Since the beginning of this year, 21 prosecutors -- one-fifth of those on staff -- have left the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.
The exodus has forced District Attorney Paul Howard to plug holes to keep cases moving and frustrated judges who have found new prosecutors in their courtrooms who know little about the cases they must bring to trial.
Some former employees say they were frustrated by the office's top-down, micromanagement style, while others say they enjoyed their time at the DA's office but moved on to advance their careers.
Howard said he has filled 18 of the open positions and expects to hire three new prosecutors soon. "Our ability to charge rapidly has remained the same," said Howard, the county's DA since 1996. "Our ability to man the courts has stayed the same."
The office's conviction rate this year has been 88 percent, the same if not better than rates in recent years, and the office has more than 5,200 pending cases, down from 6,384 at the end of 2010, he said.
Howard said he expects some turnover every year because many lawyers join a DA's office to get trial experience before moving on to private practice. "The reality of an urban district attorney's office is that the assistant district attorneys will make career changes," he said.
Howard also said his staff has lost income for the fourth straight year, noting his office required employees to take two furlough days in 2011. "They certainly accelerate the career moves by assistant district attorneys," he said of the furloughs.
Former Fulton prosecutor John Nichols said the furloughs were not the primary reason he left to take a job at the Paulding County District Attorney's Office. He noted that a number of ex-Fulton prosecutors, like him, took new jobs for less money.
Nichols said he grew frustrated by often finding himself in the middle of an ongoing feud between Howard and judges on the Fulton bench. For years, the DA's office and the court have criticized each other over how they conduct their business.
Fulton prosecutors also have little to no discretion to resolve cases without approval from a supervisor, Nichols said. He also noted Howard is requiring prosecutors to use sentencing guidelines for recommending prison terms.
"It became layer on top of layer on top of layer," Nichols said. "It got to the point where I felt I had no discretion, that I felt like I wasn't an attorney anymore."
The guidelines, still in draft form, should help to ensure uniformity and evenhandedness in sentencing, Howard said.
Nichols is one of about a half dozen ex-Fulton prosecutors to take jobs at other DA offices in the metro area. This includes Senior Assistant District Attorney Michele McCutcheon, a member of the team that prosecuted courthouse killer Brian Nichols. She now works for the DeKalb County DA. Investigator Stephen Barresi, from the major felony unit, left for DeKalb's Solicitor's Office.
LaDawn Blackett Jones resigned so she would have time to run for the state House of Representatives. She said she enjoyed her public service at the DA's office but noted the stress of the ongoing disagreements between Howard and the judges.
The starting salary for an assistant DA in Fulton is just over $56,000, less than what many could make at a law firm, Howard said.
"I know this is a very tough job, and I know we have certain directives and policies, but they are there for a reason," he said. "I understand what some people might think, but the district attorney has to look at what's best for the community."
Howard said if his office obtains an indictment, he wants to know why certain charges may have to be reduced to resolve the case. "That's why we require such supervision," he said.
Still, the large turnover of attorneys has frustrated a number of judges.
"It feels like it's happening too often," Fulton Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter said. "It's not been a seamless situation."
There have been a number of times this year when new prosecutors were assigned to his courtroom who knew little about their cases, said Baxter, a former Fulton prosecutor. "It definitely has an impact on the workings of the court and the delivery of justice if the prosecutors come in and are not prepared."
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