Murphy Campaign Says Information Accurate… Ms. Jorgenson Off Base.

I write in response to a letter from Barbara Jorgenson regarding information contained in a campaign mailing that she alleges was not accurate.

As an attorney, Ms. Jorgenson should know that it is important to check facts before making an argument or offering an opinion. However, from the points raised in her letter, it appears that her friendship with my opponent has caused her to ignore that lesson. I will address the issues she raised in turn:

1) Mr. Meehan’s membership in the Kent County Bar Association

Before printing my campaign mailer, I checked the test book in the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office to ascertain the date of Mr. Meehan’s admission to the bar association. The test book indicates that Mr. Meehan appeared before the Circuit Court in Kent County on January 13, 2014 and was accepted as a member of the bar association. I was also present in court that day and thought it odd that he had not previously become a member.

So, I suppose one of two things is true: Either he was not a member until this year, as indicated by the test book, or his appearance in court to be accepted as a member, after having already become a member, was strictly for show and a calculated political move.

2) My Criminal Work

Ms. Jorgenson indicates that almost all of the criminal cases I handle have been in District Court. To the extent that that is true, it is solely a reflection of the fact that the vast majority of criminal cases generally are handled in the District Court. Yet, in 2013 alone, I handled 80 cases in Circuit Court. While that may not seem like a lot to Ms. Jorgenson — although I don’t recall ever seeing her in criminal court — she might be surprised to learn that represents over 30% of all the criminal cases filed in Circuit Court that year. So, that’s one attorney (me) — out of all the attorneys in the area who handle criminal cases — who handled approximately 1/3 of the Circuit Court criminal cases.

3) The Real Job of the State’s Attorney

The State’s Attorney should not set “policy” to determine what cases should and should not be prosecuted. The State’s Attorney should evaluate each case on its individual merits and determine how it should be handled. The only way to do that effectively is to have experience handling criminal cases.

4) Potential Conflicts of Interest

This is the only remotely valid point raised in Ms. Jorgenson’s letter. However, she completely mischaracterizes the issue, and, again, has the facts all wrong. Of the 11 years that I have been with the Public Defender’s Office, almost 7 years were spent in Queen Anne’s County — the first 6 years and the last 6 to 7 months, precisely to minimize potential conflict issue.

So, while certain instances of conflict may arise if I am elected State’s Attorney, they are minimal in nature and can easily be addressed on a case-by-case basis. In fact, they are no different from potential conflict issues that arise when any criminal defense attorney goes to work as a prosecutor, or when someone who was a public defender becomes a judge. Both happen all the time.

Additionally, before deciding to run, I sought opinions from the State’s Ethics Commission, The Attorney Grievance Commission, and the State Bar Association Ethic Committee about this precise issue. None of those oversight bodies indicated that my running presented any problem other than on a case-by-case basis.

In closing, all the information in my literature is correct and supported by facts and evidence. I know Ms. Jorgenson is friends with and supports my opponent — a fact she does not explicitly reveal, so it does not surprise me that she would like to minimize my clear advantages in experience and ability. However, facts are facts.

Harris P. Murphy

Candidate for State’s Attorney