The State Attorney’s Office is responsible for prosecuting all crimes that are not federal. The office is under the direction of Harry Shorstein, the state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida.
WHAT DO THESE
CASES ENTAIL?
“Everything from DUI’s to trespassing to first degree murder,” said Shorstein.
WHAT DOES
SHORSTEIN DO?
“I am elected to serve a four-year term; I’m in my fourth term now. It is actually different than being the senior partner in a law firm because the state attorney is a constitutional officer. I’m not just the senior member of the firm. It’s by virtue of my election that I have any authority to do anything.” Shorstein was appointed to his office in 1991. He was elected in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
WILL HE RUN AGAIN?
“I intend to run this next term, but after that we’ll have to talk.”
WHAT DOES THE
OFFICE DO?
“We operate somewhat like a law firm and somewhat like a military organization. I have a chief assistant state attorney, Jay Plotkin, and a group of directors in charge of various parts of the office. My chief assistant and directors operate similarly to management committee or a board of directors.”
WHAT DOES
JAY PLOTKIN DO?
“The assistant chief state attorney is very similar to the executive officer on a ship or in the Marines. He fulfills the day-to-day directions given to him by the state attorney. He has a tremendous responsibility to oversee every aspect of this office.”
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE OFFICE?
“There is a director of County Court, John Guy, who prosecutes all misdemeanors; director of Circuit Court, Bernardo De La Rionda, who prosecutes all the routine felonies; director of ROC, Mark Borello, who handles cases against repeat offenders; director of Special Assault Division, Libby Senterfitt, who supervises prosecution of all sex crimes, crimes against children, crimes against the elderly and felony domestic violence; director of Homicide, George Bateh, who supervises the prosecution of all murders and certain other major crimes; director of Special Prosecution, Jay Taylor, who handles the prosecution of major drug trafficking, organized crime, environmental crimes and consumer fraud; director of the Gun Crime Unit, Angela Corey, who handles a grant that we received to concentrate on gun crimes, but she really also supervises major crimes and director of the juvenile division, and Jay Plotkin who handles all the juvenile cases. Then I have two directors that are in charge of my other two counties: Timothy Collins, Clay County, and Granville Burgess, Nassau County.”
HOW MANY PROSECUTORS DO YOU HAVE?
“It varies. Ideally, we would have very close to 90. Today, we are very short-handed, even though we have 14 lawyers starting in about five weeks. We have about 73 attorneys right now. We hire lawyers when they graduate law school and we usually hire them by bar exam and it is given in February or July. The largest group graduates in May or June and takes the bar exam in July.”
HIGH TURNOVER?
“There will always be a lot of turnover in my office. There are two reasons for it. One, it is a very popular office and always has been. I think that the consensus is that it is the best State Attorney’s Office in the state and it has been that way for as long as I can remember. A lot of people think it is the greatest job that anyone can have because, as I often tell my people, it is one of the only jobs in the practice of law where you are ordered to always to the right thing. Since we represent the people, we have the luxury of trying to make a decision that is always right and just. Without being critical of criminal defense lawyers or private practice lawyers, they do not have that luxury because that is not their responsibility. My people are always ordered to do what is right. It is a very difficult job, but it is a great feeling to go home each day knowing that you tried to do what is in the best interest of the people we serve.”
REASON NUMBER TWO?
“The second reason is that if you are a young lawyer graduating law school, there is no place that gives you greater experience than this office. It far surpasses any other initial job because you have the opportunity to try more cases, than you would if you went to a large firm. And if you do well, you performance will be seen by the public.”
ALUMNI TO THE STATE ATTORNEY OFFICE?
After working as an assistant state attorney, Shorstein opened his own firm. “I’ve always given all the credit from my successful law practice to the experience I got as an assistant state attorney because I had the opportunity to try so many cases and that helped me become a successful private practitioner.”
FAMOUS CASE?
“The most famous case I tried in Jacksonville was in 1974. The case was against Ernest John Dobbert. He tortured his two children to death, but we never found the bodies. He was convicted with no bodies and no witnesses.”
LOCATION OF OFFICE
The State Attorney’s Office has outgrown the county courthouse, leaving assistant state attorneys scattered around the city. “I have an office next door in the old City Hall [City Hall Annex] and one across the street. We are all over.”
