Sensational cases aren't suprises to Parker
When news broke Thursday that Michael Jackson was coming back to town, Darrel Parker was prepared.
As the Santa Maria courthouse organizer in the case, he knew that Jackson was headed his way long before anybody else outside Jackson's inner circle - and that included press, police, the judge, fans and the rest of the world that's impacted by the child molestation case against one of the world's most famous people.
Darrel Parker stands in front of Building G at the Santa Barbara Superior Court complex on Thursday evening. He is the assistant executive officer and, therefore, he runs the North County courthouse. //Aaron Lambert/Staff
Parker, a New Jersey native who came West in 1986 to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, is pumped up by the hoopla.
And is he ever organized.
Standing at the epicenter of celebrity chaos, Santa Barbara County's Superior Court Assistant Executive Officer digs into the mess because that's what he's paid to do.
But respect and regard for responsibility especially drive the 41-year-old who holds a masters degree in public administration with a specialty in court administration.
With a head for details, Parker runs the courthouse with the firm hand of a professional manager.
"I manage the operations, day-to-day basis," Parker said. "Lompoc, Solvang, Santa Maria, juvenile, pre-trial services, the OR bail unit and, to some extent, I get involved in family mediation and family custody services."
Strong as he is, though, finesse is his strongest suit as he handles everything from hanging schoolchildrens' paintings throughout the courthouse to plotting the intricately detailed logistics of the Jackson action.
In the seven years that Parker has been working the North County, he has thrived on the challenge of doing better, learning more and putting his training and experience to the best use possible in his service to the public.
Occasionally, he seems a little more wired than normal, but inevitably shakes it off the way a seasoned pug rolls with the punches before stepping back into the fray.
During one proceeding Parker showed up in court wearing thick gloves that he apparently forget to remove after standing in the cool morning air outside the building.
As you might expect, some wiseacres in the press made "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" cracks that referred to the O.J. Simpson trial. Smart as the press corps is, though, most didn't realize that they had touched on something particularly noteworthy.
Parker worked the Simpson trial, too.
"While I was at grad school, I got a job working for the L.A. Superior court," he said. "I worked in downtown Los Angeles for 10 years and then I was in charge of the southeast district of L.A. for two years."
Parker worked in the same criminal courts building in which the Simpson trial was held.
"The O.J. case took place in one of the courtrooms that I was responsible for," he said.
Other sensational cases also took place on Parker's watch.
"I had Heidi Fleiss, O.J. Simpson, Reginald Denny, Rodney King. All those cases took place in my courts, my division. I was going into the profession. I volunteered. I wanted that stuff."
"At that point, I'm low level. I'm a supervisor, but I wasn't involved in the planning. But I had a front row seat."
At Simpson's trial, Parker helped pack defense equipment into the small courtroom, refereed arguments over the limited seating for the press, and handled whatever unexpected duties arose as the trial proceeded.
"It was crazy downtown," he said. "We had the Stanford marching band out there one day. My office was on the corner of Temple and Hill, right on the street level."
And then came word of a verdict.
"I walked the jurors back (to the courtroom) with the Red Cross crisis management team from their hotel. There's a series of tunnels that connect the buildings of downtown L.A., underground. And a lot of people don't know about it. It's cool. It's kind of eerie at times."
"We brought the jurors and these Red Cross psychological counselors back, walked them over because they were worried about the (verdict's) impact on the community. (We told them) okay, look, here's how you're going to deal with this. Whatever your verdict be prepared for this ... They were worried."
This was a few years after the King trial and the subsequent L.A. riots when jurors acquitted four police officers who had beaten him.
Parker is a veteran of the L.A. riots, as well.
"We were there when they broke all the windows out of our building," he said. "They set fire to the metal detectors. I had to go back into downtown L.A. and get the exhibit staff out of the basement. They didn't know what was going on. The city's on fire."
After escorting the Simpson jurors into the courtroom, Parker returned to his office and waited.
After the acquittal, he looked out the window and watched a street full of people cheering.
If experience is the best teacher, Parker is ready for anything.
We're in good hands with this guy - even if he's wearing gloves.
