State's Attorney's Office - Montgomery County, MD

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Community Prosecution Unit:

Community Prosecution Unit Team Leader: George E. Simms III	(240) 777-7383
Meet the Assistant State's Attorneys of the Community Prosecution Unit

For years, experts in law enforcement have recognized the benefits of "community policing" in reducing the incidence of crime and improving the quality of life for residents. Community Prosecution, as an approach to law enforcement, has several similar objectives: to implement a proactive, problem-solving approach to crime; to create new and lasting partnerships with the community in order to improve quality of life; to improve the Office's relationship and partnership with law enforcement and public and private agencies; and, as a result of these new partnerships, to enhance the Office prosecutorial function. Prosecutors have recognized the important position their Office can have in complementing police partnerships with the community in order to better address the needs of the community.

Throughout Montgomery County, Community Prosecution brings together geographically organized teams of Assistant State's Attorneys (ASA's), Community Outreach Specialists and other support personnel who share responsibility for the prosecution of crimes committed within each of Montgomery County's police districts.

Senior ASA's are assigned to each of the Montgomery County police districts and share responsibility for screening cases of community impact in that district. Senior ASA's are present at the police district stations on a regular basis and assist police with investigations, warrant preparation, and roll call training. They also attend community meetings and handle quality of life issues that arise within their particular police districts.

The familiarity of each ASA with his or her police district make our Office better able to gather intelligence and determine the persons responsible for crimes in that area. ASA's also connect with the community within their assigned area in order to stay abreast of the problems occurring there and to better address concerns of the citizens. Our Community Prosecution Unit works closely with schools, businesses, religious institutions, and other community groups to address and impact crime before it occurs.

The prosecutors that are chosen to be on the community prosecution team are hand picked by State's attorney John McCarthy because of their abilities not only as trial attorneys but also their skills in working closely with citizens, schools, business, community groups, religious institutions, and neighborhood watch groups.

One of the goals is to identify problem areas and issues and allocate the necessary resources to them. Prior to the creation of community prosecution the normal daily routine of the prosecutor was to receive cases and react to them. With the creation of Community Prosecution the prosecutor is to "think outside of the box" and will be proactive rather than reactive.

Two Criminal Cases That Show That Community Prosecution Works!

One case that Community Prosecutors focused on was a series of robberies and assaults that were taking place at the transit center near Lake Forest Mall in Gaithersburg. Montgomery County and Gaithersburg City Police were receiving complaints from victims about an unknown Hispanic male who on a daily basis, was harassing, assaulting, and robbing other Hispanic males. It appeared to the police, because of cultural and language barriers, that the victims were not coming to court and therefore the cases were being dismissed against the suspect.

Community prosecutors working with Gaithersburg City Police Detective Sean Eastman took it upon themselves to locate each and every victim and interview them at their homes with a translator. After receiving these statements from the victims, charges were reinstated against the suspect. These efforts resulted in the suspect being convicted of robbery and sentenced to two years of incarceration. He is currently subject to deportation hearings.

Another interesting Community Prosecution case was brought to the attention of a Community Prosecutor by Detective Jim Peacock of the Germantown-5th District Detective Bureau. Detective Peacock had received complaints from citizens both in and outside of Montgomery County about a person claiming to be a doctor and treating patients without the appropriate medical license or degrees.

This information and the thorough investigation done by members of the Montgomery County Police Department and the State's Attorney's Office resulted in the suspect being convicted of 24 separate charges ranging from felony theft to practicing medicine without a license.

In the summer of 2006, several neighborhoods in the Gaithersburg, Montgomery County area were experiencing a rash of car break ins. On some nights as many as two dozen cars were being broken into and valuables were being taken. Police officers in both Germantown and Montgomery Village investigated and discovered that over 100 cars had been broken into in a one month period.

Police officers arrested a young man who was seen leaving the area of one of the car break ins. He was arrested and charged with several misdemeanor thefts and malicious destruction of property charges. Community prosecutors were contacted by the neighborhood's community watch program. Working together the police, prosecutors, and neighbors solved this crime spree.

Instead of charging the defendant with individual misdemeanors, the Defendant was charged with a felony theft scheme because the crimes were aggregated. This resulted in a much higher penalty and the defendant indeed was incarcerated and ordered to stay away from the neighborhood upon his release.

The neighbors and their community watch program played a large role in making their homes a safer place to live.

Meet the Assistant State's Attorneys of the Community Prosecution Unit

George E. Simms III, (240) 777-7383, Team Leader, received a Juris Doctor degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in 1982. He is a 1978 graduate of the University of Dayton and a 1974 graduate of St. John's College High School. Mr. Simms clerked for the Honorable DeLawrence Beard of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, from 1984-1985. Since 1985, Mr. Simms has been employed with the Montgomery County, Maryland, State's Attorney's Office.Mr. Simms has been the Team Leader of the District Court Prosecution Team, the Juvenile Court Prosecution Team and most recently the Germantown Prosecution Team. Mr. Simms has successfully prosecuted virtually every type of crime, including homicides, juvenile cases, drug crimes, sex offenses, armed robbery and fraud.Mr. Simms is active in the Bar Association and the community. Mr. Simms is a two term member of the Montgomery County Bar Association Executive Committee. He served on the Maryland State Bar Association Board of Governors. Mr. Simms has been a member of the Montgomery County Juvenile Court Commission. Mr. Simms lectured at the National District Attorney's Association, Juvenile Court Prosecution Course and at numerous seminars, civic associations, bar associations and community associations on a variety of topics relating to criminal law, juvenile law and victim's rights. Mr. Simms is a past president of the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association and a 2004 graduate of Leadership Montgomery.Mr. Simms is supervisor of the community outreach Team in the State's Attorney's Office.

Stephen Chaikin, (240) 777-7405, joined our office as an Assistant State's Attorney on April 3, 2000. Mr. Chaikin Graduated from Syracuse University, with a degree in Political Science in 1989. In 1993, he received his law degree from The University of Baltimore School of Law. While in Law School, he founded a non-profit Homeless Advocacy organization, "Project Hunger". This effort resulted in the distribution of more than 2000 meals a week, to area homeless shelters and families in need. For his efforts, Mr. Chaikin received the Governor's Honorable Medal of Distinction. Mr. Chaikin worked on the mayor's homeless relief advisory board and served as a board member for the Homeless Persons Representation Project. Mr. Chaikin was also on the Executive Committee of the Baltimore City Bar Association prior to working in our office. Mr. Chaikin worked as a student attorney in our office from August, 1992 to January, 1993. He worked in the Public Defender's Office in Baltimore City, between 1994 and 1997. Mr. Chaikin worked for the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office from 1997 through February 2000. Mr. Chaikin is assigned as the Upcounty Community Prosecutor. This area includes Rockville, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village and Germantown. In 2005, Mr. Chaikin received the Chief of Police Certificate of Appreciation award for his work in the community. In 2007, Mr. Chaikin received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygeine for his work exposing an individual practicing medicine without a license.

Sharon T. Diamant, 240-777-7315, began working as an Assistant State's Attorney in October, 2000. She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1996 and received her law degree from the University Of Dayton School of Law in 1999. Ms. Diamant prosecuted a wide variety of matters in the District Court Unit before moving to the Juvenile Division. In the Juvenile Division she specialized in handling sexual abuse cases involving juvenile offenders. In the spring of 2007, Ms. Diamant joined the Special Prosecutions Division handling fraud and embezzlement cases and as of this winter, she will be handling cases affecting the community as a whole as well.

Maura Lynch, 240-777-7380, was hired as an Assistant State's Attorney February 11, 2002. Maura received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola College in 1984. In 1989, she received her law degree from the University of Baltimore Law School. While attending law school, Maura worked as a Law Clerk and Intern in the Juvenile Division of the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office. She also served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable William Caplan in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Maura worked as an Assistant Public Defender for Prince George's County from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 2002, she worked for the Montgomery County Public Defender's Office where she handled District, Juvenile and Circuit Court matters. She is assigned to the Bethesda District Court.

Last edited: 4/25/2008