Accomplishments

Under District Attorney Deberry’s leadership, the Durham DA’s Office and its staff:

• Restructured the office to assign more staff to the prosecution of violent crimes.
• Secured more homicide convictions in 2021 & 2019 than in 2018.
• Along with efforts by defense counsel, judges and others, reduced the average detention population by 25% compared with 2018.
• Secured first-degree murder convictions in the triple-murder of UNC students.
• Secured the first human trafficking conviction in Durham since 2011.
• Through a partnership with Durham Police Department, secured convictions in cold case sexual assaults, including against serial offenders.
• Was the first prosecutor’s office in the state to agree to sentencing relief for vulnerable people in state prisons in light of the risks posed by COVID-19.
• Participated in and contributed to the development of a first-of-its-kind study on prosecutorial discretion and plea arrangements that is now in place in multiple prosecutor’s offices.
• Developed monthly roundtable meetings between DA’s Office staff and their counterparts at Durham Police Department to enhance communication, coordination, and success in their cases.
• Worked with the Vera Institute to organize racial equity training for stakeholders across Durham’s criminal legal system
• With the DEAR Program, successfully petitioned the court to waive $2.7 million in unpaid traffic court debt preventing more than 11,000 residents from restoring their drivers’ licenses after they were suspended for inability to pay.
• Successfully petitioned the court to expunge more than 3,000 charges for hundreds of people who were 16 or 17 at the time of their offense but prosecuted as adults before NC raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction in 2019. 
• For the first time, secured county funding to pay courthouse parking fees for crime victims, witnesses, and their families while attending court or meeting with the office. 
• In partnership with the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, launched quarterly meetings with the families of victims in pending homicide cases to share information and build community.
• With the Criminal Justice Resource Center, launched a Post-Arrest Diversion program designed to help people charged with lower-level felonies avoid future offenses.