:nav Source:http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/20...ocal/news04.txt
When news broke Thursday that Michael Jackson was coming back to town, Darrel Parker was prepared.
As the Santa Maria courthouse organizer in the case, he knew that Jackson was headed his way long before anybody else outside Jackson's inner circle - and that included press, police, the judge, fans and the rest of the world that's impacted by the child molestation case against one of the world's most famous people.
Darrel Parker stands in front of Building G at the Santa Barbara Superior Court complex on Thursday evening. He is the assistant executive officer and, therefore, he runs the North County courthouse. //Aaron Lambert/Staff
Parker, a New Jersey native who came West in 1986 to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, is pumped up by the hoopla.
And is he ever organized.
Standing at the epicenter of celebrity chaos, Santa Barbara County's Superior Court Assistant Executive Officer digs into the mess because that's what he's paid to do.
But respect and regard for responsibility especially drive the 41-year-old who holds a masters degree in public administration with a specialty in court administration.
With a head for details, Parker runs the courthouse with the firm hand of a professional manager.
"I manage the operations, day-to-day basis," Parker said. "Lompoc, Solvang, Santa Maria, juvenile, pre-trial services, the OR bail unit and, to some extent, I get involved in family mediation and family custody services."
Strong as he is, though, finesse is his strongest suit as he handles everything from hanging schoolchildrens' paintings throughout the courthouse to plotting the intricately detailed logistics of the Jackson action.
In the seven years that Parker has been working the North County, he has thrived on the challenge of doing better, learning more and putting his training and experience to the best use possible in his service to the public.
Occasionally, he seems a little more wired than normal, but inevitably shakes it off the way a seasoned pug rolls with the punches before stepping back into the fray.
During one proceeding Parker showed up in court wearing thick gloves that he apparently forget to remove after standing in the cool morning air outside the building.
As you might expect, some wiseacres in the press made "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" cracks that referred to the O.J. Simpson trial. Smart as the press corps is, though, most didn't realize that they had touched on something particularly noteworthy.
Parker worked the Simpson trial, too.
"While I was at grad school, I got a job working for the L.A. Superior court," he said. "I worked in downtown Los Angeles for 10 years and then I was in charge of the southeast district of L.A. for two years."
Parker worked in the same criminal courts building in which the Simpson trial was held.
"The O.J. case took place in one of the courtrooms that I was responsible for," he said.
Other sensational cases also took place on Parker's watch.
"I had Heidi Fleiss, O.J. Simpson, Reginald Denny, Rodney King. All those cases took place in my courts, my division. I was going into the profession. I volunteered. I wanted that stuff."
"At that point, I'm low level. I'm a supervisor, but I wasn't involved in the planning. But I had a front row seat."
At Simpson's trial, Parker helped pack defense equipment into the small courtroom, refereed arguments over the limited seating for the press, and handled whatever unexpected duties arose as the trial proceeded.
"It was crazy downtown," he said. "We had the Stanford marching band out there one day. My office was on the corner of Temple and Hill, right on the street level."
And then came word of a verdict.
"I walked the jurors back (to the courtroom) with the Red Cross crisis management team from their hotel. There's a series of tunnels that connect the buildings of downtown L.A., underground. And a lot of people don't know about it. It's cool. It's kind of eerie at times."
"We brought the jurors and these Red Cross psychological counselors back, walked them over because they were worried about the (verdict's) impact on the community. (We told them) okay, look, here's how you're going to deal with this. Whatever your verdict be prepared for this ... They were worried."
This was a few years after the King trial and the subsequent L.A. riots when jurors acquitted four police officers who had beaten him.
Parker is a veteran of the L.A. riots, as well.
"We were there when they broke all the windows out of our building," he said. "They set fire to the metal detectors. I had to go back into downtown L.A. and get the exhibit staff out of the basement. They didn't know what was going on. The city's on fire."
After escorting the Simpson jurors into the courtroom, Parker returned to his office and waited.
After the acquittal, he looked out the window and watched a street full of people cheering.
If experience is the best teacher, Parker is ready for anything.
We're in good hands with this guy - even if he's wearing gloves.
:nav Source:http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/20...ocal/news04.txt