Editor:
After serving eight years as Kent County’s State’s Attorney, we are fortunate that Bryan DiGregory is seeking re-election for a third term. He has proved his worth many times over and we voters ought to be smart enough to keep him right where he is!
Mr. DiGregory has experience with both sides of the criminal justice system. He has worked with police officers, victims, witnesses, defendants, prosecutors, and defense lawyers. He has tried criminal cases, dealt with difficult witnesses, evaluated evidence, negotiated pleas, and made the judgment calls that don’t come from reading a statute or sitting in a seminar.
In a small county such as Kent, the State’s Attorney must be able to handle whatever walks in the door. This means working with police on an investigation, meeting with a victim or a victim’s family, making a difficult charging decision, or standing in front of a jury to try a serious felony case. And all while managing and administering his office. We know Bryan can do this because he has been doing it for eight years.
Mr. DiGregory’s opponent in this election has a very different background. In practice for 10 years, primarily in family law, he has reportedly never tried a case before a jury, has never handled a felony criminal trial, and has limited trial experience for misdemeanors. This, of course, does not make family law unimportant. It is all important work. But it is very different work.
With eight solid years as Kent County’s State’s Attorney, Mr. DiGregory has the experience to know when a witness will hold up under cross-examination. When evidence is not as strong as it first appeared. When a plea makes sense and when a case needs to be tried. He is ready to react when something unexpected happens in the courtroom, and something unexpected almost always does. And he knows how to run the State’s Attorney’s office, top to bottom.
These essentials are learned by doing the work and is why his extensive experience matters.
/S/ GRENVILLE B. WHITMAN
One Response
I totally agree with Gren. Bryan is a hard-working, experienced States Attorney – concerned about applying the law with certainty but sensitivity to the circumstances of the offense – and when to go to trial and when not to. No frills, no pretensions, just an intense focus on the job and being effective at it. He manages the “small law firm like office” with efficiency and caring, and is respected by the other States Attorneys across the state of Maryland with whom he regularly talks & meets.