Abrams the choice

You have likely seen and heard in the news about the disastrous policies of the district attorneys in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, just to name a few of the socalled “progressive” DAs who are seriously undermining, and even destroying, our criminal justice system. But, as bad as these district attorneys are, we must never forget that each one of them was elected to office by the voters in their communities.

Do you want Solano County to look like San Francisco and Los Angeles? Do you want to live in a community where serious crimes are ignored, where felony offenders are only charged with misdemeanors or infractions? Do you want violent repeat offenders released with reduced or even without any charges before the police have even had a chance to finish writing their reports?

If you, like I, answer each of these questions with a resounding “no,” please understand that only we can make that happen. It is our responsibility, as citizens and voters in Solano County, to ensure that the Solano County District Attorney's office is not added to that growing list of “progressive” DAs. And we can do that by voting to re-elect Krishna Abrams as our District Attorney on June 7.

The District Attorney is the chief law enforcement official in each of California's 58 counties. All of them are, by constitutional mandate, responsible for the prosecution of virtually every crime committed within their county. Our incumbent DA, Krishna Abrams, does that every day.

Over the past two years, and especially at the height of the pandemic, Krishna was on the job day and night, just as she always has been since taking office in August 2014. Unlike her opponent, a chief deputy who worked from her home in another county, Krishna was in the office, actively supervising and available to her entire staff. She was available to meet daily with police officers and routinely with chiefs and other command staff. Perhaps, even more importantly, she was available to meet and speak with victims of crime and with the citizens of Solano County.

I know Krishna very well. I served in the Solano County DA's office for 34 years, starting as a deputy in 1977, chief deputy from 1982-1992, and as the elected DA from 19932010. I had the privilege of hiring Krishna and working with her for many years. She has spent her entire professional career as a prosecutor. After working as a deputy in Tulare County DA's office, Krishna came to Solano County in January 2000, and immediately became part of our felony team.

Over the years, I came to rely of Krishna as my goto deputy for cases that demanded a prosecutor of the highest caliber. Krishna never disappointed. She willingly invested the time and effort that was necessary to obtain convictions in numerous serious and more complex cases, many involving sexual assaults and homicides. Perhaps, the best example of her dedication was a case I filed during my last month in office, in December 2010. My investigative unit had just completed a multi-year investigation that had led to the arrest of a suspect in a years-old cold-case murder. I was confident we could obtain a conviction, but I also realized that it would be a difficult case to pursue. I trusted Krishna and assigned the case to her. She vigorously and steadfastly pursued the prosecution and eventually took the case to trial. The accused was convicted of murder. A victim and her family were heard. Justice was served.

I trusted Krishna then, and I trust her today. You can trust her, too. Since becoming DA, Krishna has continued to prove herself to be a true prosecutor. Her objective has always been, and will always be, to “Seek and Do Justice.” To her, this means doing the right thing, every day, in every case. Her top priorities are to ensure that victims always have a voice and that their voice is heard, to prosecute cases professionally, ethically, and with integrity, and to hold offenders accountable for their criminal conduct.

In 2014 a significant majority of Solano County voters chose Krishna to become our District Attorney. Obviously, we voters made the right choice then. Since taking office, Krishna has doubled the number of victim advocate staff and established a specialized elder abuse unit. She has also re-established the cold-case homicide unit and launched a major crimes task force.

Now, it is critical that we make the right choice again. Solano County needs and deserves a District Attorney who will continue to do everything she can to ensure that crimes are prosecuted, offenders are held accountable, victims are heard, and justice is served. Krishna Abrams is that District Attorney.

I am writing to ask you to join me in supporting Krishna. I believe she has earned our support. With her as our District Attorney, working for us and with us every day, Solano County will continue to be a safe community and a place we proudly call our home.

— Dave Paulson/Retired District Attorney

of Solano County