DA-elect Jeff Marsigli Takes Aim At Crime Rates

By Drew C. Wilson | Wilson Times | DECEMBER 15, 2022

Jeff Marsigli said his focus as the new district attorney will be to lower the tri-county crime rate.

Marsigli, 48, will be sworn in Jan. 1 to lead North Carolina's 8th Prosecutorial District, which includes Wilson, Nash and Edgecombe counties.

In a Dec. 8 interview with The Wilson Times, Marsigli said he's honored to take the helm from Robert Evans, who held the position since 2009.

A Republican, Marsigli defeated the Democratic incumbent in a tight Nov. 8 election that required a recount.

"We are going to do the best we can to do what I said all along," Marsigli said. "My No. 1 goal in this is to get our crime rates down in this entire district. That's what I am working for. I do want to work hard, and I am going to do everything I can to get our crime rates down. That is my only goal in this office. I am open to public comment. I need all the help I can get. If there are good ideas, I want to hear it."

Marsigli said he's reached out to sheriffs and police chiefs in the district to establish monthly meetings where law enforcement leaders will discuss community issues and share ideas on how best to fight crime.

"It is going to take not just me. It's going to take us all working together, community law enforcement as one big team, and getting on the same page and making sure we are focused on the right things, federal and state level," Marsigli said. "I don't care if I'm getting credit or the feds are getting credit just as long as they are off the street."

Marsigli, who earned his juris doctorate degree from Campbell University, will head up an office with 21 full-time assistant district attorneys.

DRUGS A PROBLEM

Marsigli said drugs are a big issue in the district, and he will work to find out where the drugs are coming in and make it harder for users to get them.

"In my opinion, treatment programs only work if the person really wants it for themselves, and that's something that we do," Marsigli said.

Marsigli said his office won't be aggressive about prosecuting people for small amounts of marijuana.

"Honestly, as far as I know, our state crime labs, they cannot test to tell the different between hemp and marijuana, nor can police officers. They smell the same. They look the same. You have to see what the THC levels are in the drug to determine whether it's one or the other, so technically, those cases right now are almost impossible to prove," Marsigli said. "The odor of marijuana is still a huge tool for the police officers to find more serious things, and that is still used quite often. And that is something that the courts are considering that could get harder in the future."

Marsigli said prosecuting people charged with possessing small amounts of the drug isn't a high priority.

"With the resources we have, we need to focus on things far more important," he said.

Marsigli said he would support new video and audio technology allowing experts from the state crime lab to testify from Raleigh instead of having to travel for court appearances.

He said he'd also support teen court programs intended to point youthful offenders toward the right paths.

"Obviously, you always want to keep our young folks from ending up in prison for the rest of their lives, and I support any program that will try to keep them from re-offending," Marsigli said.

TACKLING THE BACKLOG

Marsigli worked briefly as an assistant district attorney in the 8th District.

"I know that there is still a lot I have to learn in it," he said. "I know most of the people and kind of how things work generally, but I still have a lot to learn specifically about how things work and why it is different from county to county."

Marsigli spent a week at a Raleigh conference with six other newly elected district attorneys learning best management practices for a DA.

Marsigli said one of his goals will be addressing a backlog of cases that stems partly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There was a backlog, in my opinion, before COVID caused issues across the state," he said. "I am hoping that just my management style alone will help the DAs make decisions faster and better. I think there will be less pressure in that regard."

Marsigli said he will try to get Class H and Class I felonies, the least serious of all felony offenses, heard in District Court rather than Superior Court. The latter courts have jurisdiction as trial courts for all felony crimes.

He said N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby "is pushing this through to his District Court judges to start doing these H and I felonies to get those pleas moving faster."

Marsigli said he wants to make the district attorney's office, which includes 40 employees, more efficient.

"There is going to be a learning curve for me also," he said.

Marsigli has been speaking with DA's office employees since the election.

"I'm nervous and I'm excited," Marsigli said. "It is a little bit of both right now, kind of a whirlwind right now."