JEFFERSON COUNTY- by Haley BullPeople lining up outside polling places across Jefferson County are facing a critical decision, who will serve as judge of the 252nd District Court. Raquel West, a criminal defense attorney who's practiced for nearly 20 years, is running on the Democratic side."I've handled cases that have been nationally on the news such as the case where someone killed a child, put him in an oven, I've handled cases where parents have starved their children, I've handled cases where DNA evidence which is very complicated has been used and I think it's important to have handled those types of things and understand it to be able to move right into there and be able to apply it to the other cases that you'll be hearing as a judge."Carolyn Drawhorn Wiedenfeld, an attorney who's practiced family and criminal law for nearly 14 years, is running on the Republican side."I think if you go back to my whole life's experience it's in my age and maturity and my experience trying cases and working with defendants and with people in family matters, I think all of these things and being a mother of four children, just life experience, all of these things together have qualified me to be a judge, a good judge," Wiedenfeld said.The candidates have their own ideas about what they'd do differently in the court, Wiedenfeld on repeat offenders."I have ideas that would make a connection, a bigger connection than we already have between churches and other nonprofits and our criminal justice system, our probation system," Wiedenfeld said.West has ideas on handling dockets."There's some administrative things that I think could be done to possibly move cases along even better, adding some different dockets and pretrial dockets so that when people are set for trial they actually are going to trial," West said.While they may have opposing views on other issues, moving cases through the court tiely and fairly is common ground."The person who has experience handling those types of cases and applying the law in the correct way is going to be able to make all that happen," West said."I'm not gonna be a glorified trial lawyer, I'm gonna be a good judge who is able to look at people and figure out what's right in this case," Wiedenfeld said.When it comes down to election day, one will be the county's first female elected judge.
