As I look back over the last fifteen plus years as your District Attorney, many of the things that I am proudest of are things that you the citizens do not hear about because they do not get any publicity.  First, the excellent teamwork that has been established with local law enforcement has made it possible to prosecute criminals more effectively and efficiently.  To watch young prosecutors grow and mature into very able and ethical trial attorneys has also been one of those unspoken accomplishments and rewards of this position.  Assembling a staff that cares for the victims and witnesses who come in contact with us on a daily basis and who exemplify dedication to duty has been another accomplishment and reward of this service.

            Because our team of prosecutors and staff has worked diligently over the years, the Judges of our Circuit have gained confidence in our work and because of that I was able to gain their approval for the Circuit’s first pre-trial diversion programs including one especially designed for domestic violence cases.  In addition, I also submitted a case assignment system which was more efficient than the existing one, and it was implemented with the Court’s agreement.  This divided the caseload up in thirds, but the assignment was from the arrest in order for the DA’s office to be included in the case from the beginning which greatly enhanced a more efficient and effective way to deal with the cases.  In the old system, the assignments were made after indictment and created the inefficiency of assistants having to swap cases even during trial weeks, something that has been eliminated with the new system which continued after the Circuit gained the fourth judgeship because the Judges allowed me to modify the system in order that each Judge would have an approximate and random 25% of the cases received.

            Since I prosecute the vast majority of the homicide incidents, the most rewarding part of my work has been assisting these families of violence through criminal justice and providing many of them with closure and finality.  As part of this work, I have prosecuted over fifty homicide incidents involving in excess of thirty murder trials.  Further, I have made capital litigation long dormant in this Circuit a workable sentencing option in our Circuit resulting in the prosecution of five death penalty cases during this time with two defendants receiving the death penalty and two others life without parole.  So you can see this has been an interesting and fulfilling journey and one that I wish to continue for another four years.