GOP's Andrew Murray Joins Charlotte DA Race; Peter Gilchrist Retires

Andrew Murray To Run For Charlotte DA; Peter Gilchrist Announces Retirement


For the past 35 years, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County voters have made Peter Gilchrist their District Attorney; the top Lawyer tasked with going after Charlotte's bad guys, these days, no easy job.

"It's really time for someone else to assume the leadership of this office,” said Gilchrist at a news conference. Gilchrist, a Democrat, says he's leaving the office in the best shape it's ever been. But he acknowledges there is still plenty of room for improvement: "We are way behind technologically. We still deal with paper files. We have multiple people in the office who's only job is to find a file a get it to the right person,” says Gilchrist.

The workload Gilchrist oversees is staggering: 79 assistant district attorneys to manage. 12,000 felony cases. And more than 200,000 misdemeanors every year. "I've still got lawyers that are carrying 20 murder cases. One lawyer. That's an impossible task,” says Gilchrist.

"There's got to be focuses on efficiency in the court system,” says Julie Eiselt. For Eiselt, stream lining the courts is personal. She's a crime victim but never got her day in front of a judge.

She, along with the group Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte, hope new blood will bring about change and points to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe as a success story. "He's shaken some things up and he took a lot of heat for it in the beginning," says Eiselt. Monroe, who has voiced frustration with repeat offenders in Mecklenburg County, declined FOX Charlotte’s request for comment on the DA's retirement.

Charlotte lawyer Adam Seifer urges voters to be practical about what any DA can realistically accomplish. "The laws are what they are. You could have a district attorney that has certain viewpoints on punishment and sentencing, but they can't do anything more than what the laws allow them do to,” says Seifer.

So far, only Republican Andrew Murray says he will run for DA. As for Gilchrist, the 70-year-old says he'd like to take woodworking classes and travel.




Andrew Murray's Profile:


R. Andrew Murray is a partner at GCLLM. Before being hired as a partner in 2000, he was a partner in the firm of Ledford and Murray, P.C., from 1996 until 2000. Prior to that, Mr. Murray was an Assistant District Attorney for 3 1/2 years for the Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) District Attorney's office.

Attorney Murray received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1989 and then received his Law Degree from The University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992. Mr. Murray has been practicing in Charlotte since 1992.

Mr. Murray is a Commander with the United States Coast Guard Reserves, having served from 1980 to the present. He presently holds a top secret clearance and is assigned to the Department of Defense Strategies and Counter-Terrorism at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D. C. In addition to the practice of law, Mr. Murray is on the Executive Board of Lake Norman Christian School and is an active member, along with his family, of Lake Norman Baptist Church . He has been married for 26 years and has 3 children.




View Larger Map


Sources: GCLLM.com, WCNC, Google Maps