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 NDAA MEETS IN SNOWMASS
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| Robert P. McCulloch (on the right), prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County, Missouri, receives the symbolic presidential gavel from outgoing president Dan. M. Alsobrooks. |
With the spectacular Colorado Rockies as a backdrop, Robert P. McCulloch, prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County, Missouri, became NDAA’s 52d president at the association’s summer conference in Snowmass, Colorado. After receiving the symbolic presidential gavel from outgoing president Dan. M. Alsobrooks, McCulloch outlined his plans for his year as NDAA’s top leader and spokesperson.
Declaring that he will continue two major projects begun under Dan Alsobrooks’s administration -- a push for congressional loan forgiveness legislation and construction of a prosecutors memorial -- President McCulloch made it clear that the centerpiece of his administration will be an expanding program to create better public understanding of the prosecutor’s role and an aggressive response to misrepresentation of that role and to critics’ disparagement of prosecutors.
His special target, he indicated, will be flawed studies and misleading conclusions of studies of alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Citing a recent study by the Center for Public Integrity, President McCulloch said that an examination of the study showed that it failed to disclose that in many cited cases of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, the courts actually had rejected the claims of the petitioners and the prisoners either remained in prison or were sent back to prison.
“It shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody,” he declared, “that some convicted child molester, rapist or murderer is going to claim that (he had been unjustly convicted as the result of a prosecutor’s misconduct).” So we’re going after these bogus surveys. The Center for Public Integrity is the first on our list and I can’t wait to get started.”
He added: “We all know what we do and that we’re on the right side, and yet we constantly get pounded across the country from critics who say prosecutors … are not interested in whether you’re guilty and that they don’t even care if you’re guilty; they just want to put you in prison because they want to further their own political careers and move on to some other office. They want to be senator or governor.
“Now I’ve been a lawyer for 25 years and a prosecutor for 20 years,” he continued,” and as I look around the room I see members of our board of directors and most of them have been prosecutors at least 20 or 25 years. So obviously,” he added with a touch of sarcasm, “ they’ve been in this for their political careers.”
President McCulloch said that while the association has been doing a much better job of protecting the image of prosecutors and explaining what prosecutors do, he wants to move that program to a higher level. He wants to “take the offensive” ensuring that the public knows about such aspects of prosecutors’ activity as our training at the National Advocacy Center and the programs of APRI and the National College of District Attorneys.
“We must see to it,” he said, “that everyone thinks of their prosecutors as the men and women who protect them. The cops are the first line, and the prosecutors are the second line, making sure that those who should not be coming back into the neighborhood are not, in fact, coming back, We want everyone to recognize, as we do, that ours is a noble profession and we want to raise that (recognition) to as high a level as we can.”
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| President McCulloch presented Dan Alsobrooks with the President’s Award. |
President McCulloch presented Alsobrooks with the President’s Award, which commended Alsobrooks for “a firm sense of what he intended to accomplish, as well as the energy, persistence and gift of persuasion to bring about results.” He praised Alsobrooks for winning the board of directors’ approval of a design and the beginning of work on a Prosecutors Memorial at the National Advocacy Center, honoring prosecutors who died in the line of duty; plus achieving solid progress toward enactment of federal loan forgiveness legislation covering prosecutors.
2003-2004 Executive Committee
President McCulloch named the following to his Executive Committee:
- Dan M. Alsobrooks, chairman of the board of directors, immediate past president, and district attorney general of the 23d Judicial District (Charlotte), Tennessee;
- Paul F. Walsh, Jr., president-elect and district attorney of Bristol County (New Bedford) Massachusetts;
- Joseph I. Cassilly, NDAA treasurer, and state’s attorney of Harford County (Bel Air), Maryland;
- S. Bart Calhoun, an associate director and assistant prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County, Missouri;
- Suzanne McClain Atwood, executive coordinator, Oklahoma District Attorneys Council;
- Mary Galvin, assistant treasurer and state’s attorney of the Ansonia-Milford Judicial District, Milford, Connecticut;
- J. Tom Morgan, a vice president of the association and district attorney of DeKalb County (Decatur), Georgia;
- Mathias (Mat) H. Heck, Jr., a past vice president of the association and prosecuting attorney of Dayton, Ohio;
- A. William (Bill) Ritter, Jr., a past vice president of the association and district attorney of Denver, Colorado; and
- James P. Fox, a vice president of the association and district attorney of San Mateo County (Redwood City), California.
