Hollister
– The San Benito County District Attorney’s Office hopes two new
prosecutors will allow the office to catch up on a growing backlog
of criminal cases.
Hollister – The San Benito County District Attorney’s Office hopes two new prosecutors will allow the office to catch up on a growing backlog of criminal cases.
Peter Leröe-Muñoz and Patrick Palacios were hired in March to fill one recently vacated and one new prosecutor position. District Attorney Candice Hooper said the addition of Leröe-Muñoz and Palacios will help the office play catch-up on outstanding criminal cases.
“It’s refreshing to have the new attorneys on-board,” Hooper said. “It’s going to help disperse the caseload among more individuals.”
On average, the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted about 2,500 adult criminal cases annually from 2002 to 2006.
Hooper said the office has a growing backlog of cases, but didn’t know exactly how many cases the office has to catch up on. She hopes to eliminate the backlog of cases by the end of June.
“The sooner the better, but my goal is then,” the district attorney said.
In addition to filling a vacancy on her staff, Hooper also received approval to hire another full-time deputy district attorney to help prosecute gang and drug cases.
Leröe-Muñoz, a 27-year-old Harvard Law School graduate, and Palacios, a 42-year-old University of California at Berkeley School of Law graduate, will also be the only deputy district attorneys on staff who speak Spanish. Spanish is the primary language spoken at home for 37 percent of San Benito County families, according to Census 2000.
Palacios, who grew up in San Jose, said his interest in criminal prosecution is a recent acquisition.
“I was doing civil litigation and defense work,” Palacios said. “I’ve been doing more criminal work over the past few years and I found I enjoyed it.”
For Leröe-Muñoz, who has always been interested in criminal prosecution, coming to work for San Benito County was a natural career move. His father grew up in Hollister.
“This is a special place for me given the family connection,” Leröe-Muñoz said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or
mv*********@fr***********.com
.
