Marion County Prosecutor' s race 6 questions for challenger Cyndi Carrasco Cyndi Carrasco - Election HEAD TOPICS

Marion County Prosecutor' s race 6 questions for challenger Cyndi Carrasco

10/23/2022 4:12:00 AM

Marion County Prosecutor' s race 6 questions for challenger Cyndi Carrasco

Cyndi Carrasco Election

Source

WRTV Indianapolis

Marion County Prosecutor 's race: 6 questions for challenger Cyndi Carrasco Cyndi Carrasco believes the Marion County prosecutor's office needs to change at the top, and she wants to be that change. She graduated from Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2006 and soon went to work for the Indiana Office of Inspector General as a staff attorney. About six months later, she was appointed director of the State Ethics Commission. "(I'm running) so that my daughter can have the opportunities that I know the city can offer. Unfortunately, right now with the crime crisis that our city is experiencing, those opportunities just aren't possible," Carrasco said."The next Marion County prosecutor has to have leadership experience," Carrasco said."I have that leadership experience." Read more:
WRTV Indianapolis » Hays County voters weigh ‘reeferendum,’ races for county judge, DA Prosecutor candidate: Policing alone will not solve crime A Princeton student who went missing for a week has been found dead, officials say Pa. man gets nearly 3 years for attacking cops with a stun gun and assaulting a reporter during the Capitol riot

