Jon David, District Attorney, District 13, North Carolina

Jon David is the elected District Attorney for District 13 in North Carolina which is comprised of Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus Counties. He is also a former Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney.   "The solid foundation of experiences at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office shaped me as a person and as a prosecutor," he explains.

Born in New York City, Jon's father got a job at the University of Florida and when Jon and his identical twin brother Ben were two years old, the David family relocated to Gainesville.

When it came time to go to college, Jon and Ben decided to go to different schools and establish their own identities, yet they remained very close. Jon went to Florida State University where he graduated with an honors degree in Criminology. He later went to the University of Florida Law School where he was Chairman of Moot Court.

His twin brother Ben went to law school at Wake Forest. "We are the first two lawyers in our family," he explains. "And now we are both elected District Attorneys in neighboring jurisdictions."

"Sometimes folks get confused when they see my brother or me and can't tell us apart, so they call us Mr. David," he chuckles.

Jon interned at the Gainesville District Attorney's Office during the Danny Rolling case (aka The Gainesville Ripper). "That's when I knew that this is what I wanted to do," he says. "I am a career prosecutor...this is a calling."

He applied to become an Assistant State Attorney in Miami. Janet Reno had just left to become Attorney General of the United States and Katherine Fernandez Rundle was sworn in as State Attorney. "I think that I was one of her first hires. I remember walking into her office and seeing the picture of her twin sons," he said. "I let her know that I was a twin and we hit it off."

"The coincidence of twins certainly opened the conversational door during our initial interview," commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "It allowed me to see several different aspects of this young man as I quizzed him on the law and on his personal standpoints. It was a great hire from both of our perspectives."

During those early years, Jon had solid experiences that he still draws from today. The volume and intensity of the cases was unparalleled. "I tried over 50 cases in three years," he tells us.

Jon was an ASA from 1996 to 2000. According to him, the most significant case that he prosecuted was Osmel Alvarez, who impersonated a police officer and violently raped a young girl whom he "arrested" for being out after curfew. While driving to a remote location with plans to kill her and dispose of the body, the victim jumped out of his car that was moving at 70 mph and miraculously survived.

"We had DNA. The State Attorney insisted on having all the necessary resources. For example, litigation support made exhibits that were cutting edge and you could visually follow the sequence of events and locations. Alvarez was convicted and was sentenced to life."

After fulfilling his commitment at the SAO, he wanted to settle down. The DA in Wilmington made him an offer that he "couldn't refuse." Jon became Chief Assistant for Violent Crimes. He tried all the big murder cases, many of them with his twin brother Ben.

"Prosecutors are the voice for victims in the courtroom," he shares. "This job puts you in touch with the human condition and based on your efforts, a person's life could go in a number of different ways."

Jon and Ben have taken a regional approach in fighting crime because crime doesn't obey jurisdiction or stop at the county line.

"Here I have implemented many of the things that I learned from State Attorney Fernandez Rundle," he added. "She taught me how to involve the community. I saw that things worked in Miami so I applied them here. For example, we created Watchdog Programs, a victim centered homicide support group, a six-week in-house training for new attorneys; created a good internship program and implemented a police-prosecutor team approach to fighting crime."

Jon is certain that a prosecutor sets the standard for an area and can affect change in that area. To him, one person can make a big difference.

"To me, being a prosecutor is not a stepping stone," he says. "It's a calling and I honor my oath."