The Need for Values in the District Attorney's Office

So called experts like to often make predictions and present them as fact. In politics, the “experts” recently penned an “Around Town” in the MDJ comparing my bank account to my opponent’s, and then continued to make their erroneous predictions. 

Too often, the experts see a bank account with special interest dollars and say, “Oh, that candidate must be winning this election,” when in reality they are not doing the fundamental work necessary to serve the people they will potentially represent. 

I live by a different ethic. I live by the firm belief that hard work, integrity, and experience matter more than the favors you can buy.

The bedrock foundation of these principles were taught to me by my Dad.  My father protected citizens as a New York State Trooper during my childhood, and finished his law enforcement career as a homicide detective in upstate New York.

His law enforcement career is one marked, above all else, by ethical enforcement of the law.  When he made an arrest, the case was ironclad.  Nowhere was this more evident than when he led the cause to root out corruption in his county government. 

Numerous people responsible for serving the residents of New York were charged and imprisoned for corruption.  He personally protected all of the evidence collected in that case. There was no better person in my life to teach me the values needed to be successful in this world.

These values have played a significant role in the way I have run my campaign for District Attorney. Throughout my legal career, I’ve stood by the same principles established by my father in his career, even when it flies in the face of what the mainstream finds acceptable. 

Principles are not subject to majority approval, and they certainly shouldn’t be amended to fit the agenda of high priced contributors to political campaigns.  That is why I have largely self-financed my campaign; I will not allow justice in the courtroom to be subject to political favoritism. 

Furthermore, it is because of dedication and hard work that my campaign has already spoken to 22,000 individual voters, and thousands more will be contacted in the weeks ahead. 

The voters of Cobb County deserve a District Attorney who builds a relationship of trust with the citizens in the community, seeks true justice in the courtroom, and is an effective prosecutor.

You have a real choice in this election for who will best do what the job of District Attorney requires. I have made a career out of the foundations my father taught me. 

As Cobb Bar President, I turned a budget deficit into a $20,000 surplus for the organization in one year.  As a legal educator for Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, I literally taught attorneys how to present evidence, uphold the law, and convict criminals in a court of law. 

As the lead prosecutor for Criminal Domestic Violence and the Crimes Against Children unit, I ensured the violent people were kept off the street with a 95% conviction rate. 

Quite frankly, there is no one more qualified than me in this election to manage the budget, the attorneys, and the cases of the Cobb District Attorney’s office.

Juries simply will not convict criminals based on political endorsements and bank accounts.  They convict violent offenders because the facts of the case demand it, and the prosecuting attorneys are able to present those facts in a fair, ethical manner. 

That is at the core of the American Dream - truth and justice always prevails in the end.  I am running because the District Attorney must be someone who lives up to principle that protecting truth and serving justice requires work, not endorsements.

I learned these principles growing up and teach them to my children now.  I practice these principles now as an attorney, and have for the past 24 years. My promise to you is that principles, not bank accounts, will demand the ethical, professional, and fiscal responsibilities are met in the District Attorney’s office.

I’ve lived the American Dream, and I’m running to make sure all Cobb County residents are safe to do the same.