According to a press release from the office of Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes, John Pursley has been appointed to the position of Chief Assistant District Attorney.

“I am honored to have been chosen by District Attorney Joyette Holmes to serve as her Chief Assistant District Attorney,” Pursley said. “I look forward to assisting her in achieving her vision for this office and Cobb County. I am eager to get to work.”

Pursley’s experience

Pursley has been a prosecutor in Cobb for the past 10 years, and has over 18 years total experience as a prosecutor.

The press release gives the following description of Pursley’s experience in the Cobb DA’s office:

“Prior to his promotion, Pursley led the Accountability Courts unit. He is a member of the Recovery Roundtable Leadership Council, which is a group of community leaders dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic, and he participates with Restoring Lives Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that supports the work of the Accountability Courts in Cobb.”

In making the appointment, Judge Holmes said, “The comment to the American Bar Association’s Rule 3.8, Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor, reads: ‘A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate.”

“This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice, that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence,” she said, “and that special precautions are taken to prevent and to rectify the conviction of innocent persons.’ John Pursley is the epitome of what that rule stands for, and the Cobb Judicial Circuit and I are fortunate to have him.”

Role of Chief ADA

“The Chief Assistant District Attorney handles supervisory and administrative duties for the office, as delegated by Holmes. The Cobb DA’s Office has 45 prosecutors and an annual budget of about $8 million. In 2018, the office took in more than 6,000 new felony cases,” according to the press release from the Cobb DA’s office.