By Tasha Tsiaperas
The Dallas Morning News
The incoming Dallas County district attorney who ran on a platform of criminal justice reform has fired 12 people, including the heads of the juvenile, crimes against children and appellate divisions.
Democrat John Creuzot, who handily defeated Republican Faith Johnson in the Nov. 6 election, made the staffing changes before he takes office Tuesday.
Creuzot has pledged to reduce mass incarceration, improve access to mental health care and drug treatment and reduce prosecution of nonviolent offenses. He says part of that work will involve additional training for prosecutors.
The DA-elect was explicit on the campaign trail that he will not tolerate overly aggressive prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct.
Creuzot critiqued his predecessor’s decision to keep on staff an attorney who prosecuted a capital murder case that was later overturned after an appellate court found evidence was withheld. That prosecutor, Stara Roemer, was one of the dozen people fired before Creuzot takes office.
Creuzot has not publicly explained why he decided not to keep the other 11 prosecutors, though it’s not uncommon for the incoming top prosecutor to hire new people for the administration.
The incoming DA also let go Rhonda Hunter, the chief of the juvenile division; Lori Ordiway, the chief of the appellate division; Eren Price and Reynie Tinajero, the chief and deputy chief of the crimes against children division; and Peter Harlan, the chief of the federal litigation division.
The others fired are Craig McNeil, Patricia Noble, Blake Reyna, Alexis Hernandez, Andy Chatam and Stephanie Gonzales.
Michael Snipes, the first assistant under outgoing District Attorney Faith Johnson, is retiring.
Creuzot has selected longtime Dallas County prosecutor Kevin Brooks to serve as his first assistant.
Creuzot has said he wants to spend 90 days in office before detailing how he plans to meet his goals, but he has made clear what his priorities are: reducing mass incarceration and reducing the cost of criminal justice intervention to taxpayers.
“If you make a promise to be a public servant, you need to do more than show up. You need to be effective,” Creuzot said.
Here’s a look at the new DA’s plans:
First-time marijuana arrests
Creuzot plans to dismiss all first-time arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. This policy takes the county’s cite-and-release program a step further.
Under the county’s “cite and release” initiative, police officers can issue a court summons to someone who possesses less than 4 ounces of marijuana, rather than arresting them. The countywide program went into effect in 2018, though Dallas was the only city to take part.
While those found in possession of marijuana may not have been taken to jail, they still faced the legal consequences.
Creuzot says his plan is to dismiss those cases, regardless of whether the offender spent a night in jail, if it was a person’s first offense.
Probation for nonviolent crimes
Creuzot believes the length of probation for misdemeanor offenses, with the exception of family violence or drunken driving charges, should not exceed 180 days in most cases.
The DA-elect said too many nonviolent offenders are lingering on probation in Dallas County, and 180 days is enough time for them to meet all their misdemeanor probation requirements.
Creuzot also said he would not seek to revoke probation for technical violations that are not connected to public safety. He said sending people to prison for minor probation violations only increases mass incarceration and costs taxpayers.
He said people “don’t want to see their tax dollars spent unnecessarily.”
Criminal trespassing
There were more than 2,400 misdemeanor criminal trespass cases filed with the DA’s office in 2018, according to court records. Many of those arrests involved homeless people.
Creuzot says he will not prosecute “simple” criminal trespass charges, which could include those arrested at train stations or outside convenience stores. The policy will not include criminal trespass of a home.
The DA-elect said throwing people in jail for criminal trespass doesn’t fix the problem.
“They come out just as homeless as when they went in,” Creuzot said. “All they do is relocate somewhere else.”
Mental health services
Creuzot gained notoriety for his judicial programs aimed to rehabilitate drug users. He said he wants to bring the same mentality to the DA’s office.
His goal is to send only the most dangerous offenders to prison. For nonviolent offenders with a history of drug abuse or mental illness, he wants to first offer treatment.
Dallas County already has more than a dozen diversion programs, but those programs handle only a tiny fraction of the cases each year because the entry requirements are so specific.
Creuzot said all prosecutors will be required to go through mental health training to change how they approach nonviolent cases involving offenders with a mental illness. Then Creuzot wants to offer treatment options to those offenders.
He said if those cases are treated more like a public health problem, “we can accomplish our goals without giving someone a criminal record.”
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©2018 The Dallas Morning News