WATCH Dr Oz makes closing pitch to Pennsylvania voters America Right Now

On Saturday's 'America Right Now,' Tom Basile shows how Dr. Oz is making his closing pitch to Pennsylvania voters ahead of the Senate Election by attending m... Read more >> Hays County voters weigh ‘reeferendum,’ races for county judge, DASan Marcos will decide whether to end citations and arrests for misdemeanor marijuana... Prosecutor candidate: Policing alone will not solve crimeSpeaking on The Gee and Ursula Show, Manion said, “I think we can all acknowledge that we don’t have enough police resources right now.' A Princeton student who went missing for a week has been found dead, officials sayA 20-year-old Princeton undergrad was found dead on campus after she went missing on Oct. 14, authorities said, adding that an autopsy will be conducted but that her death does not appear criminal in nature. RIP sweet girl I already don't believe the early reports. Pretty young girl..sad 🙏 Pa. man gets nearly 3 years for attacking cops with a stun gun and assaulting a reporter during the Capitol riotAlan Byerly, a 55-year-old carpenter from Berks County, was sentenced Friday for acting on Jan. 6, as one prosecutor described it, as if he were in the movie “The Purge.” SOB should have gotten 15 years! INDIANAPOLIS — Cyndi Carrasco believes the Marion County prosecutor's office needs to change at the top.of 9 Hays County Election personnel load voting machines onto a truck to be taken to early voting polling locations from their offices in San Marcos on Thursday, Oct.Leesa Manion , the current Chief of Staff at the King County Prosecutor’s office, is running for the top job.Ayana Archie Misrach Ewunetie, a 20-year-old undergraduate student at Princeton University, has been found dead on campus after she went missing Oct. "I am an attorney. I am a wife. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Show Less HAYS COUNTY — With the Nov. But most importantly, I'm a mom. And you can trust me to fight for more police resources and to include more social workers and mental health professionals because policing alone is not the solution. I'm running for prosecutor because of that," Carrasco said,. It will be the first statewide election since Hays County was named the fastest-growing county not only in Texas, but in the entire U."I want this city to be the city that it was, a vibrant safe city, (on) the trajectory that it was going on when I first chose to make it my home. Thursday. " An American-born daughter of naturalized Mexican immigrants, Carrasco, 42, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and moved to Indianapolis in 2003. among counties with a population of 100,000 people or more, according to the 2020 U. We need police to respond to 911 calls when people are afraid. She graduated from Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2006 and soon went to work for the Indiana Office of Inspector General as a staff attorney. census. About six months later, she was appointed director of the State Ethics Commission.” Manion said she will advocate for the police and the mental health workers who support them. In 2015, then-Gov. Sandwiched in between the booming metropolitan areas of San Antonio and Austin and bisected by the bustling I-35 corridor, Hays County grew by 53 percent between 2010 and 2020. near Scully Hall, a dormitory building on campus. Mike Pence tapped her to become the state's second-ever Inspector General. Gov. Over the past 20 years, Hays has “ping-ponged back and forth” in terms of electing both Democrats and Republicans to state and local seats, said Colin Strother, a political strategist from Buda. And we also have to increase pay to attract talent to these really important fields. Eric Holcomb made her one of his deputy general counsel's when he took office in 2017, a post she held when she announced she was jumping into the prosecutor's race in January. Marion County saw a record-setting 282 homicides last year. 8, the winners and losers of the election are anyone’s guess. Carrasco, a Republican, said the current prosecutor simply hasn't done enough to make the city safe. King County prosecutor candidate calls pursuit laws ‘outrageous’ One of the biggest issues the prosecutor’s office faced was the backlog of cases, built up during the pandemic. Rochelle Calhoun said. "(I'm running) so that my daughter can have the opportunities that I know the city can offer. “That has such a personal impact on families and small businesses; I don’t see partisan stuff creeping into the county judge’s race like you would expect to see at the gubernatorial level. Unfortunately, right now with the crime crisis that our city is experiencing, those opportunities just aren't possible," Carrasco said. "I want to change that. The county has added four new polling places to accommodate its expected increase in voters for early voting, which runs Oct. We never stopped filing felony charges,” Manion said. I want to get the prosecutor's office back to the fundamentals. I want to get that office doing what it needs to be doing which is prosecuting crime so that our citizens here in Marion County can have the chance to make a better life for themselves. 4. " Indiana as a state leans heavily Republican. “We have used some of that money to hire 125 new employees, including 10 new victim advocates, to ensure that a greater number of victims are receiving services while cases are pending,” Manion explained. Carrasco, however, is running in Democrat-leaning Marion County for an office that hasn't been won by a Republican since 2006. “We’re one of the faster-growing counties in the nation, and if you look at our census numbers, I would expect that type of growth in our voter registration. "The next Marion County prosecutor has to have leadership experience," Carrasco said."I have that leadership experience. 8: Hays County judge race For the top elected seat in the county, incumbent Democratic Judge Ruben Becerra is facing off against current Precinct 2 Commissioner and Republican Mark Jones. “What I would do is I would convene a public safety summit,” Manion said." SEE WRTV 2022 Election Guide Below are six questions and answers with the Republican candidate for Marion County prosecutor, Cyndi Carrasco. *Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity. He succeeded Republican Judge Bert Cobb, who had been on medical leave and wasn’t seeking re-election. Question: Marion County has experienced several straight years of record homicides.” Juvenile crime continues to be an issue in the county, but Manion believes the tide is changing. What’s driving this violence? What can we do to stop it? Carrasco: "There's no one answer to what's driving this violence. He was among the first to sign a San Marcos ballot initiative in February calling for the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana possession in the city, a referendum that will be on the city’s November ballot. .. The Buda native has been a commissioner since 2010 and has made transportation initiatives, like the State Highway 45 connector and the FM 1626 expansion, a central part of his policy. “Young people have gone through programs working with social services. . The fact of the matter is that it's resulted in record homicides for the past two years. The latter opponent filed two lawsuits against Becerra seeking $1. 