The Job . . . the Best Candidate
The Justice of the Peace must:
Review and issue search warrants
-Scott is the only candidate that has reviewed and assisted in the application of hundreds of search warrants, is on call everyday at all hours for search warrant assistance and has been an instructor on this area of the law since 2004.
Preside over Preliminary Hearings on Felony Cases
- Scott is the only candidate who has successfully represented the interests of all of the citizens of Washoe County thousands of times on preliminary hearings in Justice Court involving every category of crime including murder, rape, theft, drug trafficking and arson.
Decide civil cases involving local businesses
- Scott is the only candidate with a disntiguished business education and experience working for several local businesses including a previous managment level position at a local casino and for a Fortune 500 company while in law school. He is the son of small business owners and is married to a small business owner. Scott is also the only candidate who has reviewed civil cases decided in Reno Justice Court for the District Court and worked for the Washoe County District Court as a law clerk on complex civil cases as well assisted on complex civil cases for one of the leading local law firms as a summer associate.
Decide Misdemeanor Trials
-Scott is the only candidate who has handled hundreds of misdemeanor cases with a trial success rate greater than 95%.
Mostly Criminal - 67% of the Cases filed in Reno Justice Court are Criminal- http://nnctc.org/repository/files/33/FY09%20Justice%20Court%20-%20Reno.pdf
Why Scott's experience better prepares him to be a Justice of the Peace.
"The difference in our roles as advocates derives from the degree of our authority and the disparity of our obligations. Defense counsel's legitimate and necessary goal is to achieve the best possible result for his client. His loyalty is to the individual client alone. The prosecutor, however, enters a courtroom to speak for the People and not just some of the People. The prosecutor speaks not solely for the victim, or the police, or those who support them, but for all the People. That body of "The People" includes the defendant and his family and those who care about him. It also includes the vast majority of citizens who know nothing about a particular case, but who give over to the prosecutor the authority to seek a just result in their name."Lindsey v. State, 725 P.2d 649 (WY 1986), quoting Commentary On Prosecutorial Ethics, 13 Hastings Const. L.Q. 537-539 (1986).).
The unique role of the prosecutor.
The Prosecutor is also known in the justice system as 'a quasi-judicial officer', 'a minister of justice', 'servant of the law', 'shepherd of justice' and "a bulwark to the peace, safety and happiness of the people' "the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape nor innocence suffer." "He is to pursue guilt; to protect innocence; he is to judge the circumstances, and according to their true complexion, to combine the public welfare and the safety of the citizens, preserving both, and not impairing either."
“A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.” American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct 3.8 Comment (1) – Special Responsibilities of Prosecutor.
“The primary responsibility of prosecution is to see that justice is accomplished.” National District Attorneys Association Prosecution Standards 1.1 Primary Responsibility
Prosecutors "have the obligation to convict the guilty and to make sure they do not convict the innocent. They must be dedicated to making the criminal trial a procedure for the ascertainment of the true facts surrounding the commission of the crime. To this extent, our so-called adversary system is not adversary at all; nor should it be. But defense counsel has no comparable obligation to ascertain and present the truth." United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 256 (1967) (Justice White, concurring and dissenting).
The prosecutor "is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape nor innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor—indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one."
Berger v. U.S., 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).
"Prosecutors are 'Shepherd[s] of justice.' When Government lawyer, with enormous resources at his or her disposal, abuses power and ignores ethical standards, he or she not only undermines public trust, but inflicts damage beyond calculation to system of justice. This alone compels the responsible and ethical exercise of this power." In re Doe, 801 F. Supp. 478, 480 (D.N.M. 1992).
“ The District Attorney is a quasi-judicial officer. He represents the commonwealth and the commonwealth demands no victims. It seeks justice only--equal and impartial justice-- and it is as much the duty of the district attorney to see that no innocent man suffers as it is to see that no guilty man escapes. Hence, he should act impartially." Appeal of Nicely, 18 A. 737 (PA 1889)
“ [T]he duty of a prosecuting attorney is not to persecute, but to prosecute, and that he should endeavor to protect the innocent as well as to prosecute the guilty. He should always be interested in seeing that the truth and the right shall prevail….” Bailey v. Commonwealth, 193 Ky. 687, 237 S.W. 415, 417 (1922).
The Prosecutor “ is to judge between the people and the government; he is to be the safeguard of the one and the advocate for the rights of the other; he ought not to suffer the innocent to be oppressed or vexatiously harassed, any more than those who deserve prosecution to escape; he is to pursue guilt; he to protect innocence; he is to judge the circumstances, and according to their true complexion, to combine the public welfare and the safety of the citizens, preserving both, and not impairing either." Fout v. State, 4 Tenn. 98 (1816)
" A fearless and earnest prosecuting attorney… is a bulwark to the peace, safety and happiness of the people. ….it is the duty of the prosecuting attorney, who represents all the people and has no responsibility except fairly to discharge his duty, to hold himself under proper restraint and avoid violent partisanship, partiality, and misconduct which may tend to deprive the defendant of the fair trial to which he is entitled, …. It is the duty of the prosecutor to see that nothing but competent evidence is submitted to the jury.…” Hosford v. State, 525 So.2d 789, 792 (Miss. 1988).
"The prosecuting officer represents the public interest, which can never be promoted by the conviction of the innocent. His object like that of the court, should be simply justice; and he has no right to sacrifice this to any pride of professional success. And however strong may be his belief of the prisoner's guilt, he must remember that, though unfair means may happen to result in doing justice to the prisoner in the particular case, yet, justice so attained, is unjust and dangerous to the whole community” Hurd v. People, 25 Mich 405, 416 (1872).
Prosecutor’s interest in a criminal prosecution 'is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done; courts generally recognize that the ethical rules impose higher ethical standards on prosecutors. In re Peasley, 90 P.3d 754 (Ariz. 2004).
Prosecutors must always keep in mind that duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict, “which is most certainly a difficult duty to be carried out carefully and cautiously.” Jeschke v. State, 642 P.2d 1298, 1303 (Wyo. 1982).
Ethical duty of a prosecutor is an extraordinary obligation that exceeds that imposed upon defense counsel. Montoya v. State, 971 P.2d 134, 137 (Wyo. 1998).
“ The district attorney, representing the majesty of the people, and having no responsibility, except fairly to discharge his duty,
People v. Greenwall, 22 N.E. 182 (NY 1889).
A Prosecutor is held to a higher standard than that imposed on other attorneys because of the unique function he or she performs in representing the interests, and in exercising the sovereign power, of the state. State v. Pabst, 268 Kan. 501, 996 P.2d 321 (2000).
“ A prosecutor is a servant of the law and a representative of the people….People v. Kelley, 142 Cal. Rptr. 457, 75 Cal. App. 3d 672 (1977).