Judge Suzanne Kingsbury retiring from the bench after 25 years

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - After 25 years of serving El Dorado County as a Superior Court Judge, Suzanne Kingsbury will be setting down the gavel and retiring at the end of the year.

Kingsbury was elected to the bench in 1996, she made history as the first woman to serve as a superior court judge in El Dorado County, and in 1999 became its first female presiding judge, and now she will be leaving as the longest-serving current presiding judge in the state of California, male or female.

Even though she is retiring, she won't be a stranger in the courthouse.

After catching up on some of her owed vacation time, Kingsbury will have only one day of real retirement as she has one case to see to trial in January. The cold case murder trial of Sean Donahue was postponed last week due to an emergency. She can see other cases to a conclusion as well, including the pending trials for defendants in the January 2016 murder of Dennis "Spike" Wright at the Beverly Lodge. It makes it easier to have a judge who is familiar with all of the moving parts and background.

"I have a lot of compassion for the victims, their families, and the families of the accused," said the judge of everyone she has come to know over the past five years the case has moved through the judicial system.

Kingsbury has also applied to be a retired sitting judge and would, if approved, substitute as a judge and hear cases in El Dorado, Nevada, and Placer counties when needed. She said she wants to help out her colleagues and not leave them short in court.

During her tenure, Judge Kingsbury has been instrumental in changes that are still seen in the county's judicial system today. She helped create and expand many innovative programs and a variety of services. These have been made available to provide self-represented litigants with the information needed to successfully navigate the court system. She was part of the team that obtained approval for the funding and construction of the El Dorado County Juvenile Hall in South Lake Tahoe. She expanded the civil alternative dispute resolution program to include full services in South Lake Tahoe, providing litigants with a no-cost means to resolve court cases without going to trial.

Judge Kingsbury also initiated a family law dispute resolution program, which allows families going through a marital dissolution the ability to settle cases amicably and less expensively. Through collaboration with other justice system partners, Judge Kingsbury also brought El Dorado County its first juvenile and adult drug courts, mental health court, and dependency mediation and drug courts.

What has been a very busy professional life will leave her with some free time to finally get things done at home.

"I have so many projects at home," said Kingsbury. She has a goal of one project tackled per day, or at least once a week.

For her recent 65th birthday she got an e-bike to get her outdoors more. The delivery turned out to be scheduled during the Caldor Fire evacuation so it has been postponed until after winter.

She'll also now be able to spend more time with family. She is married to a retired CHP officer with three daughters and one grandson.

There aren't any grand travel plans as she doesn't have a desire to fly to distant places. If anything they'll get in their car and explore, perhaps visiting all of the national parks when time allows.

"I haven't thought it all out yet," she said of retirement plans.

When asked what she'll miss most about the job, Kingsbury said it's the people - the staff, the lawyers, the litigants, families of those before her, and justice partners.

"They all work very hard," she said.

The Long List of Accomplishments, continued

Kingsbury graduated from Sacramento State in 1981 and McGeorge School of Law in 1982 after attending school at night so she could work during the day. She was in private civil practice in Sacramento County for about three years before accepting a position with the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office in 1985 as deputy district attorney, a position she held for approximately five years.

While with the DA's office, she helped create the South Lake/El Dorado County Narcotics Task Force (SLEDNET) and began a vertical prosecution program for sexual assault and child abuse cases. In 1990, she moved to the El Dorado County Public Defender’s office, serving as a deputy public defender representing juvenile and adult offenders. It was at the urging of her supervisor at the Public Defender’s office that she ran for judicial office.

She ran against seven others that year, winning the position she holds until the end of 2021.

In June of 2004, Chief Justice Ronald M. George appointed Judge Kingsbury to a three-year term on the Judicial Council, the policy-making body of California's state court system. She is the first judge from El Dorado County to serve in that capacity. Since 2005, she has served as the chair of the Council's internal Rules and Projects Committee (RUPRO), and has been actively involved in the council’s efforts to bring plain language jury instructions and forms to California trial courts. She also helped oversee the reorganization of California Rules of Court.

