Press release from Joe Bowman:
Love and Courage are the touchstones of my campaign, because that’s what we need to build a community of “We”.
Love is what makes a community. Love for our family, our friends, our neighbors, our schools, our churches, our towns. Love makes us work harder than we ever thought we could. You might wonder why I bring it up. In my opinion, It is essential to the justice system. “The law is a hollow vessel” is an old saying in the law. It means that the law can be used for any purpose, it all depends on what values the people enforcing the law have, or don’t have. I believe if you don’t ultimately have love for the people involved, you won’t do the right thing.
Courage to do the right thing when it may be unpopular, is essential for the District Attorney. No one is above the law, and no one is beneath it’s protection. The District Attorney must be committed to doing the right thing, not the easy thing. As your District Attorney, my office will seek justice, not convictions, And we will do everything we can to support legitimate policing that reflects the values of the community. And we will fight to keep our community safe, everybody, not just people with money or connections. This will be a District Attorney’s office for all the people of Buncombe. It’s your courthouse, after all.
Experience matters. I clerked for the U.S. Attorney and also worked on death penalty defense defense during law school. I graduated from UNL Law School in Lincoln, Nebraska, my home town. We moved to Greenville, NC in 2003 where I started my career as a trial lawyer with the Pitt County District Attorney. I was assigned to Domestic Violence cases and trained by Sgt. John Guard and the elected DA, Clark Everett. I was recruited to move to Wilmington by Ben David and specialize in Domestic Violence prosecution there in New Hanover and Pender County. I prosecuted murder, rape, child molesters, and all levels of domestic abuse. I’ve handled every kind of criminal case that there is. I’ve worked in all kinds of courts across the state. I trained as a career prosecutor, because that’s where my heart is. My focus has always been on crimes committed against people. I have been recognized several times by my community for my dedication. In 2014, we decided to make a change, and we moved to the most gorgeous place I have even lived, the mountains of Buncombe County. I have worked as a private attorney in State and Federal Court since then. I have continued my trial practice and defended individuals from the enormous power of the Government. I have prosecuted and defended people accused of murder. I have had more than forty jury trials to verdict, and hundreds of bench trials over my 18 years as a trial attorney. I’ve trained police on Domestic Violence and Junior ADAs on how to be a District Attorney. I want to put that experience to work for you.
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