[4] Her father was a truck driver as well as a professional musician; her mother worked for a government program assisting women and children.

In 2018 she ran for a seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but lost to former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher.

Dumanis filed an amicus curiae brief in the case D.C. v. Heller, supporting the District of Columbia's ban on keeping functional firearms in the home for self-defense, and on the possession of handguns.

[14][15][16] In April 2008, a woman accused and convicted by Dumanis's office of murder, was released, after over two years of incarceration.

Charges were dropped on reasonable doubt after conclusions reached by toxicology experts during a review, prompted by the defense, of the evidence used for trial and conviction.

Dumanis said her office acted based on available evidence when it charged Sommer with murder in March 2006 and tried her in January 2007.

The case has been described as "a symbol of the effort by Dumanis and other prosecutors across the state to criminalize storefront medical marijuana dispensaries".

[25] She testified in a federal court trial for José Susumo Azano Matsura, a wealthy Mexican businessman, who was charged with making $600,000 in illegal political donations.

[29] It also was revealed that in September 2012, four months after the meetings, Dumanis wrote a letter of recommendation for Matsura's son (whom she had never met) to include in his application to the University of San Diego.

[30] In 2015, Dumanis was criticized for prosecuting a group of young black men for belonging to the same gang as suspects in a Lincoln Park shooting.

[38] When asked why her lawyers had been so closely involved with the law change, Dumanis said they had sent a "strategy memo", and that she knew of five other people in government who received a salary and a pension at the same time.

[39] Dumanis opposed California Proposition 64 (which in 2016 legalized cannabis for adults) and has been characterized as tough on cannabis-related crimes.

[42][43] In May 2017, a SWAT team raided the San Diego home of medical marijuana lawyer Jessica McElfresh.