Why You Should Vote For McDade

The Fairfax prosecutors office has been somewhat off-limits politically becasue of the respect and tenure of retiring CA Bob Horan. Thankfully, Republican candidate Patrick McDade has not shied away from the challenge presented to him. There has been a lot of neglect in this important office, and McDade is shedding light on it. Horan was a great public servant, but its clear his time has past. His heir, Ray Morrough, would bring more of the same. Need proof? McDade's excellent website gives us a good outline.

UNDER BOB HORAN AND RAY MORROUGH, ONLY 28% OF FELONIES IN FAIRFAX COUNTY ARE BROUGHT TO PROSECUTION, THE WORST IN THE COMMONWEALTH!!!

Comments

[Chuck]

McDade has some good ideas but doesn't it bother you at all that he has only been practicing law for 18 months or so?

[Patrick McDade]

Yes, this is actually Patrick McDade. I am posting here, though I am new to the world of blogs, to address what is sure to be my opponent's only issue to run on: my experience.

To correct your assertion, I graduated from George Mason University School of Law in 2004. During my final year, from 2003-2004, I actually practiced law using a third-year practitioner’s certificate in the Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. I prosecuted crimes in the General District Court, Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, and even successfully prosecuted a misdemeanor appeal in Circuit Court during this year. I tried my first case, a possession of marijuana misdemeanor, in July of 2003, and had handled guilty pleas for about a month before that. After graduation, I was the Law Clerk for the Honorable Leslie M. Alden, of the Fairfax County Circuit Court for one year. This invaluable experience allowed me to see the inner-workings of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. Since then I have been prosecuting crime in Arlington County for almost two years now. Based on this, I have been practicing law for about four years, not 18 months.

Bob Horan, the current Commonwealth’s Attorney for Fairfax County, had about the same amount of experience when he first took office and was a year younger than I am.

Additionally, from 1995 through 2003, I worked in the Information Technology field. My specialty was taking a business unit that was not performing optimally and using technology to improve how work was done. To do this, I would first analyze how a business unit functioned, doing process-flow analysis. This means I would look at how every person in the business unit did their jobs, and I would find ways to make the entire work-flow go more smoothly. I would then apply technology and new business processes to work-flow in order to improve the efficiency and productivity. Considering the current state of the prosecutor’s office in Fairfax County, I feel that my business background is just as relevant as my legal experience. For those who are counting the years, I worked full-time while I put myself through law-school.

Finally, in a large, modern jurisdiction such as Fairfax County, it is more important that the office have an effective administrator as the Commonwealth’s Attorney than it is to have the most experienced trial attorney available. The duty of the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in a large jurisdiction, such as Fairfax, is not to try cases, but to make policy decisions, administrative decisions, hiring decisions, and training decisions. My opponent is the current day-to-day administrator for the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and the statistics provided by the Supreme Court of Virginia clearly show that there is a problem with how the office is being administered.

If you have any questions, please contact me through my website: http://www.mcdadeforca.com/

[Chuck]

Wow, I didn't expect to get a response from the actual candidtate. Thanks for the very informative response.

[Chris]

That was awesome. Thanks Patrick!

Hmmm.... he was in the IT field, and he used his knowledge to improve the running of businesses? Then I'm REALLY scared. The stat's he cites on his web were submitted by the Fairfax Clerk of Court with a warning that, due to a new computer system, their accuracy could not be verified. He's going to use faulty stat's to improve Horan's (not Morrogh's) office? It's the five-year anniversary of the sniper shootings. I think I'll vote for the candidate who helped convict him.

[Liz]

Actually, Horan was only able to obtain a conviction for John Lee Malvo, the juvenile sniper. His office botched their prosecution of John Allen Muhammad by violating one of the simplest rules in criminal prosecution - the constitutional right to a speedy trial.

