CrimLaw

Prosecutors in the News:

(1) Here's an article in the Roanoke Times wherein the Commonwealth Attorney of Suffolk County complains about the underfunding and therefore understaffing of prosecutor's offices. Here's the web page of the Suffolk County prosecutor's office. As near as I can tell there are 10 prosecutors (including the Commonwealth Attorney himself) and an indeterminate number of support staff organized as Victim / Witness, Investigation, and Community Outreach teams. That doesn't seem to include whatever secretaries or paralegals might be in the office. And it also does not include the investigation / support work done by police officers. Now let's compare this to my office (which receives funds primarily thru court appointed cases). There's an attorney, an investigator, a secretary, an advertising guy - and they're all wrapped up in one person: Me. On top of which, the State government doesn't provide anyone in my office with healthcare coverage, there are no paid vacations (in fact they are very dangerous propositions as no money flows into the office during them), and no nice retirement after working howevermany years.

Maybe he's correct and Virginia does not support its prosecutors as well as some other States. However, the massive underfunding of court-appointed Defense counsel makes it hard to feel sympathy. Especially since I've had two days this week start at 5 and end at 10 because of the multiple hats I wear and the time I plan to spend in the office today wearing my bookkeeper hat - trying to figure out if I can pay all my bills off this month.

(2) The prosecutors in the Scott Peterson case have finally been ordered to return Peterson's truck. Their reply was that they want to buy it at market value. Peterson and his attorney smiled at that - probably because it sounded as desperate to them as it does to me. CourtTv was covering that yesterday and very much over-read into that reaction the idea that Peterson and his attorney knew that if the truck were sold at auction it would fetch a high price because of its connection to this case. That seemed like a heck of a stretch to me for a reaction in the moment.

(3) And, as I do every so often, I now point you all to the most over-the-top prosecutor's web site. It's got purty colors, lots of chest thumping, shallow analysis, and it lashes out at everybody who dares to not believe. It's the Lexington-Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney.