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Criminal Justice

Gavin Holihan vows tougher stance against violent crime as Lehigh County's new DA

Holihan oath of office.jpg
Tom Shortell
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Lehigh County Senior Judge Carol McGinley delivers the oath of office to new District Attorney Gavin Holihan on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Gavin Holihan vowed to take harsher steps against those accused of committing violent crimes minutes into his tenure as Lehigh County's new district attorney.

Over 100 family, friends and supporters gathered in the Lehigh County Courthouse Tuesday morning as Senior Judge Carol McGinley administered the oath of office to the incoming DA.

McGinley drew chuckles from the audience as she recalled Holihan's early legal career.

"I was astonished. even then, at his self confidence," McGinley ribbed.

Holihan, who spent much of his legal career as a criminal defense attorney, served as the top lieutenant of outgoing District Attorney Jim Martin in 2023.

In a municipal election cycle marked by aggressive campaigns and fierce rhetoric, the high-profile Lehigh County district attorney race was a rare spot of consensus. Holihan ran unopposed as a Republican with Martin's blessing. The local Democratic Party rallied around him as well, delivering him the Democratic nomination with a write-in campaign during the primary.

In a brief news conference after the swearing-in ceremony, the Allentown resident identified violent crime as his top priority. Holihan said he will direct his office to focus less on penny-ante criminals who "fall ass backwards" into the criminal justice system in order to devote attention where it needed to be.

"We're going to take a harsher approach on people who have significant criminal histories. We're going to take a harsher approach on gun crimes, whether the guns were used in a violent crimes or just possessed, especially with repeat offenders.

At the same time, Holihan was realistic about the limits of his reach. If prosecutors alone could solve violent crime, it would have been done by now, he said. Instead, he said his office will take new approaches to address societal problems that lead to crime.

Part of that will call for putting metrics in place to judge the success of diversionary efforts. Holihan wants to expand Lehigh County's young drug court and take a closer look at its mental health diversion effort, Team MISA. Martin started the coalition of prosecutors, criminal defenders, judges and court staff years ago with the goal of keeping those with mental health issues out of jail. But Holihan said there's never been hard numbers to measure its effectiveness, only anecdotal success stories.

"We want to keep that program up and running but track it more successfully to find out how well that is [working]. And if it is doing well, expand it," he said.

Holihan said he also wants to work more collaboratively with other organizations to address the issues that lead to violent crime. Before the election, he spoke about building inroads with underserved communities that don't always trust law enforcement. On Tuesday, he spoke about not waiting for people with mental health problems to commit crimes before getting them the help they need.

"I don't know why it has to start with a criminal offense if we can identify the people who are likely to trip into the criminal justice system and then provide programming for them that's optional, that's not mandatory, that's not punitive, to try to keep them out of the criminal justice system," he said.

Meanwhile, Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio and Clerk of Judicial Records Michelle Graupner were also sworn into office Tuesday. Buglio, a Democrat, served as acting coroner before winning his first election in November. Graupner, a Democrat, is starting her first term after working in the office for eight years.

Lehigh County detectives and assistant district attorneys were also sworn in.

Two new attorneys include First Assistant District Attorney Eric K. Dowdle and Chief of Prosecutions Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen, a former chief deputy district attorney in Northampton County.