Sacto 9-1-1: Sacramento deputy district attorney arrested on DUI

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Sacto 9-1-1

The Sacramento Bee's Crime blog is a comprehensive report of crime news, trends and information for your community and beyond.

November 21, 2009

Sacramento deputy district attorney arrested on DUI

From Denny Walsh

A veteran deputy district attorney was arrested on drunken driving charges in midtown Sacramento early this morning, police said.

An officer observed a vehicle being driven erratically by Ross Robert Huggins (photo left) westbound on I Street near 20th Street, according to Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong.

The officer stopped Huggins at 1:44 a.m. at 19th and J Streets, he said.

"The odor of alcoholic beverage was emanating from the vehicle," Leong said. "Field sobriety tests were conducted and Mr. Huggins was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol."

Huggins, 44, was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail at 3:01 a.m. and was released later Saturday, according to jail online records.

Reached by phone Saturday at his home, Huggins said, "I made a mistake and I'll have to accept the consequences. Beyond that, I'd rather not comment because it's a private matter."

Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, did not return a call seeking comment.

Huggins did confirm he is currently assigned to the "state-targeted offenses program," a division comprised of five units - prison crimes, vehicle theft, mental health litigation, public assistance fraud and parental child abduction.

He prosecuted crimes against children for a number of years.

He was also the prosecutor of former Kings player Chris Webber and Jason Williams on reckless driving charges in 2000. After a day-long non-jury trial then-Sacramento Superior Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr., now a federal judge, decided they were not guilty.

Huggins, who has been a local prosecutor for more than a decade, graduated from University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1991.

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Q: What happened to the man who kidnapped and killed Connie Lee Decker in 1984?

A: David Breaux, now 53, is on death row at San Quentin Prison for Decker's murder, according to prison records.

Breaux was a released felon when he kidnapped

Decker, 37, in front of a Sacramento liquor store June 17, 1984, The Bee reported. Decker was a stranger to Breaux.

He forced her to climb into a trash bin behind a Rancho Cordova business and shot her twice in the back of the head. He later moved her body to a remote field, where she was found the next day.

An investigation led to Breaux, who fled when he saw police outside his mother's home on June 19. He ran to nearby McKinley Park, where he hid in the clubhouse. He was shot in the forearm by a police officer before being subdued.

Breaux had two prior convictions - robbery in 1978 and battery on a police officer in 1975.

In addition to the death sentence, Breaux also was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years.

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