Summer Stephan appointed interim San Diego County District Attorney

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — 5:03 p.m. — San Diego County Board of Supervisors appointed Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan as interim San Diego County District Attorney.

Stephan will serve as the region’s chief law enforcement official until the 2018 election.

11:00 a.m. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled Tuesday to interview three candidates who applied to be San Diego County’s district attorney on an interim basis, and could choose one to succeed the retiring Bonnie Dumanis. 

The candidates are:

• Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan, a 27-year veteran prosecutor who has gained numerous endorsements for the permanent job when
• elections are held next year
• Adam Gordon, a former prosecutor who now practices in business litigation and white-collar defense
• Greg Walden, a retired prosecutor.    

Dumanis, who is in her fourth term, plans to step down on July 7 and mull over a run for the District 4 supervisor’s seat next year. She’s endorsed Stephan to be her successor.

Opponents, however, contend that appointing Stephan would give her an unfair advantage when elections for a full term are held. Both Gordon and Walden have said they won’t be candidates for the permanent job. 

Opposition to Stephan has also come from the parents of Stephanie Crowe, a 12-year-old girl killed in her Escondido bedroom 19 years ago. 

Steve and Cheryl Crowe alleged in a letter to the supervisors that Stephan made a false statement about her role in the high-profile case in her application for the interim D.A. job, and withheld an important piece of evidence from opposing lawyers. 

Stephan was the second prosecutor on the troubled case, taking over when Stephanie’s brother and two of the boy’s friends were charged with her murder.

The teens were later exonerated and a homeless man found with her blood on his sweatshirt was eventually found guilty. His conviction was overturned on appeal, however. 

The process to hire the county’s chief prosecutor originally called for interviews to be held today, with the field being winnowed to three. But since there were only three applicants to begin with, a selection could be made at the hearing, according to a staff report. If no one is appointed, the appointment could be made as originally scheduled next week.