The following was posted on another blog

"Point well taken on the bar exam issue but McDade is no Lewis Powell. More importantly about McDade though people are framing this as a Republican v. Democrat race when really it should be about who is more competent. As much as defense attorneys, many of which are Republicans would love to see the train wreck of a McDade victory this will probably be bad for victims of crimes. It is well known that McDade is a fairly poor trial lawyer, often failing to know how to lay the most basic foundation for the admission of items of evidence as well often being incapable of asking non-leading questions, a key skill for a prosecutor. Ray Morrogh is known as a very capable trial lawyer that knows how to handle complex litigation. McDade has been very critical of Bob Horan yet apparently that has only been the case after he applied for a job with him and did not get it. Why did he need a job? He touts that he worked for Judge Alden which is normally a two year clerkship, yet for him it was only one year. The question is whether he was asked to leave and why? Another question is why Republicans would be so enthused to have a protege of democrat Dick Trodden, whose office has a lot more problems than Horan's, get the job in Fairfax (remember as an example when one of his assistants who was the son of a Fairfax Board of Supervisor member was allowed to avoid a breath test in an accident with a fatality?). The sad thing is that the Republican party did not put up a real competent alternative but rather a candidate with little understanding of the office and of how to really improve the system of justice in Fairfax."

Would the candidate or anyone else care to comment?

[Michael]

Strange how someone could say that Mcdade is a fairly poor trial lawyer? As a current law enforcement officer (Arlington), I am aware of many cases that he has actually taken to trial/won where other prosecutors could have done the easier and offered the misdemeanor plea to close the file. He is an excellent attorney, tenacious, and a fresh breath of air that can save Fairfax. The Arlington CA's office is full of strong aggressive prosecutors that aren't nearly as overworked. Hopefully things will be fixed soon after the November election!

So Liz...
It is interesting that according to the last campaign finance report filed by Morrogh, he receives most of his support, including one $10,000 donation from defense attorneys. They must be really nervous that a McDade win will end their gravy train they have been riding on for years now. Additionally, those of you who have seen the Reston debate between Morrogh and McDade, McDade clearly won and kept Morrogh on the defensive. Even elected democrats (Dick Trodden) concede that McDade is a skilled trial attorney, even if he has only been doing it for a few years.
And I just checked because of this post… most of Judge Alden’s law clerks have been for only one year for a while now. Get your facts straight.
That posting represents everything that is wrong with blogging... People can just stand up and lie with no reprecussions That posting should say “Authorized and Paid for by Ray Morrogh” at the bottom.

[easytopractice]

I must admit, currently I don't have to spend much time and effort in the Fairfax Courthouse as I do others in Northern Virginia. When someone is charged with a felony and a misdemeanor, it is given they will drop the felony to have my client plead to the misdemeanor. Heck, I don't even have to put on a pre-lim. I hope things don't change!!!

Posted on another blog:

I've just checked the stats myself and the statistics are the same within a few percent every single year since 1999 (all the available reports.)

http://www.courts.state.va.us/plans.html#state

Every single State of the Judiciary Report says the same thing - only around 28-30% of felonies charged in General District Court are indicted to Circuit Court.

Check yourself:
1999: 6,836 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 194 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 1,884 other felonies indicted. The result is that 30% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 70% were not.

2000: 7,016 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 196 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 1,968 other felonies indicted. The result is that 30% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 70% were not.

2001: 9,492 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 200 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,094 other felonies indicted. The result is that 24% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 76% were not.

2002: 7,914 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 216 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,109 other felonies indicted. The result is that 29% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 71% were not.

2003: 7,930 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 194 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,280 other felonies indicted. The result is that 31% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 69% were not.

2004: 8,221 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 176 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,249 other felonies indicted. The result is that 29% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 71% were not.

2005: 8,327 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 48 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,318 other felonies indicted. The result is that 28% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 72% were not.

2006: 8,477 felonies were charged in GDC compared to 33 "1&2" felonies indicted plus 2,547 other felonies indicted. The result is that 30% of felonies charged in GDC were indicted so 70% were not.

Regardless of the other issues, McDade's statistics seem pretty solid. If the Supreme Court has been drastically wrong since 1999, people would have noticed, especially since the funding for the courts are based on the numbers.