Sacramento Deputy DA Advises on High Tech Search and Seizure
by Joan Stone

Jeffrey R. Ritschard does not really have a hi-tech background but he loves his work advising the multi-county Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. He is responsible for addressing legal issues, reviewing search warrants, making filing decisions and prosecuting task force cases in Sacramento. "I have enjoyed this assignment more than any other in my twelve years as a DA," he said, during a recent interview at his office in the special investigations unit of the district attorney's office. As we spoke, we were constantly interrupted. The job clearly keeps Ritschard busy.

Raised in the East Bay, Ritschard came here to attend law school at the University of California, Davis. A stint in the district attorney's office as a student made him realize that criminal prosecution was his forte. He joined the office at the first opportunity in February 1988. He has never looked back.

He explained that a lot of his time is spent reviewing search warrants for the 31 departments and agencies that are served by the task force. Tailoring a search warrant to permit an effective computer search without offending search and seizure laws requires special rules. Ritschard says that he is just starting to see challenges to the evidence from computer searches. He wants to make sure that everything is done correctly. He is working on standard search warrants to help fulfill that goal.

Making sure things are done right means educating law enforcement personnel and judges. One of Ritschard's immediate projects is the development, along with Deputy Attorney General Robert Morgester, of educational programs for all of the local, state and federal agencies involved in the task force.

Ritschard is also heavily involved on the cutting edge of developing law on hi-tech crime as the legislative liaison for the California District Attorneys' Association committee on high technology crimes.

On call "24/7," Jeff finds time to enjoy his family, wife Jennifer and children Conner, age 6 and Alexandra, age 8. The close relationship is reflected in the children's artwork prominently displayed on Ritschard 's walls and in the family photos that surround his desk.

Both the career prosecutor and the family man take comfort from the successful prosecution of child pornographers. Ritschard recalls one case where, faced with an issue of staleness, he persuaded a judge to issue a search warrant on an individual by using expert testimony that child pornographers maintain "lifetime collections." The search resulted in the early discovery of not only Internet crime but also multiple signs of a "classic pedophile" engaged in molestation of neighborhood children. Ritschard believes that, without the search, the perpetrator might never have been found. Or, at least, not until there had been many more victims.