KIMBALL H. DIMMICK
District Attorney

1852-1853

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Kimball H. Dimmick

The third District Attorney comes to California as an army commander during the Mexican-American War.

New Yorker Kimball Dimmick came west as a U.S. Army officer. He then became an alcalde and Judge of the First Instance in San Jose under the military transition to statehood in 1849. After moving to Los Angeles he held various posts, including District Attorney, justice of the peace, county judge and finally U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. In private practice, Dimmick most often represented horse thieves, gamblers and their ilk. According to historian W.W. Robinson, Dimmick had a standard simple plea to the jury: "The District Attorney prosecuting my client is paid by the County to convict this prisoner, whether he is guilty or innocent; and I plead with you, gentlemen, in the name of Impartial Justice, to bring in a verdict of 'Not Guilty!'"

Reprinted from FOR THE PEOPLE -- Inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 1850-2000 by Michael Parrish. ISBN 1-883318-15-7