East Central Iowa News

A Jasper County prosecutor is under fire for accusing local public defenders of using COVID-19 as a "get out of jail free card" for their clients.

On March 30, Peter Blink, an assistant county attorney in Jasper County posted a message on Facebook that read: "Spending the day filing resistances to the new defense attorney trend of using COVID as a get out of jail free card," Blink wrote. "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

In another post, Blink mentioned "prosecutors are seen as awful for 'wanting people to be safe from criminals,'" according to the Des Moines Register.

Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson, Blink's superior, declined to comment on his statement.

When asked to comment on his Facebook post, Blink told the Des Moines Register, his "comments don't reflect the thoughts or attitudes of the Jasper County Attorney's Office."

Blink faced immediate backlash from public defenders and advocacy groups in the state for his comments.

"For this assistant county attorney to suggest that we are somehow scumbags because we dare to try to get our clients out of harm's way, it was really unprofessional and inappropriate in my opinion," Valorie Wilson, Supervisor of Des Moines' Public Defender Office told the Des Moines Register. "The majority of these people have been convicted of nothing."

Tricia Bushnell, an attorney and executive director of the Kansas City-based Midwest Innocence Project, said public defenders looking to have nonviolent or misdemeanor offenders released pre-trial is not a trend. It's to combat the spread of COVID-19.

"We have medical experts explaining to us how terrible this is going to be and that flippant response to this very real life-or-death situation for people is just not okay," Bushnell told the Des Moines Register.

Jennifer Miller, a prosecutor in Marshall County, admitted defense attorneys are doing their job by protecting their clients best interests during this public health crisis but, prosecutors are also trying to balance the demands of protecting the public and addressing the COVID-19 health care emergency, according to the Des Moines Register.

"We receive calls on a daily basis from frightened victims who are worried that the person who abused them or sexually assaulted them will be released from jail because of COVID-19," Miller told the Des Moines Register. "We also do not want to put additional strain on our local law enforcement by releasing individuals who will create more problems in the community, which puts the community and our officers at risk."

Paul Rounds, lead public defender in the Nevada field office, said they are only trying to have non-violent offenders who are too poor to post bail, released, according to the Des Moines Register.

Rounds said even if a nonviolent offender is released, if found guilty of a crime, they will be held accountable once court proceedings continue.  

"If serving time is the appropriate sentence, that'll still happen," Rounds told the Des Moines Register. "What won't happen is the prosecution won't have the leverage of them being in jail to encourage them to plead guilty."

The Iowa Department of Public Health said no one has tested positive for COVID-19 in Iowa jails, according to the Des Moines Register.