Ventura County District Attorney, Greg Totten, speaks with Our Ventura TV host, Bart Stern, about the mission of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, which is to promote justice and protect the people of the County of Ventura and the State of California by aggressively and fairly prosecuting those who violate the law.
Totten states that the role of a prosecutor is to ensure “neither guilt shall escape nor innocence suffer.”
He describes a difference between a lawyer and a prosecutor by highlighting that a lawyer will do whatever their client wants them to do, regardless of how the lawyer may personally feel about it. Whereas, a prosecutor has a responsibility only to pursue charges against someone that he or she feels is guilty, or that he or she has evidence to convict such a person in a court of law, and then prosecute that case in a way that is fair and partial and just.
Additionally, Totten depicts his organization as a tough, no-nonsense, law enforcement agency that holds people accountable for crime. He also outlines their guiding principles and core philosophy.
Totten speaks about staffing, budgeting, case volume and and the explosion in computer crime.
Totten also describes why California Proposition 47 weakens criminal law “in a fairly significant way.”
California Proposition 47 is an initiative that reduces the classification of most “nonserious and nonviolent property and drug crimes” from a felony to a misdemeanor. The initiative was approved by California voters as part of the November 4, 2014 ballot.
The interview also touches upon some of the services the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office provides to the community.
Producer: GeorgeAlger.com
Director: Petrina Sharp
Sponsor: NONPROFIT FIRE, Fundraising for Nonprofits
NonProfitFire.org
Sponsor: PJ MURALS, We Paint Your World Beautiful
PJmurals.com
Sponsor: SKYWORKS MARKETING, Performance Advertising
SkyworksMarketing.com