I have been a peace officer for 42 years in Orange and Lake counties. I”m writing this letter to urge you to vote for Jon Hopkins for the position of district attorney. Jon Hopkins is the only candidate with experience as a prosecutor. He is the only candidate with experience as the head of a county department with 43 employees. He is the only candidate with the experience to provide direction to subordinates on prosecuting criminal cases. And, he is the only candidate who has experience in preparing a $3.4 million budget.
Jon Hopkins has successfully prosecuted most of the homicide cases in the county. He has years of experience prosecuting criminal cases, including homicides. The other two candidates have never prosecuted a single criminal case, much less a homicide case. It usually takes years before a new prosecutor is assigned a felony case. It takes even longer before a deputy district attorney is assigned to prosecute the most sensitive and serious cases like murder, child molest, robbery, elder abuse and misconduct by public officials.
The district attorney provides guidance and training to the deputy district attorneys. Will the two other candidates have the experience and knowledge to provide that guidance? No, as they have never prosecuted a criminal case. With seven years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and 30 years as a prosecutor, Jon Hopkins has a breadth of experience that is lacked by the other two candidates.
Have the other two candidates ever prosecuted a homicide case? No. Have the other two candidates ever prosecuted a serious felony case? No. Have the other two candidates ever prosecuted a misdemeanor case? No
Have the other two candidates ever prosecuted a jaywalking case? No, they have absolutely no experience in prosecuting criminal cases; none.
It”s easy for a defense attorney to take shots at a prosecutor”s case during trial. A prosecutor has to convince all 12 jurors that a defendant is guilty. If the defense attorney convinces one person to vote not guilty, the case is either dismissed or retried. As defense attorneys, the other two candidates have never had to meet that burden of proof required of prosecutors.
Have the other two candidates ever supervised 16 attorneys, seven investigators, seven victim advocates and 12 clerical staff? No.
The district attorney”s office is inundated almost daily with new criminal cases. In 2009 the office received 4,069 new cases, filed complaints on 3,151 cases, charged 737 with felonies and 2,414 with misdemeanors. Some deputy district attorneys go to court with one to three boxes filled with case files. Have the other two candidates ever dealt with that volume of cases in one day? No.
We need to retain our experienced district attorney; a district attorney who is not afraid to work hard and make those who violate the law pay the full price for their crimes. A district attorney who will not set policies that certain types of cases will be automatically plea bargained. A district attorney who puts the people of this county above those who violate the law.
David Brown
Kelseyville
