Dallas County DA reveals needing help kicking medication


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DALLAS (AP) — Dallas County's new district attorney revealed Friday that she "got help" 1½ years ago to quit taking medication for back pain.

Susan Hawk's statement to The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1MddHWV) responded to questions about whether she was treated at an Arizona drug rehabilitation center in late 2013.

Departures of two top assistants have drawn scrutiny of Hawk's first three months as district attorney.

Hawk fired Bill Wirskye, her first assistant district attorney, this week; Jennifer Balido resigned last month as administrative chief of Hawk's office. Both complained that the office atmosphere under Hawk's administration was distrustful and paranoid.

In her statement, Hawk said "a disgruntled former employee who was fired this week is attacking my character. Here are the facts:

"I have a serious back condition. A doctor prescribed me medicine. Over a year and a half ago, I decided I did not want to take it anymore, and I got help to quit taking it, and haven't taken any since."

Hawk resigned as a Democratic state district judge in September 2013 to run for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Craig Watkins. She left the campaign trail a month later, saying said she was suffering back pain and would undergo surgery and rehabilitation at an East Coast facility.

She returned and went on to win the GOP primary and general election. She picked Wirskye and Balido to be her top assistants, but their relationship quickly turned sour.

Balido told The News that Hawk acted suspicious of her relationship with Wirskye and removed her from Wirskye's chain of command so they wouldn't have a "reason to talk."

"It became obvious to me that she was very paranoid," Balido told the newspaper, adding that Hawk would come to her office several times a day to ask, "Is there anything you need to tell me?"

At the time of his firing, Wirskye said the district attorney's office deserved "a leader who is stable and competent" and wished Hawk "success in her personal journey."

On Friday, in a statement to the newspaper, Wirskye called Hawk "a good person."

"I was, and will remain, someone who wishes her success both personally and professionally. She has the potential, talent and ideas to be a fine district attorney for Dallas County," he said.

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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