As a supervisor, Mr. Murphy oversees other Deputy District Attorneys in their efforts to prosecute crime in Butte County. He notes that the public does not necessarily see the time, effort and energy any individual Deputy District Attorney devotes to their cases. There is a great deal of unpaid, uncompensated overtime and without such dedication and sacrifice, public safety would suffer greatly.
In regards to his own caseload, one of Mr. Murphy's most memorable cases over his tenure has been People v. Santos Zepeda. In Zepeda, the victims were a father and son whom the defendant believed belonged to a rival gang. The father was shot in the back by the defendant and was paralyzed as a result. One witness described the father falling like a duck that had been shot out of the air when the shooting occurred. While the father was laying on the ground, paralyzed, he watched the defendant shoot and kill his 16 year old son.
With help from his family, the defendant fled the State were he continued to pursue his hobby of writing rap lyrics--many of which were laced with terms specifically used by the gang he belonged to. These lyrics included phrases that defendant was "still willing to do some killing," it "ain't sh*t to take your life," as well as referenced to an unsolved mystery.
Eventually the unsolved mystery was resolved. The defendant was convicted of 1st degree murder, attempted murder and multiple firearm enhancements leading to a sentence of multiple life terms.
The California Court of Appeals eventually upheld the conviction in a published case which is now used up and down the State of California by gang prosecutors when using gang rap lyrics to show a particular defendant's motives and intentions. (People v. Zepeda, (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 25).
Mr. Murphy excels in his ability to both relate and guide victims of crimes through the court system. This skill was recognized this year as a recipient of a Victim/Witness Award on April 9, 2014, given in recognition of his efforts made towards crime victims he deals with as part of his criminal caseload. Mr. Murphy relates that "the most rewarding aspect of the job is working to deliver justice to family members who have lost a loved one to violence. Murder cases often involve extensive contact with the victim's loved ones from the inception of the case, through trial and beyond. After developing those relationships with the victim's family, it is always deeply rewarding when a murder victim's loved ones hear the jury announce a guilty verdict."
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| Mark Murphy after receiving an award from the Butte County Victim/Witness Center for his outstanding work with victims of crime for the 2013 year |
