GARY W. SCHONS
Senior Assistant Attorney General (ret.)
Mr. Schons served as a prosecutor for 38 years, including 35 years in the California Attorney General’s Office and with the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. During this period he also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Central and Southern Districts of California and as a Special Deputy District Attorney in 3 counties. For 20 years he was the Senior Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Appeals,Writs & Trials Section of the Criminal Division staffed by 74 Deputy Attorneys General, with jurisdiction over six counties in Southern California including San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. For 10 years he was assigned to the A.G.’s Special Prosecutions Unit. Mr. Schons litigated cases in the state Superior Courts, Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court, as well the Federal District Courts, 9th Cir. Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He also served as Trial Counsel for the Commission on Judicial Performance and Special Deputy Trial Counsel and Administrator for the State Bar.
Throughout his career, Mr. Schons was involved in the investigation and prosecution of numerous public integrity/public corruption matters. These matters included the investigation and prosecution of state, county and local district and municipal office holders and law enforcement officers for misconduct in office and in connection with campaign related activities. Some of these matters also included bribery and related offenses committed by private actors involving public officials and agencies. In connection with this work, Mr. Schons worked with federal, state and local investigative agencies, as well as administrative agencies, including the FPPC and the FEC.
Mr. Schons drafted and assisted in obtaining the passage and implementation of California’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Statutes. He drafted the CDAA Public Integrity Statutes Manual and assisted in amendments to the State’s public integrity statutes and regulations. He drafted major sections of CDAA’s Professionalism Manual, including the chapter on the Duties of the Prosecutor. He lectured widely for CDAA, numerous USDOJ agencies, and a number of sister state prosecution associations and offices.
After leaving the prosecution community, Mr. Schons joined the law firm of Best Best & Krieger as Of Counsel where he headed the firm’s Public Policy & Ethics Compliance Group. He advised client agencies on public integrity compliance, including the Political Reform Act, Public Records Act, Brown Act and Public Integrity statutes and regulations, provided training in compliance with AB 1234, and represented clients before the FPPC.
Mr. Schons served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law where he lectured on Constitutional Criminal Law & Procedure. He has authored numerous articles published in state and national publications on public integrity and criminal investigation and prosecution topics.
CDAA awarded Mr. Schons the John J. Meehan Career Achievement Award in 2018 and the William E. James Award as the outstanding member of the Attorney Office in 1991. He has been cited for outstanding service by the San Diego Police Department and the National College of District Attorneys. In 2002, the University of San Diego School of Law recognized Mr. Schons as a Distinguished Alumni and awarded him an honorary Order of the Coif in 2008.
Mr. Schons was awarded a BA (‘73, cum laude) by the University of San Diego and a JD (‘76, magna cum laude) its law school. He attended the National Prosectors College and the Federal Advocacy Institute.
Mr Schons prosecuted numerous cases that led to a death sentence. Five of the death penalty cases that he prosecuted ultimately led to executions. In the contemporary death penalty era, California executed 13 people and 5 of those executions were of individuals who were prosecuted by Mr. Schons. He witnessed the execution of one of these five men. On March 15, I met with Mr.Schons in San Diego to talk with him about his experience and reflections from his experience as a witness.