| Sources |
- [S84] E-Mail, Ruth Dunlap Brackett [brac4800@bellsouth.net], 20 Aug 2005.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 3 Apr 2006.
SEVIERVILLE - The race for district attorney general is a study in contrasts. The two men running for the post differ greatly in age and experience.
Assistant District Attorney Jimmy Dunn is 58. He has been practicing law since 1986, and has been an assistant district attorney in Cocke County since 1990. Local attorney Joe Baker is 30. He has been practicing law since 2001, having served as an assistant DA for two years before putting out his shingle as a criminal defense lawyer.
"That's something I talk about to the voters," Dunn said. "I encourage them to vote for the most qualified and experienced candidate."
For Baker, it is the quality, not just the quantity, of experience that counts.
"If a college were hiring a head football coach, it's important they find somebody that understand both offense and defense," he said. "You can't have a coach that has only been exposed to one side of the ball.
"I'm the only candidate that has experience in both federal and state courts, I'm the only candidate that has litigation experience in military courts. I'm the only candidate that has worked as both a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney."
Baker is three years younger than current District Attorney General Al Schmutzer Jr. was when he first took office. Schmutzer announced last year he would not seek re-election after holding the office for 30 years.
"We need change," Baker said. "Al Schmutzer has done a great job for a long time, but it's time to look at doing things differently again."
Dunn said he feels the office is already operating smoothly, but more can be done to retain qualified prosecutors.
"The only thing I think would improve the efficiency is to keep prosecutors," he said.
There are few career prosecutors across the state, Dunn said. The position is considered a good way for young attorneys to gain trial experience, but many of them often leave after a few years for private practices that offer more pay.
Dunn said if he's elected district attorney he will work to convince the taxpayers and the Legislature to offer more money to help keep qualified prosecutors at the office.
Baker wants to improve how the office operates.
"The system is slow right now in the criminal justice system in Sevier County," he said. "We've got a backlog of cases. In order to move the system along and make it more efficient and serve victims better, we're going to have to put more program and systems in place in the district attorney's office to make that happen."
Dunn said he is nowhere near retirement.
"I will serve as long as the voters will let me and as long as I'm healthy and able to do the job, and I think that will be quite some time from now," Dunn said.
In this case, Baker played up his own relative youth.
"What I offer is a new start, a new beginning, a chance for us to bring the district attorney's office into the 21st century and to bring the energy that is needed to move cases to serve victims better," he said.
Neither Baker nor Dunn advocated move the office from its location in the Sevier County Courthouse.
"I will get in my car and drive to Sevier County, and that's where the office will be," Baker said.
Dunn plans no changes to the staff if he is elected.
"There's no reason to change anything that's not broke," he said.
Baker said that he would not necessarily make staff changes, but he would look at staffing carefully.
"It's important to make sure that all of the assistants are competent and have the same enthusiasm and energy that is needed to work effectively in the courts."
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 1 Sep 2006.
New DA will take office Sept. 1
By: JEFF FARRELL, Staff Writer September 01, 2006
SEVIERVILLE - Jimmy Dunn is still getting used to the idea he'll be in his old boss's office.
Dunn will be sworn in as district attorney general for the Fourth Judicial District Friday morning. Al Schmutzer, his boss for 16 years as an assistant district attorney in Cocke county, decided not to seek re-election.
Dunn was moving some of his things into the office Wednesday, but he said it still hasn't sunk in that it's going to be his office. In fact, he still hasn't used Schmutzer's chair and said he won't 'til at least after he takes his oath.
"It's still not my office yet," he said. "Maybe someday it will be but now it's still Al's office."
But he has already started to add some of his own touches.
Animal crackers, his favorite treat, were already sitting on a table. He said they'll be available to anyone who wants one.
He'll also have a cussing jar, something he's kept in his office for years. Dunn doesn't drink, and doesn't swear. He said he doesn't make people put money in the jar if they swear in his office - but it will be labeled and left in an obvious place.
It wasn't labeled or on the desk yet Wednesday, but it already had a couple of coins in it from visitors who knew him.
For now, though, he's learning his way around areas where many people still may not know about him other than his trademark moustache.
"Some folks advised me to cut my hair and shave my moustache to look younger," he said, "But that's a part of me."
A memento he was putting on the wall might be more indicative of his philosophy about his new role.
It includes some lines from an early state court ruling that describe the duties of an attorney general.
"He 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," the ruling states.
Dunn said he keeps it around because it reminds him of his responsibilities.
"Our job is not to put everybody in jail " he said. Our job is to see to it that justice is done."
He knows that won't make him popular all the time. Most people say they want to see more criminals punished, but that can change when they or someone they care about has run afoul of the law, he said.
Dunn expects to spend a lot of his time in courts. He still intends to try a full load of cases, and he also hopes to spend a lot of time training the younger assistant district attorneys.
After 16 years working with Schmutzer, he does not anticipate that making his own mark will mean many major changes in how the office is run.
Like his predecessor, he has experience in law enforcement himself in addition to working as an assistant district attorney. He worked closely with law enforcement in Cocke County, and anticipates a strong relationship with the rest of the district.
"I know we'll get along fine," he said.
* jfarrell@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 24 Dec 2007.
Trip to Fenway was no strikeout
Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Patterson remembers every detail of the best Christmas present he ever got. The gift nearly brought him to tears.
"I'm a huge Boston Red Sox fan, and in 2004 my father-in-law Herbert Owenby gave me, my wife Wendy and our daughter Rylie tickets to a game at Fenway Park in Boston to see the Sox play. And, he also got us a tour of the stadium including going into the press box, and we got to stand on the Green Monster," said Patterson, referring to the famous left field wall.
Bubbling on about why the gift meant so much to him, Patterson said, "Fenway is the oldest baseball park in the nation - it opened in 1912 - and Fenway has been sold out for 388 consecutive games. It's hard to get tickets unless you pay premium prices. When I saw them, I was so happy I almost cried. It's one of those places I've wanted to go, like avid golfers would love to go to St. Andrews, which is the birthplace of golf. Fenway is one of the birthplaces of baseball. It's one of the top 10 places I have wanted to go."
The Pattersons went to Fenway in 2005 when their daughter was 6, but "she understood the significance of the whole thing, including getting to stand on the green monster. She's a big Red Sox fan too; she can name the starting lineup for the whole team. It's amazing."
Unfortunately he can't find the disc containing the pictures of that big trip.
-CANDICE GRIMM
Area residents recall their most memorable Christmas gift
|
Search | Advanced Search
1948 - (76 years)
