Republic attorney Andrew Brown is challenging Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore for his job because he says Moore has the wrong priorities.
Facing his first challenge in eight years, Moore says Brown isn't qualified for his job, and says he's offended by some of the charges Brown has leveled against his office.
"Many attorneys and judges are frustrated the way the Prosecutor's office is heading in recent years," Brown said in an interview Monday. "Darrell and I have different philosophies and priorities. He spends the majority of the time harping on the bar ban and sending letters to parents about getting their kids to school. I mean, my God, we have much bigger problems," Brown said.
"He doesn't have a clue about what he's talking about," Moore blasted back in a telephone interview from New York. "For a man to talk about my record like that, with his experience, it just goes to question if he even bothers to study the issues," Moore said.
Brown decided to jump into the race for Prosecutor back in March, when local Democratic honcho and attorney Craig Hosmer decided to pass on a run, and instead help Attorney General Jay Nixon with his bid for Governor.
Brown charges that Moore has not devoted enough time and resources to the county's number one problem: child abuse. Brown is pledging to devote one full-time prosecutor to child abuse cases, as well as several assistants.
Moore said he is aggressively pursuing the child abuse problem. "When you are prosecutor, you have to look at the big picture, and learn to multi-task on a bunch of issues. We've put more resources into child abuse than any other county in the state, and we've been recognized for it," Moore said.
He said he just got done doing an interview with National Public Radio on Greene County's child abuse program. "We're getting nationally recognized for it," Moore said.
Brown criticizes Moore for his reluctance to embrace special courts like the DWI court and mental health court. "These courts are designed for nonviolent offenders, and my opponent has historically opposed these programs," Brown said.
Moore said that criticism is another example of Brown's inability to understand the issues. "The only fight about the drug court was about how it was being run. We debated the acceptable models, got to a solution and got through it. My opponent needs to go study up," Moore said.
Moore took aim at Brown's experience. "This is the 3rd largest office in the state, and he lacks trial experience. He had to call my office the other day to ask one of my assistant's how to try a simple misdemeanor case. I don't think he's qualified to try a murder case. His experience is sadly lacking," Moore said.
Brown can't win the battle of experience with Moore, but said he is hearing from judges who are overwhelmed and prosecutors who are handcuffed. "Eight of nine judges I spoke to say they are so saturated with low-level, non-violent crimes, and prosecutors are handcuffed by Moore to go through with them and not plead out," Brown said.
Brown lists as an example the recent case of a 19-year-old caught drinking on his porch. "They work this minor case through the system. It gets reset a dozen times and takes time and resources. I'm not talking about dismissing charges. But a suspended sentence with community service isn't exactly getting off. It's not easy," Brown said.
"Darrell Moore spends a lot of energy on molehills, when we have mountains to climb," Brown said.
"Those molehills that he talks about feed into future activities. They are all tied together. The system is backed up. We do not have adequate public defenders, and we're working on that. But you cannot be one-dimensional as a prosecutor. The things that he would call molehills are the things that will prevent kids from becoming the victim of child abuse. Crimes of violence are tied in with substance abuse, which ties into youth violence, which ties into child abuse and domestic violence," Moore said.
Moore points to his main accomplishments as reorganizing the office to make it more efficient, his persistent lobbying for a Springfield crime lab and his work with the community on problems like child abuse and gang activity.
Brown said one of Moore's biggest flaws is his inability to get a death penalty conviction as lead prosecutor. He points to the 2003 Delong murder case involving the killing of 3 children, a girlfriend and her unborn baby. "Regardless of how you feel about it, this was a textbook death penalty case. He didn't get it," Brown said.
"We tried that case and got a locked jury. We pursued the death penalty, even when a lot of anti-death penalty people came after us," Moore said. "I obtained the death penalty in a 1994 case, but some of you haven't been around long enough to know this stuff. I don't need anyone to lecture me about how to try a case," Moore added. "My opponent has less experience than some of my assistants just out of law school."
If re-elected, Moore said his priorities will be stream-lining many of the office's duties electronically. "I want our assistant prosecutors to be able to go into court with a laptop, instead of chasing down papers and files," he said.
Brown knows his candidacy is a longshot, but said his top priority would be to focus big. "We don't have unlimited resources. My priorities would be bigger than keeping 18-year-old kids from dancing downtown."
"Darrell Moore is the only Republican Greene County Prosecutor in the last 30 years. Maybe George Bush will help me on the ballot," Brown said. "He's an incumbent, got name recognition. He can't hiccup without getting in the news, but voters should ask themselves, is it ok having the highest child abuse rate? Do they really feel safer than they did 8 years ago?"
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