NEW COURTHOUSE?
When the new Duval County Courthouse is built, the office will not be located there; it will be in the old United States Courthouse. “The old United States Courthouse will be gutted and renovated and will open into the new Duval County Courthouse complex.”
HOW MUCH INTERACTION DO YOU HAVE NOW WITH YOUR ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEYS?
“As much as I possibly can. It’s very difficult because of being separated. For example, the County Court division is in the City Hall Annex, and that is very difficult because it is most important to interact with your youngest lawyers and they are my youngest lawyers.”
WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A PROSECUTOR?
“One of the greatest problems that we have run into is dispelling the perception the public has of distrusting law enforcement and government generally. We do the best we can. The way we deal with it is to try to develop the highest moral and ethical standards we can so that the public will have greater trust of the prosecution.”
IS IT NORMAL TO TRY CASES YOURSELF?
“It’s not that normal, but there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s actually preferred. I’m an old Marine and one of the first principles of leadership that they teach you in the Marines is to set the example. The purpose of that is that when you command someone to do something, you want that person to know that you can also do it. I think it helps me to supervise my attorneys when they know that I have tried cases as difficult as any case they will be asked to try.”
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEYS?
They screen the resumes received and exclude a large number based on information in the resume. If the resume passes the initial review, the applicant is invited to meet with the hiring committee, usually chaired by one of the directors. “There are usually four to six interviewers and they will spend a half an hour or more asking them all sorts of questions trying to determine their interest in prosecution and public service.” They also review their law school, transcripts, undergraduate and law school grades, extracurricular activities and more. “If the hiring committee favorably grades the applicant, I’ll see them. It’s very difficult to say what we look for. I’ve been wrong many times and I’ve been favorably surprised many times.”
WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW WITH OTHER ATTORNEYS?
“We have seen a little bit of a deterioration in the level of practice of some of the criminal bar over the last decade or so. There just seems to be a lot of corners being cut by certain criminal defense lawyers in the defense of their clients. I’m afraid that it may be because there are too many lawyers and as a result some of them are cutting corners to be able to make money. They are not being totally candid in the preparation and presentation of their case.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
“I encourage the lawyers to be members of The Jacksonville Bar.”
COMPENSATION
“In all fairness, my lawyers are not compensated as well as they should be.” Most starting assistant state attorneys start at $36,000 a year. “What they make is way below their counterparts. We can only beg the legislature and hope for better funding. My assistants work very hard and they are not compensated well.”
Division Chiefs
Daniel Skinner, Kenneth Boston and Theresa Phillips, Circuit Court; Stephen Bledsoe, Filing Division; Monica Hentschel and Regina Durfee, Special Assault Division; Charles Kimbrel, Civil Division; Shirley Durham, Juvenile Division; Shauna Wright, Clay County; and Bram Scharf and Shella Loizos, County Court.
Assistant State Attorneys
John Merrett, Edward Cole, Denise Duque, Donna Thurson, Adair Rommel, Pamela Johnson, John Kalinowski, Samuel Garrison, Khary Gaynor, Jeremy Lasnetski, Katherine Yzquierdo, Cyrus Zomorodian, Janet Wilkerson, Nicholas Christopolis, Lateasha Benson, Deidre Parker-Buckner, Cheyenne Palmer, Marzena Mignone, Phil Bavington, Darin Gardner, Douglas Dorsey, Rachel Sher, Rajan Joshi, Ron Geiersbach, Jessica Crowson, James Kallaher, Kate Feldman, Shawn Arnold, Maryanne Yeomans, Dawn Kuhlmey, Gabriella Young, Katie Lee, Kevin Frien, Marjorie Mittleman, Richard Mantei, Maureen Horkan, Shannon MacGillis, Matt O’Keefe, Jennifer Espenship, Jeffrey Moody, Melissa Coll, Mose Floyd, Charles Davis, Lori Carr, Angela Dixon, Melissa Williamson, Erin Bray, Jim Pimentel, Raymond Carlson, Mark Caliel, Rebecca Zima, Ernst Bell, Mac Heavener, Julie Agent, Shephen Siegel, Arthur Johnston Jr. and Laurence Pritchard.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis