In the News | Tallahassee Democrat: State attorney candidates spar over casechoices

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

State Attorney Willie Meggs says that after seven terms in office, he still has the passion and energy for the job and wants to serve another four years.

“I’m just not ready to quit working,” Meggs said. “I enjoy doing what we do. I think we help a lot of people. We work to keep our city safe.”

But his opponent in the Nov. 6 general election, former statewide prosecutor Pete Williams, says he would bring a more innovative approach as chief prosecutor for the 2nd Judicial Circuit and that Meggs has served long enough.

“I think the voters need to ask themselves why Mr. Meggs is running again and who will do a better job leading this office over the next four years,” he said.

…

During his last four years as a prosecutor for the 1st Circuit, he headed up a traffic unit that handled all traffic homicides, including DUI manslaughter. In 1998, he left to become an assistant attorney general focusing on economic crime for Attorney General Bob Butterworth. He was director of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and served as inspector general for three state agencies.

In 2003, then-Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him to a four-year term as statewide prosecutor, where he supervised 40 prosecutors in eight offices around the state. His office prosecuted organized crime, fraud, public corruption and Internet crimes and saw an annual conviction rate averaging 95 percent, he said.

“That was because we did not arrest anybody until we were sure the investigation was complete and the evidence was sufficient for conviction,” he said.