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The Career Criminal Prosecution Program was established by the District
Attorney's Office in 1991. It is the longest running special
prosecutions program in our office. The design and policy of the Career
Criminal Prosecution Program is to resist the pretrial release of
defendants being prosecuted under the program and to seek the most
severe punishment authorized for convicted defendants. This program
specifically targets repeat offenders and aggressively prosecutes them
to the fullest extent of the law. The policy and position of the program
is to resist delay in prosecution and seek expeditious resolution of
cases.
The Career Criminal Prosecution Program is a true vertical prosecution
program targeting repeat offenders. The program specifically addresses
the problem of repeat offenders by treating them as individual
criminals. Vertical prosecution allows for one prosecutor to handle a
case from filing of charges to sentencing of the defendant. The program
targets robbery, burglary, car jacking, arson, grand theft and receiving
stolen property.
Offenders committing any of these crimes and having previously been
convicted of specified crimes or who have several felony convictions,
are specially prosecuted by this unit. A high percentage of this unit's
cases are "Three Strikes" cases resulting in life terms for the
offenders. Only experienced and trained prosecutors are assigned to this
program. Caseloads are reduced so that program attorney's can focus
maximum attention to these cases. This intense level of concentration
yields increased convictions and sentences, thus limiting the
possibility of a repeat offense by those defendants prosecuted under the
Career Criminal Prosecution Program. |
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