August 2019 Newsletter
The Durham County District Attorney’s Office Monthly Newsletter highlights the work DCDAO staff do in and out of the courthouse.
In The Community
DA’s Office staff joined elected officials and Durham residents for National Night Out on August 6. The annual event brings together law enforcement and communities to strengthen relationships and promote public safety. Members of the DA’s Office visited events hosted by McDougald Terrace, El Centro Hispano, West End residents, and the Community Corrections office in Durham, among others. Staff spoke with residents about the work done by the DA’s Office in the first half of 2019, learned about community resources, and a few even did the Wobble Dance with Police Chief C.J. Davis.
Durham DA’s Office staff toured the Guilford County Family Justice Center, a one-stop resource for survivors of domestic violence located near the county courthouse. Assistant district attorneys, legal assistants and victim service coordinators with the Special Victims Unit as well as Deputy Chief of Legal and Community Affairs Brenda Ford Harding learned how the Family Justice Center has streamlined the process of connecting survivors with counseling, housing and food assistance, and protective orders. Representatives from the city of Durham, Durham County, Durham Crisis Response Center and local law enforcement also made the visit.
Assistant District Attorneys Alyson Grine and Daniel Spiegel traveled to New York City to participate in a first-of-its-kind conference on the use of data and technology in prosecutorial offices. Hosted by The Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, the Suffolk County (Massachusetts) District Attorney, and the Public Safety Lab at New York University, the conference brought together representatives from eleven innovative district attorneys’ offices around the country. ADA Grine, who works on the Homicide and Violent Crime team and is the lead prosecutor over policy and training, presented on the DCDAO’s work to track plea arrangements and pretrial release recommendations in collaboration with Duke University researchers. ADA Spiegel is head of the drug and property crime team.
In the Office
When criminal cases go to trial, crime scene investigators are often called to testify about evidence tied to the case — from photos taken at the crime scene, to the results of forensic testing and measures taken to protect items collected at the scene. On August 7, the DA’s Office hosted members of the Durham Police Department’s Forensic Services Unit for a training on giving expert testimony. Assistant District Attorney Kendra Montgomery-Blinn led investigators through mock testimonies on different types of evidence, like items collected from a crime scene and diagrams depicting where an incident took place. The goal of the training was to ensure investigators know what to expect in court, that the court record in their cases is detailed, and that juries are well-informed about the evidence involved.
Mitch Garrell was sworn in as an assistant district attorney with the Homicide and Violent Crime team on August 1. Garrell has over 20 years of prosecutorial experience, including 17 years previously working for the Durham DA’s Office prosecuting homicides, child abuse cases and animal abuse cases, and five years with the NC Conference of District Attorneys prosecuting financial crimes.
The DCDAO also welcomed two new externs in August — Maddy Mumma and Melissa Dix. Both are third-year law students at Duke University.
Mumma is originally from Durham and studied global health as an undergrad at Duke. She is working with the Homicide and Violent Crime team and plans to become a prosecutor after law school. Dix is originally from Ohio and studied political science at Boston College as an undergraduate. She is working with the Special Victims Unit and also plans to become a prosecutor after law school.
In the Courts
On August 27, ADA Montgomery-Blinn closed the DCDAO’s second-oldest pending homicide case with a guilty plea. The 2014 case, in which a then-17-year-old killed his grandmother and assaulted his brother, involved extensive mitigating factors that had to be weighed against the severity of the crime. With the disposition of the case, the DA’s Office closed a quarter of the homicide cases that were pending at the start of the year when DA Satana Deberry took office.
ADA Montgomery-Blinn also closed a 2017 homicide case in which the victim, who the State contended was targeted because of his ethnicity, was killed in an attempted robbery. The defendant pled guilty on August 29 to second-degree murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
ADA Grine tried a 2017 case in which a woman and her date were assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. On August 30, after nearly five days of proceedings, the jury returned guilty verdicts on two felony charges. A co-defendant in the case pled guilty prior to jury selection. In addition to their sentences, both defendants were ordered to pay medical expenses for the victim, who had served in the military.
In the News
DA Deberry spoke to Rob Schofield on the NC Policy Watch radio program, News & Views, about her vision for the DA’s Office and accomplishments by the office during her first six months as district attorney.
Along with Miriam Krinsky, executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, DA Deberry wrote an op-ed published in the News & Observer urging the North Carolina Supreme Court to prevent racial discrimination in jury selection.
Duke journalism students who are covering the Durham County Courthouse this fall interviewed DA Deberry about her background and priorities in office for The 9th Street Journal.
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