Dallas County DA Returns To Work
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk has been away from the office since July, but she finally returned to the Frank Crowley Courts Building on Thursday, a day earlier than she had originally planned.
Hawk met with her staff before coming out to make a brief comment to the media. While she did not field any questions early Thursday, she promised answers to the public, her employees and the media in the coming days.
"I'm excited to be back at work," Hawk said Thursday morning. "I've missed the courthouse. I've missed by colleagues. These past nine weeks have been tough, but I'm stronger and healther than I've ever been."
It was not until news reporters repeatedly asked about Hawk's whereabouts that she announced, at the end of August, that she would be taking four weeks of leave to seek treatment for serious depression. She then extended her leave until October 2, but actually returned one day ahead of schedule.
"I did not choose to have a mental illness," Hawk explained in a statement last week, "but I did make the choice to confront it and take on the hard job of recovery. I just want the opportunity to come back and do my job."
In Hawk's absence, her first assistant, Messina Madson, fired top-ranking prosecutor Cindy Stormer, who is now working on a petition to remove Hawk from office. Stormer says that Hawk is not fit to perform her official duties. Hawk responded, calling the petition disappointing and distracting.
Critics stated that the public will ultimately decide Hawk's credibility. According to a close friend, Hawk could host a town hall meeting as early as the end of October.