ER - Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Honored

Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Heather Gimle stands in front of a bookcase filled with some of the cases she is working on.

Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Honored
by Christine Bensen The Eureka Reporter
12/16/03

Last week Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Heather Gimle was honored by the California Narcotics Officers Association with the Prosecutor of the Year Award for the eighth region, which is made up of the 11 most northern counties.

The CNOA is an organization with 7,500 members statewide and, according to the CNOA newsletter, the award was established to recognize and honor prosecutors who are committed to strong enforcement and prosecution of narcotics laws.

Gimle’s boss, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos, said Gimle is “self-motivated, positive and a pleasure to work with.”

“We are all proud of Heather,” Gallegos said. “Heather shares this community’s concern about the societal impact of hard-core drugs, such as methamphetamine and heroin and is committed to doing all she can to bring appropriate consequences to hard-core drug offenders.”

Gimle was born and raised in Eureka, graduating from Eureka High School in 1992. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a focus in law and society and a minor in English from University of California Davis in 1996.

While in college Gimle said she toyed with the idea of different majors and for a while she said she wanted to be a teacher, but her senior year she realized she definitely wanted to be a lawyer.

“I liked the variety that the law offered in a career,” Gimle said.

In 1999, Gimle graduated with a law degree from Santa Clara University and took her California state bar exam in July of the same year.

Gimle said while she was in law school she spent her summers interning at the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office and after she graduated, Terry Farmer, then Humboldt County district attorney, said she could have a job in the department as long as she passed the bar exam.

Gimle said she worked as a clerk until she received her results in November and then started working as a deputy district attorney.

Gimle is now the deputy district attorney who focuses on all felony drug cases, except marijuana, in what is referred to as a vertical assignment, which means she handles the case from the time it is filed through the jury trial.

“It keeps me busy full time and then some, she said.

Gimle said there are a few other vertical assignments in her office, including a deputy district attorney who focuses on domestic violence and others that focus on marijuana sale and cultivation, child sexual assault and abuse and juvenile cases.

“(My focus) first and foremost (is) criminal law, within that being a prosecutor, within that focusing on drug cases and within that methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin,” Gimle said.

She said sometimes she works on cases that involve hallucinogenic or prescription drugs. However, she said most of her cases are related to methamphetamines. She said she thinks that is because methamphetamine seems to be “the drug of choice” right now.

“Methamphetamine is a problem we’re seeing nationwide,” Gimle said.

Gimle said she has no plans to leave the area or her job at the District Attorney’s Office.

“I’m from here, so I definitely have attachments here,” she said. “I enjoy working with my colleagues and I really like my job a lot.”

She said she also has a lot of family in the area that she doesn’t want to leave and enjoys working with the law-enforcement officers in the area as well.

“(There’s a) good law-enforcement community up here,” Gimle said.

As for the award, she said she is honored.

“I’m very honored and humbled and I think when it comes from officers you work with, it’s a tremendous honor,” Gimle said.

She said she doesn’t think people realize all the work and sacrifices that come with being a law-enforcement officer.

“For them to recognize me is really a huge honor,” Gimle said. “I wouldn’t be able to do my job well if they weren’t doing their job well.”

Gimle said she feels like she is giving back to the community.

“I believe the citizens of Humboldt County are very fortunate to have her working on their behalf,” Gallegos said.

“I really like my job, that’s the bottom line,” she said. “It’s fun and it’s meaningful to me. You couldn’t really ask for much more.”