In the race for State Attorney’s Office for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, the incumbent, Republican Brian Kramer, is facing a challenge from Democrat Yvens Pierre-Antoine, a criminal defense attorney.
The state attorney’s office is the judicial circuit’s chief prosecutor. Its role in the criminal justice system includes representing the state’s side in criminal trials, getting involved with law enforcement and victim advocacy, and other administrative responsibilities.
Both candidates were asked a series of questions. Question they were asked include sharing why they’re running, what they stand for and why they think they are the more qualified candidate to serve the people.
Brian Kramer
Kramer, 56, has served as state attorney in the Eighth Judicial Circuit since 2021. He has lived in Gainesville almost all his life except for a few months — he was born in Philadelphia before his military family moved to Gainesville in 1969.
The incumbent has been a member of the bar for 31 years and has served as an assistant state attorney for over 23 years. Having sat on both sides of the courtroom aisle, he started out as a public defender in the beginning of his career.
Kramer said that it is a combination of his experience in all areas, not just in criminal law, and his influences that he brings to the table that makes him the better candidate.
“It’s the totality of my legal career that influences my view on how a state attorney’s office should function,” Kramer said. “I have a wide and varied experience that I bring to this job… and it’s important to have a perspective of other occupations and other participants in the legal system when you’re going to be in this position.”
Why are you running for state attorney in the Eighth Judicial Circuit again?
Well, you know, I’m the sitting state attorney, and I’ve been serving this community as an assistant attorney for over 23 years now. At this point, I have been running this office since 2021 as the executive director of the office, meaning the person who handles all of the non-lawyer functions in the office like finance and those types of things. So, I’m the most experienced person to run the office. I’m a community servant. I’ve dedicated my almost entire career to service this community. I’ve been in this community for 56 years and this job is very important to the community, for the community’s safety, and to make sure that cases are processed appropriately, and that defendants or cases are handled fairly and ethically. I’m the most qualified person to hold this position.
What is it that differentiates you from your opponent?
The single most different thing between myself and my opponent is extremely clear. It’s our experience. My opponent has worked in the state attorney’s office. That’s true. He has worked there, but he was not a sworn and barred lawyer when he worked here. I’ve been a prosecutor for over 25 years, sworn and barred for over 31 years. He’s never been a barred prosecutor. He’s never worked in a state attorney’s office, even as an assistant state attorney. So he just doesn’t have experience in that nature. He’s a criminal defense lawyer, and he’s an experienced criminal defense lawyer. And he certainly has observed prosecution and has observed it at a close range. But he’s never prosecuted.
What are some key cases you’ve prosecuted or defended that you believe showcase your ability to lead as a state attorney?
I represented a woman who was accused of stealing diapers and grapes. She had a child that she was trying to support, and if she would have gone to jail, she would have lost her child. She would have been in a very difficult situation in keeping custody of her child because she was a single mother with very little support, and that is something that has really stuck with ever since. You have to – in this position – understand that what you’re doing is affecting a lot of people who aren’t the defendant. That simple criminal punishments can have broad ranging downstream consequences that you don’t actually intend as a prosecutor. You have to remain cognizant of that. You have to be careful not to lose that focus … and I was able to keep her out of jail.
How do you plan to continue advocating for victims and what are your goals for this going forward?
When I came into office, one of the things I said was, “we’re going to change the way that the system uses depositions.” So what I had my staff do is start filing what’s called a motion for a protective order, which is a request to the judge to set parameters on the depositions so that there are protections in place for the victims. Prior to me coming into office, this was not done on a regular basis. There was a lot of pushback systemically against this. Even the judges would say, “well, this isn’t necessary, we don’t see that there’s a problem.” And they’re not seeing it from my perspective. I’m seeing it as, yes, it is a problem… so we started filing these motions for a protective order and we had to change the way the system addresses these things.
Yvens Pierre-Antoine
Pierre-Antoine, 51, has been a member of the Gainesville community for 24 years. Judge Walter M. Green, who served as a judge for the Alachua County Court in the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida, was a mentor to Pierre-Antoine in the early moments of his career.
He has since then been involved in various key aspects of the community. Some of these include serving on the Board of Directors for Legal Aid, heavy involvement in programs catered to the community’s youth and starting his own solo practice specializing in criminal defense, car accidents and personal injuries.
“I’ve lived here for 24 years, it’s become my home and I’ve grown to love it,” Pierre-Antoine said. “I’ve seen that the length of time doesn’t mean your connection to the community is lesser than the person who’s been there for a longer time.”
Why are you running for State Attorney in the Eighth Judicial Circuit?
One of the main reasons is, I’m just tired of the increase of gun violence. Murders and homicides are up, robberies are up, and we’ve got a lot of young people who are involved in handgun violence. We’ve got young people who are scared to go to school because of guns. They feel like they can’t leave their house without having a firearm in their hands… It’s a problem and nobody’s really targeting doing anything about it. We need to do more outreach starting at a very young age. I think a lot of times we surrender territory to people who have bad intentions without even realizing it because while we’re doing segments with the population when they’re really young, we’ve got gang members and people who are grooming them for other things when they’re extremely young and vulnerable. I think we have to be smarter as far as attacking the problem. It’s a multifaceted type of situation that we need to solve. We do need to be tough on crime, but part of the strategy needs to also include a lot of outreach.
What are some key cases you’ve prosecuted or defended that you believe showcase your ability to lead as a state attorney?
I was taking my son to get a haircut, and we walked out and a young man who I represented came up and hugged me. And my barber was like, “Why is he hugging you?” And so I told him the story about how he was charged with attempted murder, and he was ready to plead to something like 10 years when I told him there was more to it. We dug into it, and then found out that the person involved in the case actually shot at him first. So he was actually defending himself. We were able to file a motion to get the charges dismissed, and this young man was so grateful for that.
I’ve done numerous cases where we’re able to negotiate good deals for clients based on the evidence that was before us. It’s being able to empathize with people. It’s also being able to make tough decisions when you need to make tough decisions, just like with that particular client. He was ready to take 10 years but he was a client I had, and I had to fight for him. I’m going to fight for the people in my community as far as keeping them safe from people who intend to do harm. We need to have a bigger vision as far as how we can address the macro part of crime… and I think we have to be intentional about it.
What are your thoughts when it comes to people saying you’re the more inexperienced candidate, and how do you intend to prove them wrong?
I’m just going to work. He’s prosecuted cases more than I have. But I’m a hard worker, go-getter type of person and I’m used to handling multiple things around the same time. I’m also someone who is more of a people person. I know how to work with people even in difficult situations and difficult personalities. I’ve practiced everywhere from Taylor County – and most brothers don’t go to Taylor County. I’m one of those kinds of guys. My philosophy is we can have conversations, we can be professional, we can get something done. And I believe the person who’s at the top sets the tone. And the one thing you’re not going to hear is that the people in that office are scared of Yvens Pierre-Antoine coming in to take the lead. They know I’m not going to wreck the shop, because that office does mean a lot to me.