ATLANTA — Staffing woes. An exodus of attorneys. A lawsuit and a bill that could be used to punish prosecutors like her.
Embattled Athens District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez is now facing them all. It’s hitting the Democrat, who became the Western Judicial Circuit’s top prosecutor following a historic 2020 victory, hard.
Cases are at risk of being dismissed. Procedural mistakes cause suspects to go free. The office is so understaffed that Gonzalez has had to prosecute cases herself.
The district attorney points to a cycle that harms her office. Low salaries mean attorneys look for employment elsewhere. Those left behind are stuck with larger caseloads. The revolving door of prosecutors turns.
But data obtained by 11Alive through open record requests paint a more complicated picture.
There are similar-sized circuits that offer more money than Athens. However, there are also districts around Athens and Oconee counties that offer prosecutors similar salaries and aren’t plagued by staffing issues.
Gonzalez could be in court next week for a hearing in a civil lawsuit filed by an Athens business owner who accuses her of failing to do her job properly. Gov. Brian Kemp could soon sign a bill that would create a state panel with the power to remove and discipline prosecutors.
Political rivals at the state level have said Gonzalez was a primary motivator for the legislation.
‘It’s in crisis’
DeKalb County’s former top prosecutor, Robert James, said he understands some of the struggles that Gonzalez is currently facing.
Before serving six years as District Attorney, Robert James was DeKalb County’s Solicitor General, defeating an incumbent in a 2006 election. When he won, folks left too.
“We had a staff of 25 lawyers,” James said of the departures. “Nine quit the first week and then, I don’t know — maybe 10 or 11 quit after that. So, my first year, year and a half just being an HR professional."
A similar turnover has happened in Athens. 11Alive Investigates found at least 34 attorneys who have left since she took office in January 2021. Some took pay cuts, and others left the DA's office without another job lined up.
While several resignation letters thank Gonzalez and praise her leadership, others have told 11Alive the working environment was "toxic."
James said that if pay at the Athens DA’s office wasn’t a concern at the beginning, it is now.
“If I’m working in an office in crisis — because let’s call it what it is, it’s in crisis — and I can make the same amount of money or even slightly less and go somewhere else, more support staff, better investigators, better training, then I’m going to go there,” he said.
Time is running out
James said it took time to heal the issues in DeKalb’s Solicitor General’s Office. But time is running out in Athens and Oconee counties.
According to court records, Oconee County has 150 misdemeanor cases ranging from DUI and battery to drugs, all at risk of being dismissed because her office hasn’t filed charges in time.
In Clarke County, the problem is getting cases to trial. Charges like aggravated child molestation and sexual servitude are getting dismissed. Even when a case gets to a jury there are often procedural mistakes.
Gonzalez never tried a criminal case until this year — and she lost her first one. The charge: murder. According to a lawsuit filed against Gonzalez, the county’s top prosecutor didn’t know how to “introduce vital evidence.”
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James said that Gonzalez needs to hire veteran attorneys to help her with these cases, particularly a strong chief assistant. According to the DA's website, she does now have an attorney with nearly 20 years of experience.
“If you don’t have a good chief assistant and you’ve not been a prosecutor, it can be difficult. Because there are some things you’re just not going to know," he said. "And you’re not going to know what you don’t know.”
Gonzalez did hold a listening session in March to hear from members of the community. The questions and comments were a mix of support and criticism.
James said that Gonzalez needs to be doing more of that to help educate the community on what she’s doing to respond to their frustrations.
The politics of it all
Attorney Kevin Epps said he filed the lawsuit on behalf of a local resident to ask the courts to intervene.
James said he understands the frustration but says that move feels political rather than productive.
“What are you going to make her do that she hasn’t already tried to do? You can’t make her be a better DA or be the DA that you want her to be. That’s what elections are for," he said.
Gonzalez has been the focus of Republican politicians critical of how she approaches the job. The Athens Democrat stylized herself as a progressive prosecutor who wouldn’t try certain minor drug crimes.
In 2021, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr criticized Gonzalez, saying she had committed a possible violation of oath of office by selectively enforcing only certain misdemeanors.
In December 2022, Kemp tweeted that “far-left local prosecutors” were making their communities less safe after charges against a man accused of committing sex crimes were dismissed because Gonzalez’s office didn’t bring the man to trial in a timely manner.
This legislative session, Athens State Rep. Houston Gaines sponsored a state house bill to create a panel with the power to remove or discipline district attorneys and solicitors general.
Gaines, who faced Gonzalez in two testy state house races, has cited the Athens DA as a motivator for the legislation. He also called for Gonzalez’s resignation earlier this month.
Lawmakers on Monday passed SB 92, the Senate’s version of the legislation. Reasons that a prosecutor could be disciplined include “willful misconduct in office.” If Kemp signs the legislation, the commission could hear complaints against prosecutors as early as October.
“The House & Senate gave final passage to a commonsense bill to rein in rogue DAs who aren’t doing their jobs,” Gaines said on social media after the vote. “Families suffer when inept & hyper-partisan DAs — like in our community — refuse to uphold the law. With (Kemp’s) signature, we’ll have a mechanism to address it.”
Some Georgia Democrats proposed similar legislation over concerns with Jackie Johnson, the Brunswick, Georgia, district attorney who was later charged with interfering in the police investigation in the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.
During this session, Democrats, including Gonzalez, opposed the measures. She told 11Alive she felt the bill were, in part, targeting her.
"It’s kind of hard not to take it personal when they keep saying Deborah Gonzalez or the DA Athens," she said. "There’s only one DA in Athens."