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quote:
Originally posted by robguz
quote:
Originally posted by KathyH
I completely agree about that case being very disturbing.
But I also think it is not quite fair to ask a candidate to comment on the way his colleague handled a case, in a department where the candidate still works. It's basically the same as asking him to shred his boss in public in order to get your approval.
Mr. Roth handled the Ted Braxton case, so it was appropriate to ask him to discuss his decisions in that prosecution.
JMHO. If he feels he can comment on it fine.
Thanks Kathy, I didn't realize he was the one who handled it. That's all I need to know to know that I won't vote for him. Let's see, his office has 1, maybe 2 cases per year involving someone killing another person. I would think if any cases are going to go to trial, it would be those. This guy is getting 10 years maximum, and in reality less with good behavior. I'm sorry, but that is not enough. This guy could be out in a few years, driving drunk again, and if prosecuted would have no prior DUIs. That's outrageous!
I never said anything about not plea bargaining ever. Obviously there are not enough resources to take every case to trial, or even every solid case to trial. But there have been many, many other cases that have gone to trial in the past few years, and this is not one of them. Therefore, by his own actions, this is not the kind of case Mr. Roth feels is worth taking to trial. I'm actually quite liberal in my views on dealing with crime, and don't think everyone should just be thrown in jail for as long as possible.
Yes, I expect that when one is running for office in the office in which you work, if they think something in your office is messed up they need to state so. In other places I have lived in my life, it seems most of the time someone running for DA was already in the office and often running against their own current boss. That is politics.
The other case from this office that blows my mind is the guy who killed his son, dumped his dead body off a cliff, and then claimed self-defense and got off serving only 2 years! You'd think someone would get 2 years for failing to report such an event and littering. People with small pot farms have gotten more severe sentences.
There are things I agree with Mr. Roth on and I appreciate his willingness to respond here. But it sounds like if he wins, nothing is really going to change in the prosecutor's office.
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First full disclosure: I am supporting Mitch for prosecutor. Second, regardless who wins after 31 years as a criminal defense attorney and deputy prosecutor, on 12/1/12 I am done. I have always believed in full disclosure to the public even if some may believe it hurts future working relationships. There far more than 1 or 2 homicides in this county each year and our sparse police resources continue to working cases from past years which are still not ready for prime time.
In our system, as a practical matter, the prosecutor gets one shot only. I am sure that Jeff Ashton (my classmate) wishes he had another shot at Casey Anthony.
When the police department reports traffic fatalities, read the fine print.
Fatalities on private roads are not counted for statistics.
Now think about how many miles of private roads there are in this county.
Those deaths still must be investigated and when appropriate prosecuted.
Two years in jail as a condition of ten years probation for shooting a son outrageous? Yep. And if the entire prosecutor's case relied upon whether a judge would find a confession admissible when it was taken from a defendant while he was in the hospital, heavily sedated and hooked up to a morphine drip? As Paul Harvey would say now you have the rest of the story.
We have a county with the area size of the state of Connecticut patrolled by fewer than 400 officers. Do the math. The numbers do not work and the results are predictable. When our misguided elected officials approved all of these private subdivisions without the necessary infrastructure what happened is exactly what the naysayers said would happen and we have unacceptable levels of property crimes.
Can Mitch fix it? I don't know. I have known him for 15 Years. He will not lie or sugarcoat the problems. He will rally the community to help him of that I am certain. Can he win? He has a shoestring campaign which makes for long odds but if every person who has called him over the last 15 years out of frustration because nobody else would listen shows up at his modest fundraiser and votes,the race will not be close.
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Aloha Mr Damerville
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/02/open-...d-doctors/
I think the readership would also appreciate your insight on the issue as commented on by Dr. Berg (39 pages worth). Care to give it a go and share the county prosecutors official position and insight?
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First off, I apologize for not checking on this site and writing back sooner.
Lots of great discussion and interesting questions.
I probably will not get to everything in one post, but please feel free to ask the questions.
One question I would like to start with is: What changes would I make to implement solutions in the problems that were identified by Mr. Dammerville.
With Aloha,
Mitch Roth
With Aloha,
Mitch Roth
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In the negligent homicide investigations I would start by encouraging Deputy Prosecutors to respond to the crime scenes of these cases. In the recent case that I handled I was out at the crime scene within 24 hours of it happening. I would have been there sooner if the officers called me out to the scene. But after reviewing the scene I was able to identify a key piece of evidence for this case.
