Pachowicz, a board member for the attorneys union. “And they have a lot of experience that can’t be replaced.”

Though several deputy district attorneys are rising in the ranks, other promising lawyers have resigned to take higher-paying jobs in other counties. In the last 11 years, 92 prosecutors have left. Twenty-six of those departed between 1997 and 1999.

Salaries are increasing and turnover has slowed, but recent caps imposed on public safety budgets may make it even more difficult for the district attorney to retain prosecutors.

County supervisors voted last week to limit annual funding increases to public safety agencies, which include the sheriff and the district attorney. Some prosecutors fear that the decision could cause the county to pull back on a commitment it made to the lawyers two years ago.

In 1999, the county approved a $4.3-million pay package to boost salaries for prosecutors and public defenders. The contract, which allows for 5% annual increases through 2003, is expected to make Ventura County salaries competitive with other Southern California counties.

“Right now, we’re banking on their word,” Pachowicz said. “They’ve made a commitment and we’re expecting them to honor it.”

Barbara Journet, director of human resources for the county, said the supervisors’ decision will only curb expansion within the public safety agencies. “The county’s commitment to parity stands,” she said. “It [will] not be impacted by this at all.”

The starting salary for a Ventura County prosecutor ranges from $44,000 to $50,000. After about six years, a deputy district attorney can make as much as $89,000.

Journet added that not all the attorneys who left the county did so because of salary concerns. Young lawyers often become prosecutors to gain trial experience before starting their own practices or signing on with private firms.

The county does not have a problem recruiting young lawyers. Every fall, representatives visit major law schools and interview as many as 500 applicants. Between five and 10 are hired each year.

The problem arises when the lawyers realize their salaries may not be high enough to buy a house and raise a family in Ventura County, where the median home price is $295,000. And most of these lawyers come out of law school with enormous tuition debts.

So when the young attorneys look around Southern California and realize they can make more money elsewhere, they resign, turning the county into what one prosecutor called a revolving door of trainees.

“You have to be practical,” Glynn said. “To work for our office compared to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, there is a good $25,000 differential. That definitely hurts.”

The exodus caused senior attorneys to take on larger caseloads and junior attorneys to jump into hard-core felony cases without much experience.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said the retiring attorneys are extraordinary trial lawyers who have prosecuted some of the most complicated and difficult cases in the county. They will be missed, he said, but there are others who will “step up to the plate and get the job done.”

“But it still doesn’t ease the pain to see dear friends leave,” he said.

In addition to their courtroom skills, the veterans have guided and mentored younger attorneys on trial strategy and technique.

Richard Holmes, who supervises the district attorney’s major crimes unit, puts a lot of stock in the up-and-coming prosecutors but says the overall experience level is less than it has been in many years.

But Kossoris, who helps train some rookie prosecutors, said he is confident that the talent in the office will be able to step into his shoes.

“It’s like sports,” he said. “Players retire and new ones come in and take their place. Nobody is indispensable.”

Kossoris, 63, started at the county district attorney’s office in 1966 after graduating from law school at UC Berkeley. For the next three decades he worked in the major crimes division, handling some of the toughest cases in the county.

He tried seven capital cases, resulting in three death sentences. Kossoris said he also prosecuted the first DNA jury trial in California, using the same lab that was used in the O.J. Simpson case. For the last few years, Kossoris has been supervising writs, appeals and training.

When he retires in the fall, Kossoris plans to continue working part time and possibly teach law classes at Cal Lutheran University. He also hopes to spend more time pursuing his hobbies, which include reading and collecting musical theater videos and music.

Glynn, 62, retired last summer after 24 years as a criminal prosecutor and 16 years in his first career as an engineer. While at the district attorney’s office, Glynn tried more than 30 murder cases and won convictions in all but one.

Though Glynn now sails twice a week and frequently works on his boat, he has not ventured far from the Hall of Justice. In October, he returned to the courthouse to secure a murder conviction against a Santa Paula gang member who killed a convenience store owner. Last week, the part-time prosecutor returned to the office to begin work on another major homicide case.

Glynn plans to continue taking trips to Europe with his wife and backpacking with his daughters. He will keep coaching the award-winning La Reina High School mock trial team, which is headed to the state championships this month.

Calvert, 61, is leaving after prosecuting cases for 23 years--seven in Ventura and 16 in Santa Barbara. Recently, he handled a gruesome murder-torture case, which ended in three first-degree murder convictions. He also prosecuted a case against an Uzbek immigrant who was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his former boss in a workplace shooting in Camarillo.

Between his time in Santa Barbara and Ventura, Calvert sailed to Australia and spent a year working for the State Bar of California. He also has taught law and English as a second language. This summer, Calvert is scheduled to teach English at a technical institute in China.