by Garth Meyer
Sydne Michel is the new Redondo Beach city prosecutor, sworn-in last week after 19 years as a deputy, first for former city attorney Mike Webb, and now Joy Ford, whom Michel mentored.
A former actress who went to law school at age 34, Michel now oversees all criminal prosecutions in the city, held at the Torrance courthouse.
From her office at the Redondo Beach police station, she will run jury trials, work with RBPD detectives and take on administrative responsibilities.
Michel succeeds Melanie Chavira, who was appointed as a judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court Metro division, starting Aug. 25.
In her time working for the city, Michel has prosecuted high-profile cases such as a Palos Verdes gastroenterologist charged with sexual assault during exams; vehicular manslaughter cases, and DUI, resisting arrest, petty theft and domestic violence.
She reports an increase lately in motions to vacate.
“To avoid a conviction for a crime of moral turpitude, so as not to be subject to deportation,” she said.
Michel previously was a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis in downtown L.A., for 10 years.
“This breadth of experience – including prosecution, defense, and civil litigation – equips me with a broader perspective, a deeper understanding of the law, and the courtroom skills necessary, to understand a city prosecutor’s duties,” she said.
Michel also acted as pro-bono coordinator for Kirkland & Ellis.
The daughter of artists and musicians, she grew up in West L.A., and went to UCLA for a theater arts degree.
“It is useful in the courtroom,” she said. “The art of persuasion.”
Before law school at Loyola, Michel worked as an actress – including a role as one of the girls who torment Sissy Spacek in gym class in “Carrie” (1976, filmed in Hermosa Beach).
After 10 years acting – some stretches full-time, others going back to being a waitress – a pilot episode Michel was in failed to get picked up, and she went back to UCLA to take an aptitude test, to find out what she might be good at for Plan B.
The results came back – attorney.
“That’s not a very easy Plan B,” she said.
Still hesitant, Michel started with an LSAT prep class, then went ahead and took the LSAT. She went to law school and worked as a waitress at night.
“I always thought being in a courtroom was magic. People’s lives get transformed and justice is served,” Michel said. “(Plan B), it appears to be working out.”
She talked about “restorative justice,” as a focus of her work today, and the practice of “judicial diversion” which no longer requires a plea.
Judicial diversion is when a judge dismisses a case if certain conditions are met, such as community service, anger management or taking the course “Street Racing Kills” for a reckless driver.
“The point is to allow someone not to suffer a conviction,” Michel said.
She is married with two sons and a daughter-in-law.
“I look forward to upholding the city’s mission, which is, to protect the public interest and uphold the law, by working with law enforcement to aggressively prosecute all criminal activity,” Michel said at her swearing-in Sept. 2. “And I look forward to doing that with integrity, fairness and dedication.”
Attorney Michael Norris, whose namesake law firm has been at the Redondo Pier for 45 years, has opposed Michel in court hundreds of times.
“We have worked with many city prosecutors in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, who were among the best in California. Many have gone on to become judges… Sydne is cut from that same cloth,” Norris said. “No one works harder, and her persistent goal is to make the city safer for all of us who live and work here.”
“When I began my own career as a deputy city prosecutor here, Sydne went out of her way to mentor me,” said Redondo City Attorney Joy Ford. “Helping me grow into a confident and capable trial attorney. I hold the highest regard for her professionalism and leadership, and look forward to all that she will accomplish as the new city prosecutor.”
Michel will cover Hermosa Beach too, in an agreement started between the two cities in 2014. ER
