Amanda Sturniolo is formidably towering as she exits a courtroom at the Leflore County Courthouse carrying a caseload of documents.
But back at her desk, the assistant district attorney for the 4th Circuit Court District of Mississippi nonchalantly says, “Five-inch heels. I’m really 5-(foot)-3. Oh, yeah. I’m vertically challenged.”
He life story demonstrates those extra inches are not vanity. It is all part of commanding authority in an austere courtroom as she works on prosecutions in some of the most challenging cases in the 4th District, which covers Leflore, Washington and Sunflower counties. At only 28 years old, and almost six months into her current role, Sturniolo is moving up in a competitive field.
Sturniolo moved to Greenwood in the third grade from McComb. Her mother, Sandra Sturniolo, quickly became “the best dental hygienist in town,” the daughter said, smiling. “She was voted favorite in The Greenwood Commonwealth a few years ago. She still is the best.”
Leaning back in her courthouse chair, Sturniolo said she never planned for her career to bring her back to Greenwood.
An early turning point in her life was during her first year at Pillow Academy, where she began to play both soccer and basketball. Soccer particularly focused her and help her integrate into the city. The Pillow girls soccer team won championships during her high school years. She continued with the sport at Mississippi College, where she earned her undergraduate degree. The “vertically challenged” athlete played goalie, although normally goalies are larger players who can cover wide spaces to keep the ball out of the net. But, Sturniolo reflected, “I had foot speed, hand speed, and I did a lot of jumping exercises.”
She approached her college studies similarly — agile, fast and taking whatever extra steps were necessary. After exploring various majors and double majors, she settled on studying business with two minors in English writing and political science. She was significantly influenced by a professor who also worked for Case International Harvester and Farm Equipment and taught management and organization. She then entered MC’s School of Law, studying for a law degree while adding the extra load of an MBA. She graduated with both.
Sturniolo said she could have gone into the business world or law at that point. She chose law — or law chose her, because of her grandfather.
“I wanted to be a lawyer since my first memories,” she said.
Her maternal family is from Sardis, and her grandfather was a Justice Court judge, although he didn’t have a law degree. He remained a judge during Sturniolo’s childhood and passed away during his 10th term. He began taking her to the courtroom even when she was a toddler.
“I saw how he treated people with respect, no matter their education level, race, socioeconomic status,” she recalled. “He brought me to the law even though he wasn’t a lawyer. The law was the best way I could see to help people.”
It was not always an easy ride for the new assistant district attorney. Sturniolo returned to Greenwood for six months after law school awaiting her bar exam result and doing anything she could to get any experience in firms as far away as Grenada. She applied for the assistant district attorney position and was turned down. Finally, she landed in Starkville, where she clerked for a judge and practiced at a law firm for a total of about 2½ years until the assistant district attorney position in Greenwood opened again. She was selected.
Within the legal community, public prosecution is seen as a grueling job. Prosecutors must deal with victims and their families as well as try to make them understand motives and appropriate sentencing. But they also have to review every piece of possible relevant evidence — including post-mortem photos, video, recordings and the testimony of horrific crimes.
“I don’t work overtime. I get out of here,” Sturniolo said. “That is part of how I don’t take it home with me. You have to have a balance, or it will get to you.”
She recounts recently having to watch a video of a man enter a store and shoot the customer in the spine with a pistol. The gunman took money from the cashier and casually walked out. The victim was paralyzed, and she had to watch it the entire video.
“You could just hear him screaming and crying,” she recalled. “You could see he was now paralyzed. That his legs weren’t moving. They were just turned one way. Just limp.”
She said there was no motive to rationalize the gunman’s deeds, adding, “The Greenwood Police Department did a great job. They got him before he able to hurt anyone else.”
Sturniolo says her biggest God-given gifts are “the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life and empathize.”
“I don’t look at the defendant and see ‘guilty’ written on their face immediately,” she said. “We do try to help people we can, such as getting people into drug court.”
She said she actually did some defense work before prosecution. She says the biggest problem facing criminal law in Mississippi is the lack of proper resourcing for mental health — and on this issue, she becomes visibly frustrated.
“There are not enough beds. There are too few forensic psychologists and psychiatrists. Not only for the treatment of people with mental health issues but also just to do psychological assessments,” Sturniolo said. “A big bottleneck in bringing cases — old cases — to completion and closure for families is the inability to get timely mental evaluations of the defendants.”
Sturniolo said she never planned to leave Mississippi.
“Some good people have to stay here. It has good potential. Too many people are leaving,” she said. “But I did not plan on coming back to Greenwood.”
Nevertheless, she is glad she was called back to serve the community.
“Greenwood is a great close-knit community,” she said. “Some of the best people in the entire world are here. So much has improved and changed culturally in Greenwood since I have been gone.”
However, despite the revitalizations, she does observe the generational gap and comments that the area must find more ways to attract young professionals.
Sturniolo’s faith is important to her, and she still attends North Greenwood Baptist Church, where she went as a child.
Ultimately, when asked to describe why she became a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney, she quotes Micah 6:8: “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.”
When reminded that some defense attorneys cite that verse for their career choice also, Sturniolo replied, “Yeah. That’s it, really,” and she repeated it: “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.”
•Contact Mitch Robinson at 581-7235 or mrobinson@gwcommonwealth.com.
