Geoffrey Fogus Named Assistant DA of the Year District 3

Northern Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Fogus has been named Georgia’s Assistant District Attorney of the Year for 2014 for Disrict III.

Fogus received the award from the Georgia Association of District Attorneys.  Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White said Fogus is an invaluable asset to his office.

“It is my distinct pleasure to report that Geoffrey Fogus has been named by the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia as Assistant District Attorney of the year for 2014 for District III,” White said Thursday. “Geoffrey joined my office as my Chief ADA in February 2013, after working as an Assistant District Attorney in the Augusta Circuit. Since that time he has worked tirelessly to help restore the integrity and functionality of the Northern Circuit District Attorney’s Office. The impact he has made in our office has been overwhelming.”

Since he began his career as a prosecutor, Northern Judicial Circuit Parks White said Fogus has taken more than 60 cases to jury trial, including 15 murder cases.  White hired Fogus away from his position in Augusta a year and half ago.

Since then, White says Fogus has worked seemingly non-stop to help bring a decade of back-logged cases to resolution.

“When I assumed office in January 2013, Geoffrey and I discovered a prosecutor’s office in a deep  state of neglect. Case files were pending from as long as 10 years ago, and the charging documents for the pending cases were being drafted by non-attorney staff members, resulting in 30-40% of the accusations and indictments containing charging language that was improper and subject to demurrer,” White said. “In the first year and a half as Chief ADA, Geoffrey personally resolved over 600 cases. He took six cases to trial, obtained a life sentence on a recidivist drug trafficker, with dozens more prepared for trial and resolved the morning of trial by stiff plea agreements.”

White said Fogus has also assumed the role of Special Victims prosecutor, responsible for the prosecution of all sex cases against children in the 5 county circuit.

“He works closely with investigators in all law enforcement agencies at 2 of 2 every step of the investigation to ensure an investigation that is as strong as possible, and that child victims receive justice,” White said.

But according to White, the greatest service Fogus has rendered to the community has been through training of law enforcement officers, who had a strained relationship with the previous DA.

Fogus has become a certified Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.) instructor, and now provides training to law enforcement in all five counties at no cost to the local county governments.

Generally, these classes range from half-day to full-day seminars that include  advanced training methods such as power-point presentations, videos, and mock cross-examinations and testimonies, and the like.

The classes covered legal investigations from standard criminal violations to major felonies like homicide and sexual assaults. The classes also touched on important constitutional-law issues regarding Fourth Amendment rights for searches and seizures and Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights for interviews and interrogations involving
confessions and self-incrimination.

Working together we also provided every law enforcement agency with a comprehensive annual update to caselaw and statutory amendments. In 2013, Geoffrey provided 27 training courses to law enforcement. In 2014, he has already provided 14 training courses.

“Law enforcement members know that Geoffrey is just a phone call away and is available 24 hours a day,” explained White. “He receives calls day and night for advice on search warrants, arrest warrants, investigations,  and appropriate charges. He has earned the nickname “Fix-It Fogus,” and is never short or quick  tempered with our allies in blue.”