What's a District Attorney, and How many are there per district?
A District Atty. is an elected official, who a victim would go to to handle a criminal case for a particular area. The D.A. represents the State in a criminal trial. There is normally 1 D.A. for a district, with a number of Assistant District Attorneys...there can be as many of these that are needed to handle the case load.
What is a district attorney ?
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney (DA) is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of assistant (ADA) or deputy district attorneys. Similar functions are carried out at the local level in other jurisdictions by officers named the Commonwealth's Attorney, State's Attorney, County Attorney, or County Prosecutor. Depending on the system in place in the particular state or county, district attorneys may be appointed by the chief executive of the region or elected by the people. Because different levels of government in the U.S. operate independently of one another, there are many differences between people who perform this function at the federal, state, and county levels. The proper title for an appointed federal prosecutor at the local level (as opposed to an appointed U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor based in Washington, D.C.) is United States Attorney. Such officers are appointed by the President of the United States, serve under the Attorney General, and prosecute cases in the district courts of the federal government. United States Attorneys, in turn, hire prosecutors to handle the daily affairs of the office; they are known as Assistant United States Attorneys, or AUSAs. Most states also have an attorney who oversees prosecutions throughout the state, normally known as the Attorney General.
Questions about attorneys?
1. Which of the following crimes would most likely be prosecuted by a United States Attorney? A. Murder B. Jay Walking C. Federal Tax Evasion D. Speeding 2. Which of the following crimes would most likely be prosecuted by a city prosecutor? A. Kidnapping B. Disturbing the Peace C. Conspiracy D. Larceny 3.Which of the following crimes would most likely be prosecuted by a county district attorney? A. Treason B. Arson C. Racketeering D.Littering help, i cant find these anywhere, ive been searching.
Whats the difference between a district attorney and an attorney general?
A district attorney (D.A.) is, in some U.S. jurisdictions, the title of the local public official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminals. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of assistant district attorneys. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_at... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_Ge... Most states also have an Attorney General who oversees prosecutions throughout the state (not to be confused with the Attorney General of the United States). A district attorney of a state is occasionally informally referred to as the state's attorney. Care should be taken to not confuse the two. Duties - DA: The District Attorney has jurisdiction over all felony, misdemeanor and summary offenses. The office also provides legal guidance in criminal matters for various police agencies and county departments. State Attorney General: Generally speaking, the Attorney General is responsible for the representation of the state in all legal matters, both civil and criminal, where the state is named as a party or may have an interest in the outcome of the litigation or dispute.
Who prosecutes or supervises the district attorney?
District attorneys are generally elected. Therefore they are supervised the way any other elected official is supervised, that is by the people who elected them through the process of electing a replacement.However, like any attorney, there are ethics rules district attorneys must follow. In fact, prosecutors have special ethics rules they must follow, due to being prosecutors. This is in addition to all of the other rules attorneys must follow.If prosecutors violate those rules, they can be punished by the disciplinary body of the state in which they practice, as well as any states in which they are licensed. These bodies are managed by the Supreme Court of the states where they are licensed. The actual supervision and punishment is normally controlled by a special body of disciplinary counsel and disciplinary boards. However, in most jurisdictions, those cases can be appealed directly to the Supreme Court of the state, if the punished attorney so desires. Therefore, it is, fundamentally, the Supreme Court of the state which supervises the district attorney, as well as all other attorneys in the state. Any punishments from other states will be reciprocal in nature. That is, if you are punished, you are required to inform the other states in which you are licensed, and they may choose to punish you as well. Failure to inform those other states is an ethical violation.As far as prosecuting the district attorney, for a state crime, an independent prosecutor would be assigned to handle any prosecutions. This is to avoid any conflicts from the other prosecutors who are employees of the DA. If the crime is federal in nature, the case would be handled the same as any other federal case. A US attorney would prosecute the DA.
Can a State attorney general indict the president while in office because they aren’t bound by any decisions by of the Federal Dept of Justice?
This is a really interesting question. I addressed it partially in Mike Jones's answer to What is the legal justification that a current USA president cannot be indicted for crimes?The DOJ policy is based on an assessment by their Office of Legal Counsel, but that assessment has never been tested in court. Their reasoning, which relies heavily on the argument that a President who was forced to defend himself against criminal charges could not carry out the duties of office, appears to me (and IANAL) to have two possible openings for attack:An indictment with delayed prosecution would not affect his ability to do his job.The 25th Amendment offers a process for him to allow the VP to be Acting President while the case proceeds.I’m not legally smart enough to say whether either of those is a strong argument; we’d have to see what the courts would say. Certainly as you say, a state AG isn’t bound by DOJ policy and could bring an indictment, and it would certainly be challenged in court and would presumably go to SCOTUS immediately as a dispute between a state and the Federal government.Of course, there’s always the “a trial wouldn’t take any more time than the bastard spends playing golf” argument.
Can a district attorney investigate crimes to prove a case?
The District Attorney is a lawyer who represents the state in a criminal trial; they do not personally investigate crimes, but instead use the police and other related investigators to do so.
How do a District Attorney and Prosecutor differ?
Prosecutor is a generic term that refers to the individual lawyer that is representing the State against a criminal defendant. Prosecutors include district attorneys and assistant district attorneys, city attorneys, attorney generals and assistant attorneys general, etc... Any lawyer who prosecutes someone is a prosecutor.District attorney is a specific prosecutor, usually one person from a local jurisdiction that is elected. Most cities have a District Attorney. That district attorney is elected in a general election. The District Attorney has the authority and responsibility to prosecute people who commit (or are accused of committing) crimes within the D.A.'s jurisdiction. The district attorney usually has other attorneys working for him as Assistant District Attorneys, in order to handle the often large caseloads.All District Attorneys are prosecutors, in that local district attorneys are charged with bringing a criminal legal action against alleged lawbreakers. But not all prosecutors are District Attorneys. Some work in other capacities, other jurisdictions, or other subject matter. But they are basically the same thing, no matter what level of government they represent - all prosecutors exist to formally accuse people of breaking some law (or laws).