The DA and justice

Published 4:36 am Wednesday, March 26, 2014

To the Editor:

Ryan Joslin claims to have a good track record in jury trials. Not so.

DAs have an advantage in that they can pick and choose which cases to take to trial, and if done in a responsible way, should win 95 percent or more of them.

Joslin’s record is nowhere near that. Of more concern is the apparent lack of judgment in picking which cases to pursue.

I was a deputy district attorney for 10 years, and can’t conceive of charging a felony driving while suspended for driving a riding lawnmower between jobs, or filing DUII charges on a .05 percent breath test, or filing assault charges against a developmentally delayed 11-year-old girl.

Yes, those cases might have been squeezed within legal definitions, but what’s the point?

When both the State’s expert and the defense expert agreed that Jessie Batcher was insane, he offered to plead guilty but insane. Joslin rejected his offer, and a few hundred thousand dollars and a five-day trial later, the jury found Bratcher guilty but insane.

I agree with him that his job is not to “please the defense attorneys.” However, it IS his job to do justice, and not waste county resources.

Let’s elect Jim Carpenter. 

Markku Sario

Mount Vernon