Five years ago, I started my own law firm, serving the greater Bay Area as a criminal defense attorney. I spent a couple of years as a Deputy District Attorney in San Joaquin County before moving to the Oakland. And what I see when I walk into court has been a bit of a shock that just doesn’t wear off over time.
I see a crowd of people with black and brown faces waiting for their cases to be called. If Latinos and African Americans are still considered minorities in our society, you just wouldn’t know it if you did the work I do.
Now, you may be thinking that Oakland is one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Stockton is pretty diverse, too, however, what about cities like Martinez, Concord, Antioch, Pittsburg, Fremont, Alameda and San Jose. And then there are places like Marysville, Auburn, Woodland, Placerville, Lodi, Modesto and Santa Rosa where I routinely went to court as an associate at a firm in Sacramento, my first year after the District Attorney’s office.
Now as a prosecutor, you get to sit with your back to the crowd. You never really have to face the audience. As a Deputy DA, you walk in with numerous files and one goal: to close cases quickly by having the accused plead guilty rather than fight the charges.
Court proceedings are quick, the talk is fast and the defendants who are mostly poor, uneducated or don’t speak English, simply don’t get what is being said. They don’t know their rights nor how to fight for them and although they have a constitutional right to be represented by a lawyer if they cannot afford one, there is yet another injustice.
The scales of justice are inevitably weighted on the side of the state. The district attorney has a bigger budget than the public defender, not to mention all of the law enforcement agencies on its side. Because this scale is tipped, I enjoy my work at attempting to bring balance back into the equation and fighting for the underdog.
Roseann Torres
Roseann Torres was born in Stockton, California, and lived there until moving to San Francisco to attend SF State University. She received a BS in Marketing in 1992, and worked for a few years in that area before attending law school at Albany Law School in Albany, New York. She returned to California for the Bar exam and became an attorney in January 2000.
She initially worked as an attorney in Stockton where she was employed by San Joaquin County. She worked at the County Counsel’s office for two years and a Deputy County Counsel. There, she represented various county agencies in legal matters including litigation. Then she worked at the District Attorney’s office also for about two years as a Deputy District Attorney. For the past five and a half years, after moving to Oakland, she has been self-employed practicing in the areas of criminal defense, family law, bankruptcy and personal injury. She is in court on a daily basis, and employs two part time staff and one part time attorney.
For the majority of her career as an attorney, she has consistently volunteered in one way or another with community based organizations, or through youth programs. For the past three years, she has been a volunteer at Centro Legal De La Raza at their family law clinic providing free consultations. She also speaks at various events promoting diversity in the legal field, primarily targeting Black and Latino populations. Overall, she is very active in her local community and civically engaged. 
I was on a jury for a criminal case. I was shocked to see the resources available to the DA compared to the defense attorney. The DA had a power point display to present the case while the defense had a flip chart! I was ashamed of the justice system.
i’m glad you’re out there. a woman and a person of color – thank you! who better to represent the under-represented than one of our own. keep up the good work!