For many years I have done ride a longs with the police. I do this better understand their challenges but also to see what can be done to better respond and or prevent crime. I also do it so they have the chance to ask me questions so they can understand what we as prosecutors are looking for. One of the things I tell officers when I ride with them is that the problem with the police is the same problem with prosecutors. Police know what prosecutors do, but they really don't know what we do. Prosecutors have the same challenges. We know what police do but really do not know what police do. I think I am the only deputy prosecutor at this time that regularly takes the time to do ride a longs with the police. I think this needs to change.
A big problem we have is in the way of communication between our offices. A good example of this is "case follow-up." We have a form that we send to police when we want case follow-up. We usally give the police 30 days to respond. There can be several of these forms sent in a single case. The result is a delay in charging cases. I believe that a lot of time can be saved by simply making a phone call and discussing the problems in the case with the officers. In discussing this with the officers they say that many times what the prosecutor is looking for is already in their report. To many, justice delayed is justice denied.
Mr. Dammerville pointed out that we do not have an accident reconstruction expert on the island. The result is time delays. Most people do not understand why it takes sometimes over a year and a half to charge a negligent homicide case, and then another year to reach a plea agreement. This is one of many reasons. Our State has had the most alcohol related traffic fatalities by percentage in the nation. We should be doing everything we can to get these cases resolved quickly and with an appropriate sentence.
I saw that someone was not happy that I made a plea agreement in the case where Ted Braxton was killed. I will let you know I was fully prepared and ready to take the case to trial. It wasn't that I was worried about winning the case, the question in my mind was "Can I get this person sentenced to a prison term." Remember, the Defendant did not have a criminal record, he did not any previous DUI convictions, and he was a upstanding citizen in the community.
As was brought up in many other posts, we have had people in similar circumstances that were sentenced to probation in our community. To me that was not acceptable. Furthermore, from the beginning of this case I was in personal contact with the family and included them in all decisions that were made. As for the amount of time he was sentenced to, the crime Negligent Homicide, which is the classification for when someone negligently kills someone while under the influence of alcohol and failing to render aide in accidents involving death or serious bodily injury, are class B felonies.
A Class B felony carries with it a jail term of 10 years. The DUI offense that was dismissed in the plea agreement could have carried 5 days jail, but was also a lesser included offense of the Negligent Homicide. When the case was originally charged these were the 3 charges that the Defendant was charged with. I decided to indict and added another charge of manslaughter. Defendant could not have been convicted of both manslaughter and negligent homicide. There was a worry that this could have confused the jury and I was criticized in my office by some for adding the charge. Could I have made the case, I think so. Would I have got prison from the judge without the plea agreement? I felt the bird in the hand was worth the 2 in the bush and will take whatever criticism for the decision that my team (which included the victims family) and I made.
By the way, this Negligent Homicide case was an arrest and charge case. The exception not the rule. I can only think of one other arrest and charge Negligent Homicide case in my entire career (By the way, I played a role in that case as well). From the time of the crash until sentencing, this case only took 7 months. Try finding another Negligent Homicide case in the entire State that was taken care of in that period of time with the Defendant receiving a prison term. Remember, justice delayed is justice denied.
Again, I apologize for the delay.
With Aloha,
Mitch Roth
With Aloha,
Mitch Roth
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Looking forward to your to your insight - thanks
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Mahalo Mr. Roth, and Mr. Damerville for your responses. So many issues, and so many questions arise in this process. Appreciate your candor, and look forward to more discussion.
Best wishes to both of you.
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I find it unbelieveable that the BI has no recon people that is a failure within the Police Dept. a well trained accident recon. has many uses not just in car wrecks. I worked for many years in very rural areas and working with the DA is important and a must, not in Hawaii but we had one on-scene within 90 minutes. I only know what I have read here on the Fire Capt. case but it seems like a lack of resources led to the plea bargin, as far as lack of effort I do not have the information to make that call. Just in case you wonder 23 years as accident recon expert, nope not going into business on the BI, hit my limit on the amount of dead people I ever want to see.
I like it here in the shallow end of the gene pool
I like it here in the shallow end of the gene pool
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I am thankful that the Tribune Herald decided to run stories on these cases. There are others and they should be run every several months. New evidence surfaces when stories are repeated.
If lies + a dead body equaled a successful conviction for murder the life of a prosecutor would be simple.
If lies + a dead body + public outrage equaled a successful conviction for murder, the life of a prosecutor would be simple and Jeff Ashton would be running for Governor of Florida.
But juries really take their duties seriously. And even when I don't agree with their verdict sometimes I still respect it.
Casey Anthony reminds us all that if you rely on the lies of a suspect + a dead body + public outrage to obtain a murder conviction, you will likely be disappointed and you cannot fix it because a criminal defendant, as a practical matter, can only be tried once.
We will obtain justice for Dawn Gambsky. But it will not be done as quickly as some would hope.
Rick Damerville
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