Year in Review: Toccoa-Stephens County Loses Longtime Assistant DA Bridgeman

2018 saw the resignation of long-time Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman.

Bridgeman retired at the end of the year, but left his office the end of September.

In August, Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian told WNEG News the greatest challenge to filling Bridgeman’s slot was the pay scale.

“A lot of the circuits pay good supplements in addition to the state salary,” he said..”That’s something I’m going to address with Stephens County to see if they can offer that. What we need in Stephens County is another experienced prosecutor not someone right out of law school.”

In October, the Stephens County Board of Commissioners approved a supplemental salary for a new ADA and shortly thereafter, Susan Boykin was hired as the new Assistant District Attorney for Stephens County.

A former defense attorney, Boykin said making the switch to a prosecutor is not as much of a leap as one might think.

“A lot of people go between the two because you know the system,” she explained. “After you’ve been in it this long, you know what’s fair and what’s not fair. For me, it was just at that point in time where I needed to do something different. The opportunity came up. I spoke with Mr. Christian and it’s a new opportunity that I’m excited to do.”

And because she has practiced as a criminal defense attorney, Boykin believes she brings a unique perspective to the prosecution side.

Boykin said that experience allows her to understand the value of fairness for victims of crime as well as for the alleged offenders.