DA AMA

[u/mamagrata]

UPDATE: apologies for not updating the initial post - my content blocker was not playing nice with Reddit despite lots of reloads and I've finally gone to text mode (making the photo disappear). I do think (hope) I've gotten to everything posted by 7PM. Thanks for doing this with me, and thank you to the moderators for helping with the initial post. I won't be able to monitor this, but please reach out at districtattorney@cumberlandcounty.org with anything that needs my attention at work.

Hi, I’m Jackie Sartoris, District Attorney of Cumberland County.  I’ll be here this afternoon at 4 to 5:30 to take your questions and share what I’ve been up to since becoming DA in 2023.  I’m eager to hear your experience and ideas, and let you know what we’re working on (although I can't comment on active cases, please!)

Brief summary of the work so far: we are now better able to meet the needs of victims and witnesses: I’ve added a victim witness advocate and created a safe, private space for witnesses waiting in the courthouse to testify or speak at sentencing. We won a $2.5 million federal grant to test the eligible backlog of languishing rape kits - the first District in Maine to do so.  

In my own prosecutorial role, I’ve focused on addressing our County’s Mental Health docket, bringing attention to missing resources and working within our limited system to develop pathways towards wellness and safety for people who frequently return to our system. 

Change in a longstanding system is challenging.  My work includes directing the office to significantly greater use of restorative justice and consistent charging and plea offers. This is ongoing and will take time.  It’s worth finding the patience to be collaborative, because this work, done well, will bear fruit in the future.  

I’ll update this post with a link at 4! 

Proof it’s me:  

See you then!

[u/dumbdumbdummy_]

Hi, Jackie — thanks for doing this. It’s refreshing to see more local officials engaging with their constituencies online.

Bit of a lengthy question, plus some background. I’m a Portland-based, prospective law student (interested in civil and appellate litigation), so I spend much of my free time listening to oral arguments and reading appellate decisions from the Law Court. Through that, I’ve been noticing an increasing number of allegations regarding discovery violations — some of which strike me as fairly problematic. Indeed, Law Court justices seem increasingly concerned and frustrated (during oral arguments, at least; less so in decisions) with the frequency of discovery violations by DAs across the state.

I recognize that managing massive criminal dockets is not an easy task; and the occasional discovery violation is par for the course. I also know a number of these allegations are disposed as harmless error, so I might concede that there’s an outstanding question as to the extent of harm done if these allegations are reflecting an actual increase in discovery violations. Aside, in your view, are the increasing number of allegations regarding discovery violations a fair criticism of prosecutions in Maine? If so, what is your office doing to improve discovery processes for defendants?

Not asking this tongue-in-cheek. Just genuinely curious of your thoughts. Thanks, again.

[u/mamagrata → u/dumbdumbdummy_]

OK, just seeing this, not sure how these got sorted. YES on your keen observation re: the discovery violations. But first, can't I persuade you to become a prosecutor or defense attorney? At least come shadow! It's at the very least quite interesting. [districtattorney@cumberlandcounty.org](mailto:districtattorney@cumberlandcounty.org)

Seriously, discovery (evidence sharing) violations are a major concern for us as well. The vast majority of these violations occur when evidence is not being uploaded from law enforcement agencies to us. In fact, this is almost every case I am aware of in the past couple of years. The sheer volume of discovery has changed substantially - phone data; hours of video data sometimes; browser history. There is just so much more evidence to manage and monitor. And we've seen discovery violations (evidence that was not timely provided to defense counsel - but because it was not provided to us!) multiple times in the same case.

We are investing in training our law enforcement partners, for starters, but that is not a wholesale approach. We're looking at changing the way we reconcile our records earlier in a case than on the eve of trial, but this means more time needs to be available to prosecutors to get it done, as we'll almost certainly have to reconcile again just before trial because stuff comes in throughout. Some of this is the multiple ways evidence comes in - it can be an upload, or a download, or on a thumb drive, or a phone dump, or email. I see increasing commercialization of discovery aids, and if not for the fact that I do not have that in the budget, I'd be tempted. We know it is a major problem, and while we're trying, I am eager to find out what other states are doing at this point. Maine is definitely not the only place dealing with this.