Prosecutor Aimee McLeod was named San Diego County Deputy District Attorney of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.
“I am so proud of Deputy DA Aimee McLeod,” said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. “She is a tenacious prosecutor and skilled trial lawyer who handles each case with compassion and integrity. We are lucky to have her on the DA’s DUI Homicide team pursuing justice in San Diego.”
McLeod, who was bestowed the honor at a recent Mothers Against Drunk Driving recognition luncheon, began her career with the District Attorney’s Office in 2005 as a legal intern.
She was hired two years later as a law clerk and, in 2008, became a deputy district attorney in the South Bay branch, where she tried 17 misdemeanor cases that year.
In 2009, McLeod was transferred to the Juvenile branch, where she handled the first DUI vehicular manslaughter juvenile case in which the court allowed the media inside the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.
In 2014, McLeod accepted the grant funded position in the newly created DUI Homicide Unit, where she focused solely on vehicular manslaughter and DUI homicide cases in which the defendants are charged with murder.
Recently, McLeod secured a conviction in the case against Brandy Teague in El Cajon, where the defendant crashed her car into a pole while under the influence of methamphetamine and methadone, killing her 3-year-old daughter.
According to Dumanis, the goals of the DUI Homicide Unit include streamlining complex DUI cases by creating expertise within the District Attorney’s Office, resulting in quicker resolution to cases and speedier justice for the families who have lost loved ones.
–City News Service