Prosecutors And Public Opinion

I've decided, for the sake of my mental health, to take a couple of days away from the porch. Lest I grab the chain saw and just raze the whole thing to the ground, burn the rubble and sow the earth with salt so nothing will ever be raised here again. Not that I'm bitter.

Whilst entertaining myself I ran across this story about another in-home self defense shooting. As I read it I was struck by the actions of the DA. Never let anyone tell you that the local prosecutor doesn't affect the way stories are viewed. This is a case in point. Please compare and contrast this case with Zimmerman. Note how the absence of racial details released until all the facts were in kept this off the front page and the race whores looking for greener pastures.

In my career my greatest source of professional frustration was with our DA. I never could understand their reasoning on which cases they would prosecute, which they would not and why they charged as they did. I've seen felons walk away from slam dunk cases and seen them press outlandish charges on cases that were certain dogs. Remember, every single deputy/assistant/associate DA I ever knew and worked with wanted to be either the DA or a judge (mostly a judge) and they filed their cases based on their view of how it was going to affect their career path. There are exceptions I'm sure (as the above cited article shows) I've just never personally met one. I had quite a few defense attorneys I liked, admired and was even friends with. I knew one deputy DA I liked but wouldn't have trusted him as far as I could have thrown his 300 pound ass. That's not bitterness it's reality. Prosecutors should have a shelf life before being required to return to private practice and should be reviewed and rated based on competence and common sense rather than their conviction record and how many headlines they can grab. Prosecutors are attention whores masquerading as law enforcement professionals and I have very limited respect for them.

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