Questionnaire: Yvonne Rosales, Democratic candidate for District Attorney
The El Paso Times editorial board sent questionnaires to the candidates in contested races in the March 3, 2020, primary. Following are the answers to the questionnaire submitted by Yvonne Rosales, Democratic candidate for District Attorney.
1. What motivated you to run for this position?
In 2016, I ran against Jaime Esparza, a 24 year incumbent, and he narrowly retained his seat, 51% to 49%. The DA is an elected official with no term limits, and I felt it was time for El Paso to have a new DA who would implement new office policies and procedures to help the criminal justice process move in a forward direction, as opposed to continuing the methods that were causing a backlog in the courts and preventing the administration of justice in the El Paso Community.
2. Please describe your personal and professional background.
I was born and raised in El Paso. I graduated from Austin High School, UTEP, and St. Mary’s School of Law. I began my legal career as an Assistant District Attorney for almost four years, then I went into private practice in 2005. I have successfully managed my own business for 15 years, handling criminal cases as well as family law cases.
I have also served my community by coaching high school mock trial students, participating in community service organizations such as the Women’s Bar Association and the Centennial Lions Club.
3. How do you earn a living?
I have run my own criminal and family law firm for 15 years.
4. Please describe your education. Where did you get your high school diploma?
Austin High School
Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, University of Texas El Paso
Juris Doctor, St. Mary's School of Law
5. What experiences in leadership do you have that qualify you for this position?
Besides running a thriving law firm for 15 years, including supervising multiple employees as well as managing budgetary issues, I have been a past president of the Centennial Lion’s Club, a local community service organization with over 30 members. Additionally, during my 2016 run for the office of District Attorney here, I led a large campaign team composed of numerous volunteers.
6. If elected, what would be your three key priorities while in office?
After I take office, my focus will be on rectifying what I believe to be the mismanagement of Prosecutorial Discretion and to implement policies and practices that will enhance the abilities of the Assistant DA’s to be more effective and efficient.
This can be divided into three basic categories:
First, there is a failure to enforce certain areas of the Texas Penal Code, most notably Interference with Child Custody and Failure to Pay Child Support. These types of issues afflict a significant portion of our community, but have been ignored by Jaime Esparza. Animal Cruelty cases also need renewed focus, because prosecution of those cases has been woefully inconsistent.
Second, there are significant areas where a solution-oriented approach would serve the community far more than the current punishment-centered orientation. Most importantly, cases involving defendants with mental health issues need to be pursued with a focus on accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. This same approach should be applied to cases involving chemical dependency, like DWI and drug possession. Locking people up in these circumstances does not prevent recidivism, because it does not address the underlying reason why these cases come into being in the first place. Sometimes incarceration may be necessary to protect public safety, but evaluation and treatment of the underlying chemical dependency is what has the potential to decrease the number of future offenses.
Third, the administration of the District Attorney’s Office has to be dramatically upgraded. Currently, there is immense mismanagement coupled with glaring inefficiencies, along with a nearly complete lack of transparency in its operations. All of this has to be fixed. To improve transparency, I will have objective data collected in order to measure the accuracy of decision making and enable the community to be informed regarding the effectiveness of criminal justice policies. To improve performance of the office itself, I will invest in more extensive training of attorney personnel, in regard to both understanding their ethical duties and handling cases with good judgment. To improve the frugality of the justice system here in El Paso, I will start my first term by conducting a comprehensive review of pending cases in every criminal court, to see what can done to lessen the expense of pretrial incarceration and to identify cases which need a modification in the proposed resolution. It costs $59 per person per day to detain someone in jail in this county. It is wasteful to detain people who pose no threat to other members of the community, based upon the facts of their personal history and their case.
7. Have you previously run for office?If so, please list the positions sought and the outcome.
I previously ran for District Attorney in 2016, and almost prevailed over incumbent Jaime Esparza. Esparza was re-elected by a margin of only 425 votes.
8. Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime? Have you ever had a civil judgment against you? Have you ever been in arrears on local, state, or federal taxes? If so, please provide an explanation.
I have never been arrested or charged with a crime, had a civil judgment against me, or been in arrears on taxes.
9. If elected, would you have any potential conflicts of interest that you are aware of that would impair your ability to serve? Please explain what they are and how you would avoid the conflict.
There are no such potential conflicts of interest of which I am aware. When elected, I will no longer accept criminal cases, and will attempt to dispose of any lingering cases prior to taking office. Since announcing my candidacy for DA, I have already started the process of streamlining criminal cases.
10. What are the qualities of a good public servant? How does your background and experience reflect those qualities?
A good public servant should actually serve the community, and my work in coaching mock trial kids and working with community service organizations throughout my life reflects that I am genuine in my commitment to helping others.
The quality of work provided to my clients as a private lawyer reflects my commitment to the service of my clients, or to victims and members of the community when I was an Assistant District Attorney.
My desire to challenge a 24 year incumbent because I felt the needs of the community were not being served, also demonstrates my desire to continue improving our community by reforming and improving the criminal justice system.
11. What are your values when it comes to a citizen’s access to government and transparency?
Citizens should always have access to government, and government functioning should always be completely transparent within the bounds of the law. After I take office I will institute systems to ensure that data is gathered on all prosecutorial functions, in order to ensure that prosecutorial decision making is never subject to disparities due to race or class. I will also solicit community input, in order to ensure that prosecutorial policies reflect community values. In cases that are receiving media attention, I will make public statements to address and concerns the public may have regarding any decisions made on cases. I would like to implement a social media page where the statistical information gathered is allowed to be viewed by the public in quarterly updates.