There should be 17 prosecutors roaming
the holes of the Western judicial circuit.
Right now we have 5 prosecutors.
That's less than 1/3 of what's needed.
District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez
says that means each of the
attorneys that are in court juggle
more than 800 cases apiece. The
ones who are left are under
so much stress and burden.
Not exactly what you'd expect from a DA
giving advice to other communities on
how to recruit and retain prosecutors.
But Gonzalez says the work
was are not her fault.
She blames Athens, Clarke County,
arguing the pay is too low.
But wouldn't that problem
have existed before you came?
Into office
by COVID didn't exist.
Employee considerations about
jobs pre COVID and post COVID
have changed drastically.
11 Alive Investigates uncovered.
Some counties do pay more
and Macon Bibb County,
a district of similar size,
starts about $4000 higher.
But we also found counties around
Athens that pay the same and don't
have a high level of vacancies.
It starts with the money, and then
it led to the stress of having too
many cases to deal with when you're
one of the few who are left behind.
But there are also attorneys in
every judicial district with
salaries paid by the state,
and those salaries are often much higher.
So even if Athens, Clarke County pays less,
Gonzalez has four unfilled state
positions with a salary that
could go as high as $117,000
for highly qualified candidates.
Is there any sense that this
could be more than money?
Is there a chance that management
style could also play a role?
No, I I would not say that.
It's the management.
So I think what we had
was a perfect storm.
I was there when when she campaigned.
Alex Adato agrees with at least
part of that statement. Stress has
played a role in recent departures.
I would never want to touch that
office because of the volatility,
the immense caseload,
but he is adamant that money.
Has nothing to do with the
revolving door in her office, so
it's not about money.
And shame on her for saying this.
Sodata worked in the circuit.
When Gonzalez took over the office,
he left three months later.
Did you leave because of money?
No, money had nothing to do with it.
I left the office because of the toxic
environment there and unfortunately
the belief that I could not do my
full duty and hold on my oath.
We tracked the salaries of 34 attorneys
that left since Gonzales took office,
those that stayed in public service.
Nine took a pay cut by leaving.
8 attorneys are making more,
but some as little as $400.00
and several people told us
they left without another job.
Tedious work and we want to retain Athens.
Clarke County has agreed to study
their pay scale to decide if more
money will solve the problem.
Because the turnover is causing
procedural mistakes that are letting
potentially dangerous suspects go free.
Procedural mistakes impact a case,
not evidence.
What do you say to those victims?
We explain what happened.
We also take those as our learning
opportunities to go through and
say where did it fail? Right.
Where did the mistake happen?
Whatever the reason,
the staffing problems are having
a daily impact in the courtroom.
According to transcripts,
11 alive obtained of recent court hearings.
2 years into return,
and there's still no clear understanding
of who is supposed to subpoena.
Witnesses to appear and cases
are being dismissed because
prosecutors are not prepared.