Suzanne Boykin Takes Over as Assistant DA for Stephens County

Stephens County has a new Assistant District Attorney.

WNEG News has confirmed that attorney Suzanne Boykin will start her new job on Thursday.

Boykin comes to Stephens County from Clarkesville where she served as the Chief Assistant Public Defender for Habersham County.

A 1990 graduate of Clemson University, Boykin received her law degree from Georgia State University Law School in 1995. She then began work in metro Atlanta as a criminal defense attorney.

Boykin moved to the Mountain Judicial Circuit in 2006 where she first served in the Rabun County Public Defender’s office before taking the job in Habersham County.

Boykin tells WNEG News switching from defense attorney to prosecuting attorney is not as much of a leap as one might think.

“A lot of people go between the two because you know the system,” she explained. “After you’ve been in it this long, you know what’s fair and what’s not fair. For me, it was just at that point in time where I needed to do something different. The opportunity came up. I spoke with Mr. Christian and it’s a new opportunity that I’m excited to do.”

And because she has practiced as a criminal defense attorney, Boykin believes she brings a unique perspective to the prosecution side.

Boykin said that experience allows her to understand the value of fairness for victims of crime as well as for the alleged offenders.

“I know the process well. Coming from the defense standpoint, I know what would be fair when talking to the District Attorney. And I understand that both have their own job descriptions and what they need to do and who they’re representing,” Boykin said. “But I think the ultimate goal for both is doing the right thing and doing the just thing. I don’t think that changes going over to the District Attorney’s office. You want to make the process is fair, the procedure is fair. You’re representing the people. You want to get justice for the victims. You want to get justice for the State, but at the same time you want to make sure it’s all done in the right way.”

Boykin takes over for Chief Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman who retired the end of September.