rrspin.com submitted the following questions for the two candidates:

Residence  

Ahoskie, North Carolina

Current occupation

District Attorney- 6th Prosecutorial District - Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton Counties

Years of experience

25 years of experience as a Prosecutor - 18 Years as the Elected District Attorney and 7 years as an Assistant District Attorney

Children

Married to Jimmy Asbell for 15 years.  

I have two children. My stepson Cole is 19 and my son Ethan is 13 years old

Education

Emory University, 1989

Bachelor of Arts in Religion  

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Tulane University School of Law, Juris Doctorate in 1992

Civic, church or other community organizations of which you are involved

Center Grove Baptist Church, Ahoskie, North Carolina

Delegate for West Chowan Baptist Association for Center Grove Baptist Church

Member of the Unity in the Community Group in Hertford County

Member and Past President of the 6B Judicial Bar

Member of the 6th Judicial Bar

Lifetime Member of the NAACP

Board Member for Hannah’s Place

Board member of Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton Counties

Board Member of the Child Fatality Teams in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton Counties

Member of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys Best Practices Committee

Instructor for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys

Instructor for Federal Domestic Violence Conferences

Instructor for Federal OCEDEF Drug Conferences

Why are you running; why do you believe you are qualified to run; what difference can you make; what difference have you made in your current position?

I am running because I have lived in this district for 25 years and have dedicated my personal and professional life to being a member of this community and doing what I can to make this a safer and all around better place to live.

I have a vested interest in my community because I have raised my children in this community.

I have been a prosecutor here for 25 years and specifically the elected DA for 18 years in Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton Counties and over 3 years in Halifax County.

As your elected District Attorney, I have been outspoken and proactive in attempting to reduce violent crime, gang activity, and combating the opioid epidemic that is a crisis across our nation.

I am running to continue as your District Attorney because I know first hand the importance of feeling safe in our communities.  

I have over 25 years of experience showing that I can and have gotten the job done.

I have a proven record of holding violent criminals accountable for their actions and for giving victims a voice in the courtroom.  

I have been committed to and will continue to offer programs that allow first time non-violent offenders to enter diversion programs such as Deferred Prosecution.  

These offenders, who do not have a criminal record, who enter these programs have a chance to keep their record clean of criminal convictions if they successfully complete the programs.  During my tenure as District Attorney, I have offered hundreds of people the opportunity to avail themselves of these diversion programs to keep them out of jail and on the road to being a productive citizens of our community.    

I am running to continue as your District Attorney because I have proven experience running and managing a multi-county prosecutor’s office successfully.

I know how to operate a prosecutor’s office with attorneys and support staff in multiple offices.  As District Attorney, my role is both to hold criminal offenders accountable under the law and give victims an opportunity to be heard.  

Over my 25 years, I have come to understand that coming in contact with the judicial system can be potentially stressful and intimidating.

I have implemented an open door policy that allows victims, witnesses, and unrepresented individuals to reach out to my staff and myself to discuss their matters in an attempt to be more comfortable in the proceedings as well as efficient with the use of court time.

The District Attorney position is one of extraordinary responsibility - responsibility to the citizens, to crime victims, to persons charged with crimes, and to justice itself.

I do not take this position lightly.  

It affords the rare opportunity to help victims, to steer people onto the right path, and to shape the community in which you live.

I have made a difference to countless victims by walking them through the criminal justice system.

As your elected District Attorney, I recognize that contact with the justice system by individuals charged with criminal offenses has started at a younger and younger age.  

I have made a difference to young people by keeping them out of jail by encouraging them to make better choices and offering diversion programs and deferred prosecutions to our youth who have made poor choices.  

I have made a difference to the community by working hand-in-hand with our law enforcement agencies to see that cases are handled fairly and efficiently.

I have made a difference by being part of this community and by being active in the schools, colleges, churches, and civic groups.  

I have made a difference by continually seeking stiff punishments for violent offenders, habitual felons, and sex offenders.

Specifically in Halifax County, since becoming District Attorney after the consolidation in 2015, I was able to reduce the backlog of murders that were pending when I took office.

When I was sworn in as District Attorney in Halifax County, there were 9 separate murders pending with 29 Defendants charged in those murders, many of them years old.

In three years, I have been able to take these cases to trial or obtain convictions on each of those murders.

Since January of 2015, 14 separate murders have occurred in Halifax County and my office has obtained convictions and disposed of 6 of those homicide cases as well as those that have occurred since 2015.

Tell us how many years of trial experience you have. Why is that experience important? What was the most difficult case you have successfully prosecuted?

I have 25 years of trial experience in the courtroom as a prosecutor and 18 years of experience as an elected District Attorney managing a multi-county office.

I have prosecuted dozens of murder cases, dozens of attempted murder charges, hundreds of violent firearm charges, thousands of drug charges, and every other type of case there is.

I have tried over 250 cases before juries in the past 25 years.  

In my seven years as an Assistant District Attorney, I tried 3 Capital Murder cases and two non- capital murder cases to juries along with all other types of violent and non-violent felonies and misdemeanors in Superior Court.

As your Elected District Attorney, I continued to try capital murder cases and non-capital murders and every other type of case.  

I have a 100 percent conviction rate on murders that I have tried in the past 25 years.

The reality is that trying cases is a very important role of the district attorney’s office. Being able to try a case to a jury successfully as a prosecutor cannot be overemphasized.

In reviewing every case and during every trial, you must draw on past experiences in the courtroom.

While every case is different, having reviewed and prosecuted thousands of cases gives you perspective and the ability to see how a case will play out at trial, while the case is still in its infancy.  

With the number of cases pending across such a large district, it is imperative to be able to not only try cases, but be able to train other attorneys to step in and get the job done.  

As your District Attorney, I am also responsible for advising hundreds of law enforcement officers.

When there is a question, you must be able to provide the answer.

Being married to a veteran law enforcement officer and having 25 years of trial experience has allowed me to do just that.

I have had many difficult cases that I have successfully prosecuted.  

If I had to name one case, it would be a Statutory Rape/Statutory Sex offense case which involved a father and his three daughters.

It was an emotionally draining trial for all of the victims but I am happy to say that all three victims have moved on to become survivors and successful citizens despite their circumstances.  

How has the merger of Halifax, Northampton, Hertford and Bertie affected or will affect your job? Do you believe there will be a further merger and how will that affect your job?

The merger of former districts 6A and 6B has doubled the size of the caseload for what is the new consolidated District 6 while reducing the number of staff members allocated to the district to get the job done.  

Fortunately, my office has taken the merger in great stride and efficiently and effectively reduced a backlog of cases that existed in Halifax when I took office.

As I stated earlier, we have worked very hard and have succeeded in trying the many murders in Halifax that were pending when I took office.  

Since I took office in Halifax from 2015 to the present, we have worked diligently to reduce a large backlog of DWI appeals, misdemeanor appeals and felonies that were pending when I took office in 2015 while continuing to efficiently and effectively prosecute cases that happen on a daily basis.

I have assembled a very dedicated staff of professionals and my Assistant District Attorneys have over 75 years of prosecutorial experience.    

It’s hard to say what the legislature will do as it relates to any future mergers; however, I am prepared to deal with the expansion of the district should that happen.  

It has been a wonderful experience getting to work with and make lifelong friends in Halifax County, and I am confident that we would be successful in forging new relationships if our district were to be expanded.  

As I did in Halifax County in 2015, if we acquired additional counties, I will meet with the court officials and law enforcement officials and all other stakeholders in the criminal justice system and successfully continue to represent victims of crimes in the new counties.

Having been the elected DA for a four county district, I have the necessary experience and the proven record to handle and manage a multi county district moving forward.

Does a DA have any input into the state mental health crisis? If so how does it affect your job and what would be your solution to the problem?

There is a nationwide mental health crisis that our criminal justice system is not equipped to handle.

As District Attorney, I see the effects of the broken system on a weekly basis, if not daily.

The mental health crisis is even more magnified living in rural counties in the eastern part of North Carolina.

Our office works closely with local DSS agencies, mental health providers, and statewide facilities established to treat individuals with mental health issues.

There are a limited number of facilities and resources across the state that the law directs individuals should be sent to for evaluation and or treatment.  

The ability to efficiently prosecute a case is greatly impacted by the current mental health system in place.

Unfortunately, some people with mental illnesses who enter the criminal court system pose a significant threat to public safety and it is often months or even years before mental health providers are able to complete evaluations, treatments and reports ordered by the court so that a proper determination can be made as to how the case should proceed when mental health is an issue.

I believe that more funds need to be allocated to the mental health system as a whole.

Funding local agencies for individuals to be evaluated, housed and treated pending the outcome of a criminal matter would assist prosecutors across the state in moving these cases along more efficiently.  

I have also worked collaboratively with other court officials in Halifax and throughout my district to address these mental health issues.  

I, along with the District and Superior Court Judges, Law Enforcement Heads, jail administrators, clerks, and other stakeholders have met with mental health providers to discuss these mental health issues.  

Chief District Court Judge Brenda Branch along with the other Judges have discussed possibly implementing mental health courts.  

I am in favor of mental health courts should they be implemented.

If those courts are implemented in our district, I would be willing to divert those criminal defendants who have been identified with mental health issues in criminal cases to that court where treatment could be offered.  

As your District Attorney, I have advocated for and seen that our law enforcement departments have taken proactive steps as well to address this nationwide mental health crisis.  

Most departments have offered specialized training to their officers about how to interact with people experiencing a mental health crisis.  

This specialized skill and training is invaluable in allowing law enforcement officers to understand mental illnesses and possibly prevent these people from entering the criminal justice system in the first place.  

One of the biggest problems the officers face is the lack of resources to help these individuals should the officer choose not to arrest them.  

Most often, there is no other alternative available for these offenders other than arrest.

With defendants in the Glenview and Deer Run murders being assigned capital defenders, is it your intent to proceed capitally in these cases?

Because  of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Responsibility, I cannot comment on facts surrounding pending cases but I can explain the law regarding the death penalty and its applicability to murder cases in general.     

Declaring a case Capital for trial is not an arbitrary decision made by the District Attorney.  Under the laws of North Carolina, there are certain aggravating factors set forth by the North Carolina General Statutes that must exist in a case for a District Attorney to declare a case as a Capital Murder case.

As I do with every homicide case, I review the evidence in each case and make decisions based on the facts of the case and the law about whether there are aggravating factors that exist where the death penalty is a legal option in a case.  

In the above mentioned cases, I will be able to comment on the capital status of these particular cases and any other murder cases once a hearing has been held in Superior Court.  

Do you believe in alternate solutions beyond arrest to address the opioid and other drug problems we see? What solutions would you offer?

Yes, we have seen an increasing number of drug related offenses not just relating to the opioid epidemic, but drug use in general and at an alarming rate among our youth.

The legislature has acknowledged the increase in drug use and has implemented provisions in specific cases that allow for some first time drug offenders with no prior criminal history to be given an opportunity to maintain a clean criminal record should they comply with the requirements set out by the court.

This diversion program is referred to as the  90-96 program in court.

For the past 18 years, my office has regularly allowed individuals to avail themselves of this provision for individuals that are first time offenders that fit all of the criteria set forth.

My office has also allowed those with drug addictions to also enter into Deferred Prosecution agreements when all the legal criteria are met.  

Both of these programs are diversion programs to help a person with a drug problem or addiction keep his/her record clean after successfully completing the terms of his/her probation.  During these programs, those with addiction problems receive substance abuse treatment and if they successfully complete these programs, their criminal cases are dismissed.

Sometimes, a person’s criminal record prevents them from entering one of the above programs.  When that happens and we know that the person has a drug addiction, my office continually encourages rehabilitation over prison for people who are willing to take that step for those who are not legally eligible for the above programs.

My staff and I have and continue to go into the schools to prevent the “school-prison pipeline” that is so often referred to in our country.

We have taken measures to meet with students, educators, and have made ourselves accessible to parents that are seeking to address our youth at one of the most impressionable times in their lives.

My office has partnered with the teen courts in place to give qualified juvenile offenders an opportunity be diverted from the criminal justice system all together.    

My office has participated in community forums, school events, faith based events and other civic engagements and will continue to be supportive of educating the community regarding the dangers of opioid diversion and the dangers of drug use as a whole.

We recognize that drug use is a problem and an addiction and look forward to continuing to work with local agencies to see this epidemic come to an end.  

Gangs remain an issue in the Roanoke Valley, the state and country. What is the role of  the DA in combatting this problem? How is the gang problem affecting our community?

Gang involvement is a blight in our community and an epidemic across the country.

It encourages young people to limit their education, turn away from their families and churches, and surround themselves with the criminal element.

Gangs' reliance on gun violence and drug distribution erodes at the very foundation of safety that we all rely upon.

Not only do they use guns on each other, their violence often spills onto completely innocent people - from children sleeping in their beds to people just trying to get gas.

It is the role of the District Attorney to stand up to gangs and their members and be willing to prosecute their cases and seek any gang related punishment enhancements when applicable.

It has been and will continue to be a priority in my office to prosecute to the fullest any violent crime but specifically those crimes which result from gang association.  

Gang related offenses affect our communities as a whole, and disrupt the peace of mind and fabric of the communities we all love so dearly.  

Prosecuting gang related cases tells offenders and gang members that their behavior is not welcome in our communities.

As long as our office has evidence to prosecute these cases we will continue to do so.

In the last year alone, gang members involved in violent crimes in our community were sentenced collectively to more that 150 years in prison.  

Gang members in our community and in the nation rely heavily upon distribution of drugs and firearms; therefore, many of those gang members are charged with violent crimes, firearm offenses and drug offenses.  

My office worked closely with the local sheriffs departments and police departments in Halifax County when they formed the City County Drug Task Force and I have a veteran Assistant District Attorney in Halifax assigned to the prosecution of these cases.  

I have also worked hand in hand with the Down East Drug Task Force in Bertie, Hertford and Northampton Counties which is comprised of officers from the Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Ahoskie Police Department.  

I also have a seasoned Assistant District Attorney assigned to the cases in Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton Counties.  

Both of these collaborative groups have been instrumental in getting drug dealers, gun dealers, and violent criminals furthering the distribution of various drugs in our communities off the streets.

I have met with Bobby Higdon, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, about the rise of violent crime associated with gangs, people selling drugs and using firearms which are resulting in murders, home invasions, and senseless acts of violence.

We agreed to partner together as federal, state, and local agencies to combat this problem.

How do we make our communities safer?

We make our communities safe by educating citizens.  

As District Attorney, I strive to make our communities safer by prosecuting and asking for substantial active sentences for those offenders who threaten the safety of our community.  

In the past three years alone, my office has successfully prosecuted homicide cases, attempted murder cases, home invasions, armed robberies and other firearms related cases and received hundreds of years of active prison time.

Collaboration and cooperation are important to keeping our communities safe.  

It is important that we work hand in hand with local law enforcement agencies, schools, mental health providers, and community organizations focused on bettering our communities.

What are some other issues you believe need to be addressed in the district as a whole how would you go about addressing them?

Educating the community about the court system and the different roles of the District Attorney, the Judges, the Defense Attorneys, Law Enforcement Officers, and others who participate in the criminal justice system.  

There are many misconceptions in the community about who has the ability to do certain things in the court system.

As your elected District Attorney, I have had an open door policy in my office for the past 18 years.  

Because the district now includes four counties, I have to spend time in each county; however, I am always available to meet with officers, victims, witnesses or citizens in all four counties.  

I encourage members of the community to come to my office or to the courthouse to see how our courts actually work.  

I am always willing to explain what my office can and cannot do in the court system.