The Program
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| The keynote speaker was Rikki Klieman, former anchor and commentator on Court TV, and the wife of Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton. |
The keynote speaker was Rikki Klieman, former anchor and commentator on Court TV, and the wife of Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, who also made a few remarks. The program, planned by the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) and the National College of District Attorneys (NCDA), consisted of two tracks of presentations covering practical and proven methods of dealing with issues which prosecutors consistently face.
Session topics included: Improving the Quality of Life in Your Community; Creating a Personal Development Plan; Project Safe Neighborhoods Overview and Update; Dynamics of Small/Rural Offices; Large Office Concerns; Prosecuting Impaired Driving Cases; Personnel Recruitment, Orientation, Mentoring, Education & Training; Drug Prosecution, Prevention and Treatment; Ethical Issues and Dealing with the Media; Prosecution Performance Measures; Litigation of Employment Matters; Measuring Impact—A Report Card for Juvenile Justice Systems; Embracing Cultural Diversity within Your Office; Defending Child Forensic Interviews; Policy Manuals; Supervisory Personnel Problems; Prosecuting On-Line Crimes Against Children; Community Outreach Programs; Total Quality Management; Evidence-Based Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases; Prosecutors on the Defensive; Identity Theft and Developments in Telecommunications Fraud; Crisis Management; DNA Evidence and Technology; and Budgeting & Grants.
Highlights of the Board of Directors Meeting
Paul F. Walsh, Jr., district attorney of Bristol County (New Bedford), Massachusetts, was elected president-elect.
Other Officers Elected
- Vice Presidents: Mark R. DeCaria, county attorney, Ogden, Utah; Ray Larson, commonwealth’s attorney, Lexington, Kentucky; and Christopher D. (Chris) Chiles, Huntington, West Virginia.
- Secretary: Donald V. (Donnie) Myers, solicitor, Lexington, South Carolina.
- Assistant Secretary: David L. Landefeld, prosecuting attorney, Lancaster, Ohio.
- Treasurer: Joseph I. Cassilly, state’s attorney, Bel Air, Maryland.
- Assistant Treasurer: Mary Galvin, state’s attorney, Milford, Connecticut.
- New Directors-at-Large: Daniel Conley, district attorney, Boston, Massachusetts; and Wes Lane, district attorney, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
New State Directors Seated
- Alaska: Susan Parkes, deputy attorney general, Anchorage.
- Connecticut: Christopher Morano, chief state’s attorney, Rocky Hill.
- Kentucky: Karen Blondell, commonwealth’s attorney, Middlesboro.
- Mississippi: Claiborne “Buddy” McDonald IV, district attorney, Picayune.
- West Virginia: Virginia “Ginnie” Conley, county prosecutor, Parkersburg.
Departing Members
Outgoing President Alsobrooks and the board paid tribute to two departing members: John E. Bergh, prosecutor of Salem County, New Jersey; and Paul D. Cowden, county attorney of Morgan County, Kentucky. It was also announced that former president William L. (Bill) Murphy, district attorney of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, will be retiring at the end of the year.
Other actions by the board
The board also:
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| Prosecutor Memorial Design |
- Approved a design of the Prosecutors Memorial at the Ernest F. Hollings National Advocacy Center.
- Approved a resolution accepting an updated version of NDAA policy on DNA evidence.
The 2004 summer conference will take place July 18-21 at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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