Here & Now

The Power of District Attorneys

Woman:

DAs office. How can I help you?

Will Kenneally:

One DA calls them the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system. All eyes turn toward that one official on the question of whether police, for example, will be charged in shootings. District attorneys play a prominent role in the state’s criminal justice system. But as elected officials, when they run for office every four years, they often go unchallenged. Only four seats were contested in the 2020 general election. These races line up with presidential elections and are partisan offices. The current breakdown is 41 Republican DAs and 23 Democratic DAs. There are also seven independent district attorneys. All told, that’s 71 DAs representing each Wisconsin county with Shawano and Menominee Counties sharing a single DA. The district attorneys and the attorneys on their staff function to some degree as both state and county officials because while the state government pays their salaries, DAs themselves are elected by county voters and county governments also pay for their administrative staff. DAs have broad authority to decide whether to bring charges. Former Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson put it this way. “This court has repeatedly emphasized that the prosecutor has great discretion in determining whether to commence a prosecution. While it is the prosecutor’s duty to prosecute criminal actions…the prosecutor is not required to prosecute all cases in which it appears that the law has been violated.” This means district attorneys can broadly decide which cases they prosecute. Last year in Kenosha, for example, District Attorney Michael Gravely declined to prosecutor the officer who shot Jacob Blake, saying he was unlikely to win the case against the officer if Gravely took it to trial.

Michael Graveley:

If you do not have a case you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt as you’re going to hear me talk about, then you are ethically obligated not to charge such a case.

Will Kenneally:

In a similar instance from Dane County, DA Ismael Ozanne determined the officer who shot and killed Tony Robinson did so lawfully.

Ismael Ozanne:

This tragic and unfortunate death was the result of a lawful use of deadly police force and that no charges should be brought against Officer Kenny in the death of Tony Robinson, Jr.

Will Kenneally:

Even though big cases, including police shootings attract the most public scrutiny, these are decisions DAs have to make large and small, day in and day out. Abrahamson called their role quasi-judicial. She said it is his or her duty to administer justice rather than to obtain convictions.

Man:

All rise.

Will Kenneally:

Reporting for “Here & Now,” this is Will Kenneally.