Fernandez Rundle: Let’s focus on the daily victories by your prosecutors | Opinion

Almost a century ago, the Supreme Court, in the Berger v. United States decision, aptly noted that a prosecutor must ensure “…that justice shall be done.”

The prosecutor’s aim “. . .is that guilt shall not escape, nor innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor — indeed he should do so. But while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.”

I have always endeavored to ensure that as true ministers of justice, my over 300 prosecutors live up to this ethical code of conduct, that by our actions, we both protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty with equal vigor.

Those of us who practice this noble profession for any period of time appreciate that our successes are oftentimes lauded by victims, their families and loved ones, for whom we can bring some degree of justice and closure, and by the greater community to whose safety we are committed but praise is not universal.

We also accept as part of the job that less successful outcomes on cases, that are a natural consequence of an adversarial system, are sometimes accompanied by criticism.

It is with this fundamental acceptance of duty and understanding of the reality of the prosecutorial function and how it is perceived that I have always approached my leadership of the great office whose stewardship the people of this community have honored me with by repeatedly re-electing me.

As prosecutors and an office, we are constantly learning and re-examining better practices and policies.

Recently, there has been a keen, critical and public focus on a small number of cases handled by an equally small number of former and current prosecutors in my office. Again, this is expected and perhaps appropriate.

However, equally important is that my prosecutors — or better stated, this community’s prosecutors — handle tens of thousands of cases every year and, multiplied year to year, hundreds of thousands of felony cases.

On a daily basis, prosecutors are in dozens of courtrooms securing victories on behalf of hundreds of victims: Victims of the theft of a vehicle, of a home that was broken into, who had a firearm pointed at them during a robbery, or who were sexually assaulted and did not choose to participate in the criminal justice system.

They were thrust into the system due to the actions of those who choose to break the law and victimize citizens in our community. Prosecutors choose to be there on their behalf. These daily successes are constant and are regrettably not often the subject of a keen and public focus.

Many lawyers handling cases in my office are young, work very hard, with limited resources, for less pay than they could be making in other professional settings. The latter is equally true of those more senior lawyers who remain with us as career public advocates and are some of the most gifted trial lawyers in the nation.

No matter how long I serve, I never cease to be amazed at their accomplishments.

It is no coincidence, then, that the legal skills and commitment to high ethical standards learned and developed in our office become foundational experiences that our alumni take with them to leadership positions as state trial and appellate judges, state chief judges, federal prosecutors and as lawyers in countless private law offices and in-house legal departments.

I am, without reservation, so very proud of my prosecutors and support staff.

The nearly three million people that we work for should know that my lawyers, support staff and myself are busy each day doing the people’s work, pursuing justice vigorously so that guilt shall not escape, nor innocence suffer, within the limits of the law, and that nothing and no one will deter us from our duty to do so.

Katherine Fernandez Rundle has been Miami-Dade’s state attorney since 1993.

This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM.