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Sitzberger shows steely resolve

By: JESSICA STEPHEN//September 17, 2014//

Sitzberger shows steely resolve

By: JESSICA STEPHEN//September 17, 2014//

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Randy Sitzberger,  prosecutor,  Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office

Don’t be fooled by Randy Sitzberger’s baby face, said colleague Megan Carmody.

“People think, ‘Who’s this high school kid?’” Sitzberger’s fellow prosecutor at the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said. “But he appears more seasoned because he’s not note reliant and he puts on a game face and goes in ready for whatever comes his way. He is absolutely unflappable.”

That’s entirely by design, Sitzberger said, and something he worked on after a streak of losses early on.

“I was almost rigid, robotic about the textbook stuff, the rules of evidence,” he recalled.

So he watched more seasoned prosecutors and second-chaired a couple of homicide trials.

“I learned that you don’t always have to worry if a question is going to get objected to,” the Marquette Law School graduate said. “You should just ask the question. If somebody’s going to challenge, you can deal with that.”

Sitzberger also learned to appear confident, even if he wasn’t totally convinced.

“His polish and ease with performance in front of a group of people far exceeds his years in the office,” Carmody said. “He’s so comfortable in front of a crowd. He doesn’t have those jitters that some other new attorneys have.”

Though Sitzberger insists he still gets nervous, he’s learned to put others at ease.

“It was a real loss for us when he joined the gun unit [last June],” Carmody said. “He puts victims at ease, and he’s gained the trust of opposing counsel, police officers, judges; which puts him eight steps ahead.”

As captain of Sitzberger’s old team at the felony general crimes unit in the DA’s office, Carmody gave him a few of her cases, then watched from afar to see how he’d do.

“You teach someone to swim by throwing them in the pool, and if they start drowning you jump in,” she reasoned.

But, Carmody said, she never really had to jump in, even when Sitzberger’s youthful appearance had folks scratching their heads.

“He has a very quick analytical mind; he can sift through things slightly faster than the average bear,” Carmody quipped. “And the level of felonies he took; he definitely took on much more complex cases at an earlier time than others with his experience.”

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