Rhonda Saunders

For the past 24 years, Ms. Saunders has been a criminal prosecutor. She established S.T.A.T. (Stalking and Threat Assessment Team) for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the L.A. Stalking Task Force. Some of her many successful stalking and threat prosecutions include convicting Robert Hoskins of stalking and making terrorist threats against the entertainer Madonna, Fernando Rodarte of making threats against Los Angeles Supervisor Gloria Molina, Jonathan Norman of stalking Producer/Director Steven Spielberg, Dante Soiu of stalking actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Marlon Pagtakhan of cyberstalking "Star Trek’s" Producer Brannon Bragga and actress Jerri Ryan and Mark Hatten who threatened Anna Nicole Smith and assaulted her elderly neighbor when he came to her defense. Ms. Saunders obtained her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California Law School in 1982.

Ms. Saunders is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of stalking, workplace violence and criminal threats. She has lectured to prosecutors, law enforcement, and victim advocacy groups in such places as Alaska, New Mexico, Louisiana, New York, Washington, D.C., Kassel, Germany and London, England. Between 1998 through 2004 she was on the faculty of the United States Secret Service Threat Assessment Center in their training division. In 1994, she revised California’s Stalking Law Penal Code Section 646.9, so that law enforcement and the courts can now effectively protect victims from this crime; in 1997 she wrote Penal Code Section 646.92, which allows law enforcement to issue emergency restraining orders in stalking and workplace violence cases; and in 2000 she increased the penalties for aggravated stalking. Between 1999 - 2004, Ms. Saunders was President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP). In August 2000, she was awarded the ATAP

National Achievement Award; in 2001 was given the Woman of Distinction Award by Soroptimist International in recognition of her contributions to combating stalking and workplace violence; and in 2004 she received a recognition award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for her efforts in supporting victims of this crime. In November, 2005, Ms Saunders participated in a symposium at the invitation of the German government to establish a criminal stalking law in that country. That law went into effect in January, 2007.

Media appearances as a consultant and expert in stalking have included; The Catherine Cryer Show (Court TV,2005); Hollywood Heat (Court TV, 2005), Entertainment Tonight (2004, 2005, 2006), Soap Talk (2004); Access Hollywood (NBC) (2005, 2006); Showtime Cable's "The Making of the Fan"; E-Entertainment Network Documentary "The Stalking and Killing of Rebecca Schaeffer"; Eclipse Productions: a twelve part documentary on stalking airing in Ireland in September 2001; MSNBC; and BBC's "Stalking the Stalker". She has published articles on stalking and workplace violence in the Entertainment edition of the L.A. Lawyer Magazine, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department monthly magazine Star News. Her chapter, "Stalking From A Legal Perspective," appears in the book, The Psychology of Stalking, edited by Dr. J. Reid Meloy, published by Academic Press (May, 1998); her chapter on "Psychological Issues Involved in the Prosecution of Celebrity Stalking Cases" will appear in the book, Stalking, Threats, and Attacks Against Public Figures, edited by J.R. Meloy, L. Sheridan and J. Hoffman: Oxford Univ. Press. (March, 2008). The television series "The Investigators - Reasonable Fear", which is based upon Ms Saunders stalking and threat prosecutions, is currently being shown on Court TV. Ms. Saunders is featured on the September, 2007 reissue of the 1990 DVD movie, "Misery" in a special bonus section discussing the issue of celebrity stalking as it relates to the Kathy Bates character in the film. She has recently completed a documentary on celebrity stalking for E-Entertainment International that will air in Europe and the United States in 2007. In 2007, Ms Saunders appeared as stalking expert/consultant on The Dr. Phil Show and "The Today Show". An as yet untitled dramatic television series based on Ms. Saunders' stalking cases was recently purchased by Oxygen Network and is currently in production by Pilgrim Productions. Whisper of Fear, a book based on Ms Saunders life and career will be published by Berkley Press in September 2008.

For more information, please see www.stalkingalert.com.

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