Deputy DA running for El Dorado County judge
By Kathryn Reed
Prosecuting bad guys is what Vicki Ashworth has been doing for the last 16 years. Now she wants to be the judge in those cases.
Ashworth is running for the El Dorado County Superior Court judgeship being vacated by Doug Phimister.
For the past 14 years Ashworth has worked in the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, and was with the Amador County DA’s Office the previous two years. She has spent her time in Placerville handling every type of case possible – from homicides to domestic violence to fraud to sexual assault to general felonies.
Vicki Ashworth
“My career has been devoted to serving the community where I lived, where I raised my children. Being a judge allows me to continue serving my community, but in a different fashion,” Ashworth told Lake Tahoe News.
Ashworth believes she would be able to easily make the transition from being an advocate for a client to being impartial on the bench.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is you do that a lot as a prosecutor. Honestly, before I file a case or settle or decide to go forward to trial, you really do have to look at all the facts,” Ashworth said.
She believes her boss, Vern Pierson, is doing a good job and has no desire to run for his seat.
Ashworth would not be the first El Dorado County judge to come from the DA’s office. Judges Suzanne Kingsbury and James Wagoner are two who have.
The 43-year-old has had aspirations of being on the bench for at least four years. She went through the Jenny Commission process that scrutinizes judges for possible gubernatorial appointment. She made it through, but then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger picked Curt Stracener.
Kingsbury is the only female judge in the county. Ashworth doesn’t fret about going into a male-dominated environment because that’s all she’s known throughout her professional life.
And she said she is already good at not talking to her husband about work. He’s a captain in the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.
“The most important thing to me is my ethics and my integrity. It’s something I’ve taken very seriously my entire career. It’s not something I would jeopardize or put into question,” Ashworth said.
James Wagoner is the correct name for the other judge who is a former prosecutor.
This town, this county needs to get rid of these people. Too much conflict! Too much nepotism!
A judge married to a law enforcement officer in management, what could possibly go wrong? This is wrong and should not be allowed, regardless of her “being good at not talking about work…”. There is entirely too much of this political incest going on.
You’ve had former law enforcement officers and spouses of law enforcement officers on the South Lake Tahoe court benches for well over 40 years. In addition, there have been, and still are, many close friendships between folks on all sides of the criminal justice business.
The fact that you’re not aware of any of these relationships, which are, nevertheless, highly public, is indicative of the competence and high ethical standards of the folks who have been serving you all these years.
Isn’t it also possible, copper, that I have over 40 years in this town and have information that in exactly the opposite of your assumption? Isn’t that a possibility? You are not the only one in this town with law enforcement experience. The opportunity for abuse is there, like it or not. Despite the very best ethical standards, the reality is that defense attorneys will use this at every opportunity. You need to remember what “facts” are.
Walking Jack? Is that you?
BTW, was anyone ever charged for the vehicular vandalism at the Meyers School? Of course not.