Audit: DA Candidate Has History of Disregarding Policy

TYLER — The Smith County District Attorney’s Office has released an audit saying there have been multiple incorrect dismissals and reductions at the hands of several assistant district attorneys, including a current candidate for the soon-to-be district attorney vacancy. According to KETK, the audit shows Jacob Putman filed several incorrect dismissals and reductions in cases, including a felony case, after a jury had already convicted the defendant. According to an internal report from the DA’s Office, Putman had the largest number of incorrect dismissals and reductions by an attorney in the office from 2013-2017. Putman has already been under fire for cutting a plea deal with a man later accused of murdering a DPS trooper last Thanksgiving. In a brief statement, Putman says, “I will evaluate the information that was presented and make a statement about it at the appropriate time.”