271 people lost their lives last year. “I want our streets to be free from crime. We're on pace to hit over 200 homicides this year, over 180 So far. One alleged slander and false statements from the Becerra camp, and another alleged severe emotional distress following a physical altercation between Becerra’s wife and Burleson at a January event. The numbers are just astounding. (Note: There were 272 homicides in 2021 in the areas patrolled by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and 10 more that happened in other jurisdictions in Marion County, according to IMPD data provided to WRTV). Looking forward to Nov.” Manion has served as the Chief of Staff for the past 15 years. "There's no one simple solution to what what is going to solve this problem. . “People very concerned about growth tend to lean toward Jones, and south county people who are in a more stabilized growth tend to lean toward Becerra,” Strother said..” Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a..” Criminal district attorney With Hays County Criminal District Attorney Wes Mau set to retire after eight years in office, the stage is set for a battle between two opponents who could not be more opposite: a Republican prosecutor who vows to be tough on all crime, and a Democratic defense attorney who promises to be lenient on misdemeanors. We can start by selecting a prosecutor that is going to make sure that we get back to doing the job of the prosecutor's office, which is prosecuting crime. "It's about holding people accountable. As a result, Hays County’s jail has become more crowded and an increasingly painful drain on taxpayer dollars.m. It's about making sure that people who commit crimes on a repeat basis are appropriately charged; that we don't dispose of the majority of the cases through plea deals that put violent repeat offenders back out on our streets. There's a lot of things that the prosecutor's office can do to start to effectuate the change on a very concrete basis. On Puryear’s campaign website, he denounces “dangerous ‘soft on crime’ policies,” but says he will eliminate the “unacceptable” backlog of criminal cases that are clogging up the local courts and keeping the jail full." Q: Critics have cited cases where defendants have been released on bond only to commit other violent acts as evidence of problems in the county’s justice system. Subscribe to the. What, if anything, do you believe should be changed about the way Marion County judges decide who should be freed on bail? Carrasco: "The prosecutor's office has a great influence on bail. “I concede up front that I’m not the prosecuting type,” he writes on his campaign website, “although I intend to try some misdemeanor cases. .. Two of those seats are up for grabs Nov.. The judge is the one who's going to ultimately make the decision on what bail was set, but the prosecutor's office has such great influence over what that judge decides. So much of Hays County remains unincorporated that “the commissioners still hold great sway over what our growth looks like, what our mobility looks like,” Strother said. That comes in the way of making sure that the judges .. Since current Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones is running for the judge’s seat, he’ll leave his commissioner seat vacant regardless of whether he wins in November.. have a full picture of the individual's criminal history. Republican Mike Gonzalez and Democrat Michelle Gutierrez Cohen are vying for his seat. That's important, because the judge has to understand whether or not that particular individual has a history has a history of violent repeat offenses, so that they can make an informed decision. "Similarly, the prosecutor's office can object or can request a higher bail based on the circumstances of each individual case.” In Precinct 4, incumbent Republican Walt Smith is going up against independent Susan Cook for the seat that covers the Dripping Springs, Buda and Driftwood region of the county. And what I hear from folks who are or were in the in the prosecutor's office is that that's not necessarily happening right now. "So yes, it's the judges who ultimately make the decision with the prosecutor's office and the deputy prosecutors who are in court every single day have the ability to be able to effectuate the change. He received nine months of probation." Q: The FedEx shooting raised questions about how the prosecutor’s office uses Indiana’s Jake Laird/Red Flag law. What should the public understand about this law? Carrasco: "The very basic concept that the public should understand about the Red Flag Law is that the prosecutor's office had the ability to even try to stop the shooter from purchasing the weapons that he used at the FedEx tragedy, and they didn't. Instead, he promises to fight for “lower property taxes, safer roads and highways, conservative budgets” and other things. "The law requires that the filing be filed with the judge so that a determination can be made about whether or not the person is a danger to themselves or to others. And that simply didn't happen.” She pledges on her campaign website to fight for “local concerns. What's more important too is that it didn't happen in that instance, and later on, we found out that it didn't happen in several other instances after the FedEx shooting. A week or two after the FedEx shooting, there have been (at least) 20 filings of red flag cases that had just been sitting there for different amounts of time.” Proposition A is a joint effort by San Marcos social justice group Mano Amiga and Ground Game, a Texas voter engagement group, that seeks to decriminalize possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in the city. "It's important that we use the laws that we have currently on the books that will help us prevent tragedies such as the FedEx situation in order to be able to make change in our community. " Q: Every employer these days is having problems filling open positions, and the prosecutor’s office is certainly no exception. Proposition A has been dubbed a “reeferendum” by advocates. What needs to be done to recruit and retain deputy prosecutors? Carrasco: "The Marion County prosecutor's office is one of the largest and, in my opinion, most important law firms that Marion County has. It is critical to be able to recruit and retain the most talented deputy prosecutors. They succeeded in getting all necessary signatures in June. What I've been hearing from deputy prosecutors who have left the office is that the office environment was not one that was conducive for them to be able to do their job. "Some of the most experienced former deputy prosecutor's office members tell me . Poll watchers are citizens who are trained to observe — on behalf of a candidate or political party — the conduct of an election. .. “We have a significant interest in election security and integrity, and groups are organizing groups of poll watchers to work these elections,” Doinoff said, adding that poll watchers are not new but the “interest is larger now. they knew that they were earning on average $10,000 less than other deputy prosecutors in across other central Indiana counties but they weren't doing the job because they wanted to get rich. . 