For the 286th District Attorney’s Office the goal has been to move cases and find the most efficient process.
District Attorney Donnie Yandell began his administration in the 286th DA’s Office on January 1, with the goal of finding his footing in his portion of the legal system, Things are going great and it has been exciting,” said Yandell. “Anytime you take over for somebody there are always glitches. You have to figure out the process prior to you and make adjustments to the process.”
Yandell added that there would be time to make detailed adjustments, but the main focus has been sorting out the backlog of cases and getting the inmate count to a more tolerable level.
Knowing there is still plenty of work to be done, Yandell feels like a considerable amount of progress has been made between Hockley County and Cochran County.
“A lot of the older cases that needed to be moved either had problems or there was an agreement that had been reached but we hadn’t complied on our end of that agreement,” explained Yandell.
He also complimented the defense bar as they have been able to work well with one another in terms of moving cases forward in the process.
“It is going to be a process,” stated Yandell. “I hate to keep using that word over and over again, but that’s what it comes down to. We’re looking at some changes in how the office is set up and how we work our cases to make things a little more efficient.”
A change Yandell is looking to make is implementing new software to which would allow the office to have a more digital presence than being more reliant on physical documents. He also added that the switch could provide cost savings which is always a plus for tax payer dollars.
Coming into the position of district attorney, Yandell acknowledged there were going to be things he had to learn that are specific or niche for the position.
“There are some things that in my previous career I never had to deal with that I’m having to deal with now,” said Yandell.
Helping Yandell balance the learning curve and responsibilities of the position, the district attorney spoke highly of his staff.
The DA’s Office includes: Investigator, Chris Covarrubias; Victim’s Assistance Coordinator, Crystal Patton; Assistant District Attorney, Rebecca Sanders; District Attorney, Donnie Yandell; Administrative Assistant, Kay Caroland; and Clerical Assistant, Teighlor Rhone.
Sanders will be crucial to the case moving process as Yandell will lean on her skills to relieve some of the burden. Caroland and Patton both provide experience and knowledge from the previous administration, adding that both ladies have been instrumental in helping Yandell get accustomed to the position.
Covarrubias with his previous law enforcement experience and contacts with local enforcement in Levelland was one of the key points Yandell sees benefiting the office.
Patton will be crucial for victim’s families as she will be a point of contact to ensure families and victims are provided with updated information without having to wait for long periods of time to get answers.
“I got lucky with how great this staff is,” said Yandell. “If not for them, I probably would have pulled every hair out of my head by now. They are working really hard.”
Yandell complimented the work the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) has done.
“The Sheriff’s Department sends me a list of the inmates and how long they’ve been in,” explained Yandell. “I’ve been working really closely with the jail side of the Sheriff’s Department to figure out which cases need to be moved, which cases need to get either dismissed, pled out, etc.
“They are just letting me know which cases have been there for a long time and which of them need to be looked at. Between the emails I’m getting from the jail administration and the defense bar, I think we’ve moved a lot of the really old cases that can be moved.”
Yandell added there are two or three cases that have been in the system for a lengthy period of time, but there is not much his office can do due to circumstances of the legal system.
“We have to work the system and get the case moved as fast as possible,” said Yandell. “The ones that have been there for a long time without anything being done are the ones I’m concentrating on. I think we’ve got those cases either moved or in the process of being moved. If they cannot be moved we will go to trial. That is why the legal system is there.”
Yandell addressed the recent case dismissals that have been within various court reports.
“Not every case that gets arrested ends up being filed or sometimes if it’s filed things happen and new information comes to light,” explained Yandell. “Agreements are made with the prosecuting and defense attorney to move a case.
We’ve had several instances where the case is just really old. We have had cases where we found they didn’t meet some of the elements and we’ve had to dismiss those cases.”
Yandell added there was an instance where the defense attorney showed proof that the defendant had complied with their agreement and the case needed to be dismissed and it hadn’t been.
“I’ve been telling the defense bar that I’m not going to come back and upset the apple cart on the previous administration’s offers,” explained Yandell. “Iif they have an offer they want to take let’s get after it and get it done.”
Yandell felt that the defense bar hit him the hardest in regard to the cases that were problematic at the beginning because they wanted to get their clients’ cases taken care of.
“We have had a lot of dismissals and we probably will continue to have quite a few dismissals,” said Yandell. “As my office starts presenting grand jury cases, I think there will be a lot fewer of those dismissals than there have been.”
As the process for the DA’s office continues, Yandell emphasized his open door policy which he has carried from his previous job.
“We are going to be here and we’re going to be available,” stated Yandell. “We are going to do our best to move cases. If we can get them out that is great and if we cannot, we get them in the courtroom and let the jury figure it out.”
As the office continues to find their process, Yandell stressed transparency and communication with not only the victims but also the taxpayers of Hockley County and Cochran County being one of the biggest goals.