Published Sunday, August 10, 2008
'The district attorney's office represents the community'
The Times-Herald
Pete Skandalakis has been the district attorney for the five-county Coweta Judicial Circuit since 1992. In January, he will begin his fourth term. On Saturday, Skandalakis spent his morning talking to members of the Coweta Republican Party about what his job entails and how the community can help.
A man of proud Greek heritage, Skandalakis says he's modeled his behavior after his hero -- his father -- and Proverbs 21:15, which states that "the exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, but is terror to the workers of iniquity."
His father was a Greek immigrant and, before that, a resistance fighter in World War II. In Greece during the war, times were tough, and for every one German killed, 10 Greek men would be assassinated in the streets. His family also fought Greek Communists. Skandalakis' grandfather was slaughtered barbarically during that time, and his father narrowly escaped persecution after refusing to renounce his faith.
Skandalakis has decided to also live a life standing up for what he believes in. He believes that a productive community must be a safe community where people get involved. Hindrances he encounters in his job often come in the form of key witnesses who don't want to testify in a case.
"The district attorney's office represents the community, but only if the community is willing to cooperate," said Skandalakis.
The system also fails to work when jurors aren't willing to serve, according to the district attorney. On Saturday, Skandalakis asked members in attendance who were 70 years of age or older that they not exercise their right to refuse jury duty because "life experience is essential to a good jury panel."
The Coweta Judicial Circuit is located in the northwestern part of Georgia and is comprised of Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Meriwether and Troup counties. The circuit consists of a population of more than 300,000 people. Thirty-six state, county and city law enforcement agencies funnel cases into the circuit.
The circuit is operated by 50 employees: 16 assistant district attorneys, two child support workers, six investigators, eight victim's advocates and 18 in support staff. In Coweta, there are only four assistant district attorneys -- Ray Mayer, Kevin McMurry, Pat Dutcher and Andrew Newton. In Douglas County, which is similar in size and growth to Coweta, there are 12 assistant district attorneys.
According to Skandalakis, Coweta especially needs help with personnel and salaries.
Since January, the circuit has gotten 4,002 new cases for review. There have been 4,443 defendants charged (that number is higher because there may be more than one defendant involved in one criminal incident or case). The circuit has held 51 trials.
Skandalakis' employees don't count "wins" or "losses" because they are charged with a special responsibility to be "ministers of justice" -- meaning they are instructed to seek justice, not convictions.
"We dismiss ones we don't think will get convictions," he said.
In other words, if there's any doubt of a person's guilt, the assistant district attorneys are instructed not to proceed.
Skandalakis is especially proud that the Coweta Judicial Circuit is the second largest victim services provider in the state. For every fine issued in Superior Court, 5 percent of the money goes to support this program. The district attorney's office also oversees a child abuse/fatality review committee that is state-mandated but not state funded.
Skandalakis notes that there is a "lack of perspective in the criminal justice system." He finds that people often complain about the prison system, which struggles to find enough beds for all the prisoners.
"Are you willing to risk another victim?" Skandalakis often asks people. He says that by letting violent criminals and repeat offenders out of prison, that's exactly what's at risk, the public. "Prisons should be a priority of government" -- even if that means building more to have enough beds for everyone who needs to be there.
Of the adult offenders in Georgia, 152,755 are currently on felony probation, 54,277 are in prison, and there are 23,160 parolees. Because of the prison situation, prisoners often sit in county jails hindering local jails from being able to make necessary arrests.
He describes this as a "huge problem" that begins early with people. When kids miss out on education and have no family support, "they'll end up in the prison system," according to the district attorney.
Skandalakis encourages people who want to monitor the work of his office to visit the Georgia Department of Corrections' Web site and do an inmate query for Coweta to see who has been sent to prison and for what convictions. People can also visit the Department of Pardons & Paroles' Web site, enter a zip code, and see which parolees are living nearby. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations' Web site has the list of all Coweta County sex offenders.
When prompted by Rep. Lynn Smith to talk about sex offenders, Skandalakis brought up his issue with how all "sex offenders" are lumped together. He wants there to be a distinction between "true predators" and "those who shouldn't be on the sex offender list at all" -- an example being consensual sex when one person happens to be just under the age of consent.
"There's got to be a better way to designate sex offenders -- we can't dump them all together," said Skandalakis.
When dealing with the child sexual predators, he feels that "the chances of curing them are slim to none," and so they must be monitored closely.
According to Skandalakis, his job boils down to "simple words" that his family taught him -- "freedom, faith, honor and integrity."
"We have to hold the line," he said.