Meet the Management Team

Christie Stanley, District Attorney

For three years he was the head of the Career Offender Program, a special prosecution unit geared to prosecuting burglars with long criminal records. Following the election of District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon, Jr., McKinley was appointed as the Assistant District Attorney, south county, in 1984. He is a career prosecutor who has handled more than 330 jury trials and has also worked in all other areas of the District Attorney's Office. Among those cases were many murder, rape, theft and bribery cases. He lives in Summerland with his wife, Esther, a career employee with the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

Marnie Pinsker is a sixth generation Californian, born and raised along with nine brothers and sisters in Petaluma. She graduated from California State University at Sonoma with a degree in Anthropology. She has since taken advanced coursework in Management and Supervision at UCSB. She and her husband Steven, a local attorney and professor, have been married for thirty-two years and have one wonderful daughter who lives and works in Washington DC.

Marnie’s professional career began in 1974 with the County of Ventura and included three years as an Analyst to the County Executive Office. She and Steve moved to Santa Barbara in 1978, where she worked as a Senior Analyst for the Santa Barbara City Administrator’s Office until a newly elected District Attorney Tom Sneddon hired Ms. Pinsker as part of his management team. She has worked for the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office ever since.

Currently, Marnie directs the Administration of the DA’s Office, including the financial management of a 17.8 million dollar annual budget. She also leads the human resources administration for a staff of 142 employees, oversees the office’s information technology program, and is in charge of facilities management. Recently, Marnie played a lead role in the design, construction, and organization of the District Attorney’s new office building, a beautiful Spanish-style facility that incorporates Santa Barbara’s natural beauty and fascinating history with up to date technology and innovative working spaces.

Eric began his career with the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office in 1977. He was promoted to Chief Trial Deputy in 1994. Prior to that time he worked in all major areas of the office including felony trials, misdemeanor trials, environmental protection and juvenile. Eric is a past recipient of the Santa Barbara Citizens’ Council on Crime award for outstanding performance for his prosecution of murder and arson cases. As Chief Trial Deputy, Eric is responsible for supervising the day to day operations of both juvenile and criminal operations.

In his spare time he teaches Constitutional Criminal Procedure at the Santa Barbara College of Law and coaches San Marcos High School’s two-time State Champion mock trial team. Eric lives with his wife Mary, a children’s book author, in Santa Barbara, California.

She began working with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office as an intern during her junior year in college. She returned to the office as an intern during the summer breaks from law school and was a certified law student with the office for her last semester of law school. As a Deputy District Attorney, Ann has handled a large variety of cases including, the juvenile dependency cases, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, major narcotics, gangs, homicides and a number of other violent crimes. In 2001, she received the award for Deputy District Attorney of the year and in 2004, she received the Elks Award for outstanding service. In 2005, she led a group of agencies in the formation of the Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Program in Santa Barbara County. DEC is a collaborative program that focuses on children who are exposed to illegal drugs through their parent’s drug abuse.

Ann began teaching at the Allan Hancock Police Academy in 2001, where she taught sex crimes, general criminal statutes, evidence and crimes against the justice system. In April of 2007, she was appointed as the Chief Trial Deputy for North County. In that role, Ann is responsible for supervising the Deputy District Attorneys in Lompoc and Santa Maria. She will also continue to handle criminal cases, including jury trials. Ann spends her free time riding jumping horses.

David M. Saunders, Chief Criminal Investigator
David Saunders began his law enforcement career in 1986 as a Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff. During his eight years with the Sheriff’s Department, David served as uniformed patrol deputy, a Special Enforcement Team member, a member of the SWAT team, and as a Special Operations Division detective. In 1994, David transferred to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, where he served as an investigator for eight years, raising to the rank of Supervising Investigator.

In 2002, David was appointed as the Chief Investigator for the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office where oversees the daily operations of the Bureau of Investigation. He manages a staff of 22 sworn peace officers and six civilian investigators. His primary responsibilities include providing the investigation needed to prepare difficult cases for court; guiding and directing cases of a sensitive or complex nature; acting as a liaison to members of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies; making recommendations to the District Attorney regarding office policies, procedures, and security matters; and providing budgetary oversight and recommendations.

David is an honors graduate of California State University, Northridge with a Masters degree in Public Administration. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne, and holds a Professional Certificate in Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Extension.

David is a member of the Executive Board of the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association (CDAIA), an associate member of the Santa Barbara County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association (CLEC), a member of the California Peace Officers Association (CPOA), and a Lifetime Member of the California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA).