As the district’s head prosecutor, and being sworn to uphold the constitutions of both the State of North Carolina and the United States of America, what is your interpretation of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, specifically, the phrase “shall not be infringed?” How would your office proceed with enforcing any law passed by the federal or state legislatures which restricts access, or possession of firearms by law abiding citizens, without a preceding amendment to the constitution allowing for such law?
When I was sworn in as a District Attorney I took an oath to uphold the constitution of the State of North Carolina and the Constitution of the United States. I also swore that I would “endeavor to have the criminal laws fairly and impartially administered.” If the legislature, whether federal or state, overstepped their authority violating citizens' constitutional rights the courts would be in a position to overturn the law.
With the consolidation of the two prosecutorial districts, how do you plan to make yourself available to both the citizens, and law enforcement officers of each county?
It is my plan that there will be an office in each of the counties included in the new consolidated District 6. I have always felt that it is important that the citizens and law enforcement officers we serve in the District Attorney’s Office have access to us. When people can pick up the phone and make an appointment to meet with the member of my staff, myself included, that they need to talk to — they know that we are available for them. I will continue to do just that when the district is consolidated. I will also maintain an actual presence in the counties. This will not only afford law enforcement and the general public an opportunity to see me, but also strengthen my relationship with other court personnel. Good relationships between others involved in the justice system — judges, clerks, probation officers and juvenile court counselors — and the District Attorney’s Office have proven invaluable for our success in Halifax.
Will you make any attempt to repeal the consolidation of the two judicial districts?
No. I do not think that the consolidation of the districts will be repealed. Instead, I will focus on procuring the additional staff that we will definitely need. The consolidation should mean that we will lose an attorney, an investigator and an administrative assistant. Some of the last published workload formula numbers showed that we were almost three positions short in Halifax before the consolidation. After the consolidation with the loss of those three positions we will be short six employees. As the District Attorney I feel that my efforts and energy would be better spent trying to get these positions created rather than trying to convince the legislature to repeal the consolidation.
What do you feel is the District Attorney’s role in ensuring that each law enforcement officer throughout your district is adequately trained and proficient at performing their daily duties? This is a task that I feel is best done in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies in my district. There are many opportunities for training available to law enforcement through their required in service education programs. There is also training for law enforcement or joint training for law enforcement and prosecutors offered by the NC Conference of District Attorneys. That being said I have done group training for law enforcement officers and probation officers in the past. Usually this training has been topic specific, addressing certain issues that have affected their performance in the court room. The majority of my work with law enforcement officers and their performance proficiency has been one on one - answering their questions or working on concerns individually.
With decreasing resources and increasing case loads, how do you plan to balance trial vs. plea bargain to ensure that justice is served for the victim in each case?
Plea bargaining is a reality and a necessity for the prosecution. We simply cannot try every case that is filed in Halifax County. Not all cases are plead because of necessity, however. Often, victims want their case handled pursuant to a plea bargain. In these instances working out a plea assures the victim of a definite resolution where restitution is paid and/or restrictions are placed on the defendant. Plea bargaining can also resolve a case sooner than a trial, preventing the victims and witnesses from losing time out of school or work because they would otherwise be required to return to court repeatedly. Victims and law enforcement officers are contacted about the plea offers given by my staff. While a lack of resources or evidence in a particular case may call for a resolution that is contrary to their wishes, everyone knows why we took the steps that we did and that it was based on sound prosecutorial reasoning.
Halifax County, currently has three women reported missing that have not been located. What is the District Attorney’s role in ensuring that every avenue of investigation has been explored in each of these investigations to ensure that each of these women are brought home safe, if possible.
The hardest cases that are handled by my office and law enforcement are the ones where we cannot get the results we so desperately want for those involved. In each of these cases there are families that have unanswered questions. Being a mother, a sister and a daughter myself, I would like nothing more than to help these families get those answers about their loved ones. As the District Attorney I will explore any avenue and use every resource available to my office to help the families. Law enforcement has spoken with me about these cases on a regular basis but because they are open investigations I will not discuss any specifics about the cases themselves.
How do you ensure you give the best prosecution possible to prevent mistrials? Is there a need for closer review of law enforcement's work in these matters? Is there a need for closer review of staff work in these matters?
Mistrials are not an issue in my district. The only mistrial I can recall was declared when there was an emergency situation with a witness in a case that prevented him from testifying. The circumstances in that case were unpredictable and unavoidable and were not the result of poor work.
How do you work with the sheriff's office, particularly in Halifax County, to ease jail overcrowding?
During the forums held for this election I learned that the counties in District 6B (Bertie, Hertford and Northampton) have at least 200 beds in their local jails combined. District 6B has the same number of case filings that we have here in Halifax where our jail’s maximum allowable capacity is less than 96 beds. I meet with the Sheriff every week to go over the jail list in an effort to manage the jail population. Working with the Sheriff and his officers we have been able to reduce the costs associated housing inmates.
In light of legalization in Washington and Colorado, do you support lesser sentences for adults charged with user amounts of marijuana? Do you support legalization in North Carolina?
I do not support the legalization of marijuana. Over the course of my career I have seen the people who start out in court with charges related to marijuana use come back into the court system with other more serious charges. Making marijuana legal is just putting one more drug out there for our young people. I do not support lesser sentences for user amounts of marijuana. There is really no lesser charge for adults charged with user amounts of marijuana — possession of less than 1/2 ounce of marijuana is already the lowest misdemeanor charge we have in NC. I do support treatment efforts for those charged with illegal drug use. If someone comes into the courts with a drug addiction problem and no other criminal record we generally try to get them help.
