Deedee Corradini isn't running for Salt Lake County district attorney, but she's a key figure in the race.
Mark Griffin saw to that with a surprise GOP convention victory based in large part on his criticism of incumbent Neal Gunnarson for not prosecuting the Salt Lake mayor in the so-called "Giftgate"case.Griffin, director of the Utah Division of Securities, said Gunnarson's no-call was one of the main reasons he entered the race. Accusations that the mayor accepted money from friends and others who do business with the city should have gone to a jury, he said.
Gunnarson says Griffin's criticism reflects a lack of prosecutorial experience, which is one of the themes of his campaign. Citing his own 16 years of experience as well as that of a panel of experts that advised him on Gift-gate, Gunnarson said he made the right decision.
"I've read the statute," Griffin responds. "It says an elected official shall not use elective office to obtain special privileges. Obtaining $211,000 from people who do business with the city is a special privilege. It also says an elective official must not accept gifts that tend to influence that official's duties."
Gunnarson fires back with the experience rap. "My opponent has no prosecutorial experience. He has not been in a courtroom in years. Cases from his division are often referred to my office for prosecution. All of the experienced prosecutors, investigators and law professors on the advisory committee unanimously agreed it was a non-prosecutable case."
"We don't know why Neal Gunnarson dropped the case because the record is sealed," Griffin said. "But he's responsible; he can't scapegoat his special committee."
And Griffin says Gunnarson's widely publicized apology for grabbing and tossing a stack of City Weekly newspapers that featured him in a satirical cover story on Giftgate was more an attempt to excuse his behavior than an apology.
Corradini aside, the primary contest gradually settles into a debate on crime, the role of the district attorney, professional backgrounds and management styles.
Gunnarson said when he campaigned for the new office of district attorney four years ago, he promised to turn up the heat on gangs and other major sources of crime in Salt Lake County.
"We've accomplished what I said we would do," Gunnarson said. "In my first year in office, we filed 10,000 more criminal cases than in any prior year. We created a special prosecution team to handle gang crime, which identified and prosecuted the entire leadership of the four largest gangs in the community."
Gang crime is down 35 percent, and drive-by shootings are down 40 percent, according to Gunnarson. "Crime overall is down for the first time in a decade."
Griffin rejects Gunnarson's rosy assessment, saying the latest FBI statistics show serious crime has risen significantly in a number of categories, including rapes, auto thefts, burglaries and drug offenses.
Griffin proposes a "blueprint" for crime reduction to be developed by a task force of experts and community representatives. Using a similar approach on securities fraud, the state successfully shed its reputation as the white-collar crime capital of the West, he said.
"My opponent talks about gang crimes, but the larger problem is juvenile crime in general," Griffin said. "I'm very interested in helping our communities deal with that problem. To do that, we ought to be willing to look at what's working across the country. We've been far too insular here."
Griffin said he would also devote substantial resources to the anti-drug effort.
"We have meth labs sprouting up all over the place, and Salt Lake County has become a mecca for illegal aliens trafficking in drugs," Griffin said.
"We don't need any more committees or task forces," Gun-nar-son argues. "We already have good committees advising us, and we know what's needed."
Gunnarson said he would continue to focus on gangs during the next four years while at the same time putting more emphasis on juvenile crime and violence in schools. This week, he unveiled a proposal that he says could help prevent the type of shooting incidents that have occurred in schools elsewhere in the country.
The plan includes arrest and detention of any student caught with a gun in a school, followed by a psychological evaluation, comprehensive police investigation and felony prosecution.
Returning to the issue that has carried him this far, Griffin said the district attorney also needs to take a hard look at political corruption in local government, "which the incumbent seems unwilling to do."
The GOP convention delegates responded to that message and so will voters, Griffin said.
And Gunnarson returns to the experience issue. "I hear from attorneys on my staff almost daily who say they're scared to death at the prospect of having a boss who's never prosecuted a street crime."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
S.L. County district attorney
Was the division of the offices of county attorney and district attorney fundamentally flawed or did it fail because of personalities?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
It was the personalities that caused the problems. Too many personalities and too much bickering. I believe the prosecution function ought to be separated from the civil for the same reason it was separated in the first place.
NEAL GUNNARSON
The division failed because of personalities. If I'm re-elected, I will push to have them divided again. Having the criminal and civil functions separated avoids conflicts and is more efficient.
With the civil and criminal functions being restored to one office again in January, will you have time to personally prosecute criminal cases?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
In the combined officers, there will be 75 attorneys. I know many of them, and they are very capable individuals. I believe it is the job of the district attorney to manage the talent in the office. Being personally in court will not be one of my priorities. We have a record of that policy, and crime has risen in the past four years.
NEAL GUNNARSON
I promised four years ago that I would be an active prosecutor, and I've kept that promise. Even in a combined office, 80 percent of the workload is in criminal prosecution. The No. 1 public concern is crime, and I believe the public still wants and needs an experienced, active prosecutor. I will continue to go to court. My opponent hasn't been in court in years and has never prosecuted a street crime.
Can the district attorney handle local government corruption cases without the appearance or reality of a political conflict?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
One of main reasons for dividing the office in the first place was to avoid that kind of conflict when it involved officials in county government, where you would, in effect, have the county attorney prosecuting his own clients. Since the offices are being recombined, allegations involving wrongdoing by county officials would have to be referred to an outside prosecutor. But as strongly as I feel about political corruption, I would not hesitate to prosecute.
NEAL GUNNARSON
The criminal and civil offices were separated to remove those kinds of conflicts when they arise within county government. For example, if a county official were breaking the law, I could prosecute it now but not when the offices are reunited. That's why it's so important to divide those functions.
Could the county save money by contracting with private firms for legal services in long-term civil litigation and one-time projects, such as big construction projects?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
It's a matter of judgment. If it's truly needed and not simply a political payback, I would consider it when needed.
NEAL GUNNARSON
Only as a last resort. We have very professional and capable attorneys who can handle the county's legal business. Tax-payers have already spent enough on outside counsel.
What is the biggest challenge facing the county's legal staff in the next four years?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
The rising crime rate, especially the international drug trafficking. What it needs is team work, analytical study. I will develop a blueprint for driving down crime. Other communities, such as New York, have succeeded in reducing crime as much as 41 percent. We can do that with leadership. Second is to get the county's legal business back on track.
NEAL GUNNARSON
Crime is still the biggest challenge. My first year in office we filed 10,000 more criminal cases than any prior year, and we've brought the crime rate down for the first time in a decade. I will continue to focus on gangs and juvenile crime. Also, the problem of guns and violence in schools has to be addressed directly. I've developed a plan to do that.
Does the district attorney have a role in addressing the causes of crime and crime prevention, or should he leave that to others and concentrate on prosecuting crime?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
The measure of the district attorney's office is the reduction in crime. I feel the DA should be more proactive, reaching out to the community to address the causes of crime, to be innovative in crime prevention and provide leadership and sound advice to the County Commission on ways to reduce crime.
NEAL GUNNARSON
The district attorney, in my view, has an absolute obligation to be involved in the concerns of the community regarding crime and crime prevention. I have been proactive in that area. It would be shortsighted to focus solely on prosecution and do nothing about the underlying causes of crime and crime prevention.
Can local government compete with the big law firms for top legal talent?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
The pay has traditionally been lower in government. I have seen government offices recruit and train new talent only to have them leave for private practice. However, I believe I have the ability to attract and retain that talent. A lot of it has to do with job satisfaction rather than the pay.
NEAL GUNNARSON
We do it time and time again. Criminal law is very specific expertise. Prosecutors start out handling misdemeanors for three to five years and then felonies for another three to five years before they are ready to be the lead attorney in a homicide case. Municipal law is also a speciality. The professionals who develop that kind of experience stay with it.
Gunnarson's question for Griffin: When Mayor Corradini was under investigation by my office, a special panel was created which consisted of the chief prosecutors of Weber, Davis and Salt Lake counties; legal research assistants; law professors; and nationally acclaimed criminal investigators. After five months of exhaustive fact-finding and research, the panel unanimously found criminal charges could not be filed. In light of your limited prosecutorial experience, why do you think your personal opinion is more valid than the renowned experts who studied the case?
MARK J. GRIFFIN
County Attorney Doug Short has stated publicly that you told him before the Corradini investigation that "you would go through the motions of an investigation, but you would never prosecute an elected official." In my 14 years of investigating and sometimes prosecuting complex financial corruption cases, I have rarely seen a case more important to bring. The decision to drop the case has been more questioned than any charging decision I can recall. The independent expert, lawyer and investigator hired by the City Council found nothing wrong with the evidence or law. He filed a 78-page report which disagreed with your conclusions. Two other ethics experts confirmed his findings. You alone know the reason this case was dropped; the record was sealed. But I would have gotten that case to a jury, and I would welcome the chance to discuss that with anyone, expert or not.
Griffin's question for Gunnarson: I have said we need a new blueprint for crime prevention. In the last four years, serious crime in Salt Lake County is up more than three times our population growth. In the unincorporated areas, rape is up 71 percent; auto theft, 71 percent; and burglary, 62 percent. Highly dangerous methamphetamine labs are shut down only to open up again in family neighborhoods. And this is happening when crime rates are generally down nationwide. You've criticized my call for a new blueprint and scoffed at my suggestion that we could achieve a 20 percent reduction in the overall crime rate. But what's in your program that we haven't seen in the past four years?
NEAL GUNNARSON
Gang crime is down 35 percent since I was elected district attorney. . . . Contrary to your claimed statistics, the momentum against crime is on our side. Serious crime is down 3 percent. There was a 7 percent reduction in rapes and aggravated assaults. . . . My plan for the next four years is based upon my 20 years as an active trial prosecutor. You have acknowledged that you have only participated in a total of four jury trials in your entire career. Your `blueprint' is to create yet another committee to study the criminal justice system and then you will do what the committee says. A 20 percent reduction in crime is a worthy goal, but it won't be accomplished by another committee. While your committee is being formed, crime will continue. . . . I will continue to protect the citizens of Salt Lake County through fair, tough prosecution. I shall continue to make decisions based upon the law. I know the job and I have the experience. I'll continue to do what I've done since I started my career as a policeman and later as a senior prosecutor: fight crime.