Prosecutor Who Helped Convict Palm Desert Man of Murder Gets Special Honor

Riverside County Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Nolan, who handles cases in the Indio office, was named the state's 2013 Outstanding Prosecutor by the California District Attorneys Association, it was announced Monday.

Nolan, 44, is the sixth prosecutor from Riverside County to receive the recognition since 1977.  The recipient is chosen from nominees from throughout the state by the CDAA's board of directors.

Nolan has worked for the Riverside County D.A.'s office since 1999 and has prosecuted homicides exclusively since 2008. He accepted the award on June 20 at the association's annual summer conference held in South Lake Tahoe.

"Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson ... said, 'As prosecutors we should embrace the highest principles of conduct and fairness, as the citizens' safety lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility,"' Nolan said.  "I have tried to embody these ideals my entire career and it is with great humility and sincere appreciation that I accept this recognition."

Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said Nolan "is a true example of everything that we would want and hope for in a career prosecutor."

California District Attorneys Association CEO Scott Thorpe said one thing that was particularly impressive about Nolan was how many days he was in trial during the year -- 106 court days in 2012.

Last year, Nolan prosecuted three Coachella Valley murder cases, including winning a death penalty verdict against Emilio Avalos, who killed U.S. Marine Henry Lozano in 2001 and Jahi Collins in 1994 -- both in Desert Hot Springs.

Nolan prosecuted a "complicated and difficult circumstantial evidence case" of murder for financial gain in which La Quinta resident Judy Munson was killed by her brother and his friend for her business and about $400,000 in cash, D.A.'s spokesman John Hall said.

Nolan also prosecuted a case resulting in a murder conviction against Sean Mihajson of Palm Desert for the disappearance and 2007 killing of Palm Springs resident Shalonda Morris.

– City News Service.