Since assuming the bench, Judge Kingsbury has served as a member of CJER’s Continuing Judicial Studies, Rural Courts and Presiding Judge and Court Executive Education Committees, and the Continuing Judicial Studies, Cow Counties, and California Judicial Administration Conference Planning Committees. Since 1999, she has served on the Trial Court Presiding Judges’ Advisory Committee. She was previously appointed by the Chief Justice to serve as a member of the Task Force on Self Represented Litigants, the Task Force on Judicial Ethics Issues, and the Criminal Law Advisory Committee. She also has been a member of several Judicial Council Working Groups relating to judicial administration issues.

Judge Kingsbury has also been actively involved in judicial education, serving as a frequent faculty member and facilitator, particularly in the area of judicial administration and collaborative courts.

She has been active in community affairs, including serving as a member, officer, and president of the Board of Directors for the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center (now Live Violence Free) and a member of the Board of Directors of the former Sierra Recovery Center, Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation, and Hospice of the Lake. She participates each year in educational events such as The Drug Store Project, Every 15 Minutes, and Teen Court. She was also an adjunct instructor in the Criminal Justice
Program at Lake Tahoe Community College for over a decade.

Cases

While she has been the judge on numerous cases over the years, there are some that stand out more than others.

When she first started out as a judge she was elected to the superior court, and in 1998, the municipal courts all became superior courts. Judge Jerald Lasarow was the municipal court judge when she was elected. She has presided over a long list of cases including felony, unlimited civil, and juvenile cases.

"You have an opportunity to make a difference," she said of sitting over juvenile cases. "Everyone has the capacity to turn around. Kids are unmolded clay."

Kingsbury said one cannot treat all cases with a cookie-cutter, especially the youth. With the brain developing until their mid-20s, kids are tempted to experiment and she doesn't want to overlook that.

One of her landmark cases involved the grand jury trying to get records of property transactions in the county. The County had said they have certain privileges that they didn't have to turn over everything, but she rules against that thought saying if a grand jury needs that information, they get it. Of course, privileged information is vetted when it does public, but she ruled they needed it to make a case.

Some of the cases stick out in her mind not always because of what they entailed, but the circumstances around them.

In 2013, Kingsbury had a death penalty case at a time when there weren't many statewide. It was a cold case that took place in two counties and stretched over eight months. The jury came back with a verdict on Halloween and agreed to wait until after the holidays for the penalty phase.

In 2009, there was another cold case murder trial for Ulysses Roberson who killed his 4-year-old son Alexander Olive in a Tahoe Keys home in late 1985, or early 1986. The judge had been at one of their daughter's homes in Roseville when she was awakened by a page in the middle of the night. Being in someone else's home and still tired, she took a wrong turn in the hallway as she tried to talk quietly. Instead, she fell down a set of stairs, suffered a concussion and injuries that kept her in a walker for six weeks. The Roberson trial was her first after the fall and she wasn't sure she'd be able to work. She still has issues from that injury though not many are aware.

"Every case has its memories," she said. "You get to know the lawyers and investigators on both sides."

Changes

When drug charges became misdemeanors and not felonies, the court lost its ability to assign people to rehabilitation as a condition of sentence. While she can still make it part of probation, not everyone has the tools to correct the problem on their own.

On the other side, she said felony drug charges impact a person's future after they've turned themselves around, and it impacts communities of lower-income and in poverty more than others.

"The demise of drug court is one of the most difficult things that happened," said Kingsbury.

Most people take the path of least resistance, she said, and will now skip rehabilitation if they can. The change in the law impacted a judge's ability to require a person to get help. Sometimes it's more than a drug habit that has led a person into court, it's also mental health issues.

Kingsbury did say the legislature is now taking a closer look at people with mental health issues and giving them more opportunities for diversion.

Future

First COVID-19, then the Caldor Fire really hampered the judicial system. Jury trials were put on hold as they couldn't get that many people who wanted to sit inside in close contact. Now that the parts are moving again, El Dorado County will be down two judges with Kingsbury's retirement.

It is harder to get retired judges to visit South Lake Tahoe so we may see more of Judge Kingsbury on the bench in the months (or years) to come.

Judge Suzanne Kingsbury’s commitment to the bench, the community, and the judicial branch are evidenced by her continued engagement and efforts to address relevant issues and concerns and to participate in implementing solutions that make a difference. Her resolve and leadership have been a stabilizing factor for this Court.