Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

 

Page 1

 

Deputy D.A. Trujillo to Run for District Attorney

Conditions Candidacy on Incumbent Not Entering Race

 

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

 

Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo told the MetNews yesterday that he intends to run for district attorney next year.

Trujillo, past president of the Mexican American Bar Association, said he intends to announce his candidacy at MABA’s installation dinner Saturday night.

He said that he is entering the race on the assumption that incumbent Steve Cooley, who has not ruled out running for a fourth term, will decide not to do so. “I will not run against Mr. Cooley,” he said.

Other Contenders

Three other deputy district attorneys—Danette Meyers, Jacquelyn Lacey, and Alan Jackson—have said they are running or exploring the race. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich also has not ruled out running, and will be the frontrunner if he enters, Trujillo said.

Trujillo joined the District Attorney’s Office 14 years ago, after having taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District as a bilingual elementary school district in South Los Angeles. He grew up in San Francisco and graduated from UC Berkeley before attending Southwestern Law School, where he obtained his degree in 1995.

He is currently deputy-in-charge of the Bellflower office. His last trial assignment in was in the Hardcore Gang Division, after having previously prosecuted child sexual and physical abuse cases as part of the Victim Impact Program.

He said he has tried over 120 jury trials, including more than 90 felonies, of which more than a dozen were murders.

Downey Resident

Trujillo is a Downey resident and is active in local civic affairs, having recently been named Kiwanian of the Year by the Downey Kiwanis club. He has also served on the boards of the Latino Prosecutors Foundation of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Downey YMCA and the Open Art Commission for the City of Downey.

He also serves on the board of the HONOR Fund, which advocates on behalf of gay Latinos and Latinas, and endorsed the boycott of the 2009 State Bar annual meeting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, whose owner donated $125,000 to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage.

He was honored this past Saturday as Attorney of the Year by the South East District Bar Association, which represents attorneys who live or practice in Downey, Norwalk, Whittier, Bellflower, Long Beach and neighboring areas.

Trujillo said he has not yet selected a campaign consultant, but will soon announce other members of his campaign team.

 

Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company