The race for the Republican nomination for Lee County district attorney came to life Tuesday night, Jan. 26.
Incumbent District Attorney Robbie Treese and challenger Brandon Hughes spoke to the Lee County Republicans Club at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The format of the event was a forum where audience members asked the candidates questions.
“What you need to know about me in terms of candidacy is this: I’m a combat lawyer,” Treese said. “I do courtroom combat.”
Treese took office for a six-year term in 2011. Before being elected, he was an assistant district attorney and chief assistant district attorney. He received a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University before he earned his law degree in 1996 from Jones School of Law at Faulkner University, according to his campaign website.
“I do the right things for the right reasons,” Treese said. “I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, very good as a politician. My skills are better honed and used elsewhere, in front of a jury, doing what I do, whaling on the bad guys.”
Hughes said Treese does not spend enough time in the courtroom, and will settle or drop a case without consulting the victim of a crime or the police officer involved in the case.
“I heard the term combat lawyer thrown out,” Hughes said. “Well let me tell you, the folks around that justice center will tell you this combat lawyer, he’s been in a foxhole since he took over the DA in 2011.”
Hughes also graduated from the Jones School of Law in 2002 after attending Auburn University at Montgomery, according to his campaign website.
“I’m running because Lee County needs a district attorney who says, ‘You know what, I’m going to put the interests and the needs of crime victims over the interests and needs of my office,’” Hughes said.
Hughes worked as a deputy district attorney in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office before transferring to the Alabama Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program in 2006.
As part of the program, Hughes worked with law enforcement agencies across the state in prosecuting traffic-related crimes such as deaths caused by DUIs.
Treese mentioned the one case Hughes handled for Lee County, but said Hughes withdrew from the case when the program’s contract wasn’t renewed. The statement drew an angry response from Hughes and the only direct interaction between the candidates of the night, other than a handshake.
“I want a chance to respond,” Hughes said. “That’s a gross misinterpretation of what happened.”
Treese said he wasn’t trying to disrespectful, but only pointing out that Hughes has only handled one case in Lee County, which had to be taken over by the district attorney’s office.
“This case involved a guy who killed his girlfriend [by driving drunk],” Hughes said. “(The driver) was 0.12-0.16 [blood-alcohol content] and he killed her, just crashed and killed her.”
Hughes said he was called in by Treese’s office and convicted the driver to five years in prison. But the case remained unfinished because of pending restitution hearings.
Hughes also said the chief deputy district attorney was being paid $110,000 per year. Hughes said the first thing he would do is cut that position by $50,000 a year.
“As far as Lee County is concerned, we have the top prosecutors in the state for a reason,” Treese said. “I will pay them everything I can pay them. All of them make very decent money, so I can recruit and maintain the best people in the state to do this job. … Every one of my folks that I recruit train and hire, they are worth every penny. I guarantee it.”
Treese and Hughes will be on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 1.
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