By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 24, 2023 | Voters here need to know that Gwinnett County is being poorly served by District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson.We understand that she is an amicable person, but she is in over her head in this office.
She has lost multiple simple murder cases, meaning that criminals are going free when they should be in jail. In the last two years, Gwinnett has the lowest conviction rate in murder trials in the metro area, even lower than Fulton and DeKalb counties! Recent news reports show that her conviction rate on murder cases was less than 60 percent in 2022. Many in the legal community observe that her prosecutors in the DA’s office are simply not prepared or well-trained.
Numerous court officials we have talked to tell us that morale in the office of the District Attorney is low. You can figure why: losing often.
Austin-Gatson
Additionally, there are unfulfilled staff positions since young lawyers are aware of the situation, and she cannot find replacements for those leaving. Retention of prosecutors employed by Ms. Austin-Gatson is low. That means that crime victims are dealing with multiple lawyers while the cases are pending.
Then there’s the fact that Ms. Austin-Gatson has very little trial experience in the courtroom. She essentially does not know her way around the court, or how to prosecute as she should.
It boils down to her office in disarray, with those charged with crimes going free.
If this was happening in any other county office, one path would be for the Grand Jury to investigate. However, since the District Attorney guides the Grand Jury, you can be certain Ms. Austin-Gatson will not suggest investigating herself.
An appearance as a speaker by Ms. Austin-Gatson at a civic club recently dramatically showed how out of touch she is with her office. Her first eight minutes of the program was taken up with a poorly thought-out video, virtually a political campaign film, showing her delving into rehabilitation programs, working with youth, summer camps and getting awards. There was little mention of prosecuting criminals in the video. Afterward, she took the civic club’s platform to ramble about many auxiliary topics, but at no time did she mention prosecution of rapes, murders, armed robberies, home invasions or other violent crimes. It was not a stellar performance.
Fittingly, she took up the full program’s allotted time without accepting questions from the audience. A speaker doesn’t do that unless they are afraid of what the questions will be.
There’s another element involved. Coming into office at the beginning of 2021, Ms. Austin-Gaston faced a tremendous amount of case backlog because of Covid. She amazingly has blamed the previous administration on the Covid backlog, and complained that she has had to work her way out of it. But so have other district attorneys all over Georgia! The backlog is no excuse for the poor operation of her office.
Interestingly, she proudly tells of her previous employment as an assistant to former Solicitor Brian Whiteside, who tried cases in state court. Fortunately, the voters recognized the poor job that Mr. Whiteside was performing as solicitor, and voted him out of office. She seems to have learned nothing there to help her in the District Attorney’s office.
Now is the time for action, not later. The legal community has about 18 months to identify one well-qualified potential candidate who will be able to challenge Patsy Austin-Gatson in the 2024 election, and return the office to a fully-functioning and solid operations. Gwinnett County deserves far better than Patsy Austin-Gatson as District Attorney. This is not a vendetta, but a lack of performance-in-office issue
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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