[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 178 (Monday, December 16, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING KARYN SINUNU-TOWERY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 16, 2013

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the service of Ms. 
Karyn Sinunu-Towery to the County of Santa Clara.
  For over 30 years, Ms. Sinunu-Towery has served the people of Santa 
Clara County in the District Attorney's Office. She has made enormous 
contributions to the office, and after her final day of service on 
December 20, 2013, she will undoubtedly be missed.
  Ms. Sinunu-Towery began her career in 1983 as a law clerk for the 
Santa Clara District Attorney. Two years later, on December 12, 1985, 
she became a member of the California Bar and joined the office as a 
staff attorney.
  After serving eleven years as a Deputy District Attorney and the 
Supervisor of the Sexual Assault Unit, prosecuting over 50 jury trials, 
Ms. Sinunu-Towery was promoted to the executive position of Assistant 
District Attorney. In this role, she has lead-by-example, and provided 
valuable counsel to the District Attorney.
  Throughout her career Ms. Sinunu-Towery has been known for her 
fairness, resilience, professionalism, and commitment to justice.
  Ms. Sinunu-Towery has a reputation as a reformer who truly cared for 
the victims she was charged with protecting. She wrote Victim's Rights 
manuals that were distributed throughout California and developed a 
model procedure for the investigation of child-abuse investigations 
with the goal of reducing the trauma to the children involved.
  Ms. Sinunu-Towery was just as vigilant when it came to ensuring that 
the accused received fair treatment. She worked with local police 
chiefs and the Sheriff to create fairer line-up procedures to 
accurately identify suspects, and guidelines for the interrogation of 
mentally ill suspects. She personally worked to free defendants wrongly 
convicted and is a model for prosecutors everywhere in this regard.
  Ms. Sinunu-Towery was a trailblazer when it came to the use of 
technology to better administer justice. She was instrumental in the 
office's transition from paper to electronic data storage, and 
continued to push for greater technology use.
  I wish to congratulate Ms. Karyn Sinunu-Towery on her impressive 
career and commend her for 30 years of service to the Santa Clara 
County community. She leaves the District Attorney's Office a better 
place and will be dearly missed.

                          ____________________