Robert S. Brewer

Robert (Bob) Selden Brewer (born April 30, 1946 in Hartford, CT) is a candidate for District Attorney of San Diego County in the 2014 election. Bonnie Dumanis, the incumbent, has been the District Attorney since 2003. Bob Brewer is married to Irma Elsa Gonzalez who was the first Mexican-American female federal judge.
Education
• St. Lawrence University, B.A. 1968
• University of San Diego School of Law, J.D. 1975
Military Service
Upon his college graduation, Brewer was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army in June 1968, successfully completing Ranger and Airborne training. At the age of 24, he became a Company Commander, in the 8th Infantry Division, in Mainz, Germany.
He then served in Viet Nam for 15 months as an Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division, in combat in both Cambodia and South Viet Nam, and Operations Officer with MACSOG. For his combat service in Viet Nam he was awarded the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars, 2 Air medals (one for Valor), the Joint Service Commendation Medal and various Vietnamese medals for valor. Brewer remained in the Army Reserves for four years after leaving active duty, serving in the Special Forces Unit in San Diego, and at the 63rd ARCOM HQs, Los Angeles.
Career
Following graduation Brewer was employed with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office starting in December 1975. In October 1977, Brewer left to join the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Central District of California. While an Assistant United States Attorney, Brewer prosecuted Harry Barber, the last member of a gang to be apprehended for the multimillion-dollar United California Bank robbery in Laguna Niguel in 1972. Harry Barber was sentenced to 10 years in prison after his conviction. Brewer prosecuted Harold Morton who was convicted of conspiracy to violate civil rights in having a key witness in a drug conspiracy investigation killed.
Brewer was the Assistant United States Attorney responsible for the successful 1981 prosecution of Marian Zacharski, a Polish intelligence officer arrested for stealing secrets related to the stealth bomber. The trial lasted 7 weeks, beginning on Sept 15, 1981. On November 10, 1981 the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts and on December 20, 1982 Zacharski was sentenced to life imprisonment. In November 1984 Marion Zacharski was traded for 25 alleged Western spies at the Galinka Bridge in Berlin, West Germany.
Brewer moved back to San Diego in 1982 and entered private practice in which he specialized in a variety of civil litigation and white collar defense areas including government investigations, fraud, business and commercial torts, health care and intellectual property disputes. He co-founded the San Diego law firm of Chapin & Brewer in 1987 and served as the Managing Partner of the San Diego office of McKenna & Cuneo from 1991-2008. In February 2009, he joined Jones Day where he subsequently became the Partner in Charge of the San Diego office. Brewer was awarded in 2009 the San Diego County Bar Association’s Daniel T. Broderick Award for Civility and Ethics.
In 1997, Brewer was diagnosed with Agent Orange-related non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He went through six months of chemotherapy and three months of radiation. He has recovered and has been a member of the Partnership Council of the San Diego American Cancer Society.
Personal
Brewer has served on the Board of the San Diego Humane Society for seven years, has been a “puppy raiser” and donor with Canine Companions for Independence for eleven years, and a Red Cross volunteer for the past nine years. Brewer is married to retired former federal judge Irma Elsa Gonzalez. They have a daughter and son-in-law and two granddaughters.

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