Us v. Them: A Prosecutor's Perspective

 Posted on June 27, 2007 in Uncategorized

A prosecutor who wishes to remain anonymous has this to say in response to my Us v. Them II post of last week:

I do think that Mckinney's statements were too harsh, especially the part about how ADA's prosecute the innocent. Currently, I only deal with robbery cases and violent serious assaults. Regardless of the outcome, there are no real winners. Some of the cases involve "real" victims, People who have been wronged in some way. When we (ADA's ) go to trial, we are saying that you will be held accountable for your actions. Does that mean that all defendants are evil wicked people who can never repent? Of course not. It means that you have to follow the rules of society like everyone else. Everyone deserves to be safe in their home or to be safe while they're walking down the street.We don't prosecute the innocent. I have never gone to trial on someone I thought was not guilty. That is an important statement. It doesn't mean I think everyone charged is guilty. Our elected D.A. gives us wide discretion in how we handle cases. I have dismissed plenty of cases b/c the evidence wasn't there to proceed.

So there.

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