8.. . The commissioners court last week approved a pay raise for election workers; clerks will receive $16 an hour, and judges will make $18 an hour. They did it because they felt a sense of being able to effectuate change in their community. "When the new prosecutor came in, that changed. She added that she expects a significant voter turnout this time around, especially compared to other midterm election cycles, which typically see lower voter turnout than presidential election years. .. “There’s a lot of interest in the governor races and also some of our local races. . They felt that they were no longer able to do the job that they signed up for, to hold criminals accountable. ReportforAmerica. They would not feel as prepared because the people who were experienced and who were serving as mentors decided to leave the office. "When Cyndi Carrasco becomes prosecutor, we're going to get back to business.. We're going to get back to prosecuting crime. We're going to make sure that they have the training and the mentorship to be able to do their job fully, confidently and that they'll be supported in their job." Q: How can the prosecutor’s office keep guns out of the hands of violent felons and other people who should not have them? Carrasco: "There's so many factors that go into keeping guns out of people's hands, but the prosecutor's office has the ability to be able to effectuate change in that way by fully prosecuting gun crimes. "We talked about some of the plea deals in some of the cases that we've seen from the prosecutor's office and almost in all the cases that I've reviewed now ... the gun charges are usually dropped. We have to get serious when it comes to people who commit crimes with guns. We've got to set the tone that if you're going to have a gun and you're going to commit a crime, that there are going to be consequences." Q: Youth crime is a constant problem. We’ve seen two high-profile cases recently of 13-year-olds charged with murder. What’s driving juvenile crime and how can the prosecutor’s office address the problems? Carrasco: "It is heartbreaking to me to hear that 13 year olds are being arrested, that 13 year olds are getting involved in some pretty serious crimes. ... I believe that every individual's interaction with the criminal justice system is an opportunity for us to be able to put that person on a better path, and it's so true when it comes to to juveniles. "I think it's important for the prosecutor's office to be able to focus specifically on juveniles. I think that in order for us to really start to make a difference. It's going to take a partnership with with a community. It's going to take a partnership with faith based leaders. . .. They want the prosecutor to be sitting at the table to be part of the solution. "Now, I am by no means suggesting that we have to look at juveniles as criminals and throwing them in jail and putting them in juvenile detention centers and that's the end all, be all solution. Absolutely not. But it's our juveniles that need to know that there are consequences if they start to engage in criminal activity. The prosecutor's office can have a hand in that." "I think it's a critical partnership with faith based leaders who are very much wanting to get to the root cause of what's happening so that they know these juveniles know that they can resolve conflicts without reaching to guns. It's about the nonprofit organizations that are focused on making sure that juveniles have an outlet instead of joining other people who might recruit them for criminal activity. And it's a combination of all of those things that are going to slowly start to change the pace of our juveniles engaging in criminal activity. " READ 6 questions with incumbent Ryan Mears Watch the full interview with Cyndi Carrasco below. Below are two bonus questions with Marion County Prosecutor candidate Cyndi Carrasco Bonus Q1: There are a couple of things that you didn't talk about that I think I need to ask about. One is, what do you think about gun control? Carrasco: "My number one focus is violent crime. It is gun crime. That's why I'm running. .. I am a responsible gun owner and I very much champion responsible gun ownership, but the key word is responsible gun ownership. "There was much talk about the constitutional carry bill. I don't know what the statistics of the constitutional-carry law will have on gun crime. I am a very data-oriented leader and I very much want to keep track of what effects this constitutional-carry law has and let the data then dictate what where we go from here. "But I want to re-emphasize my whole purpose in running for this office is to reduce gun crime so nothing is off the table for me. Every action of the prosecutor's office is going to be look through that lens of how can we reduce crime." Bonus Q2: We didn't talk about mental health What about mental health and mental illness issues? Carrasco: "Mental health.. . is a reason for the rise in crime and issues facing every city, not just our city. I champion the efforts of the IMPD in instituting MCAT (the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team) and having the recognition that there is a very serious issue with mental health and behavioral issues that law enforcement gets called for oftentimes. "Law enforcement officers often (tell) me, 'Look, we were trained to be law enforcement officers, not necessarily to deal with some of the mental health issues and the mental health crisis or behavioral crisis that we're facing.' But people are used to dialing 911. ... In recognition of that, IMPD and the city decided to pair up a mental health professional with a police officer so that we can start appropriately addressing those those situations. "I think that MCAT is a great start. If I become prosecutor, I'd like to champion even more of that effort by trying to introduce a program that will give those officers a place to be able to send those individuals to get the help the resources that they need." Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at [email protected] or on Twitter: @vicryc. .