We're bursting with pride to celebrate two incredible members of our team!

Today, at our annual awards ceremony at the Bucks County Justice Center, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office proudly honored Deputy District Attorney Christine M. Sassane and Assistant District Attorney Timothy W. Lutes for their outstanding dedication and public service!

This year's Exceptional Public Service, Professionalism, and Integrity Award was presented to Christine Sassane. Christine, who joined us in 2018, is a powerhouse! As Chief of the Homicide by Vehicle/Crash Investigation Unit and Chief of Diversionary Courts, she's at the forefront of incredibly demanding and sensitive work.

District Attorney Jennifer Schorn recognized Christine's exceptional commitment early on, noting that in the Crash Unit, Christine faces "unimaginable tragedy and loss of human life." It's a role that demands 24/7 availability and immense dedication. Christine's colleagues echo this praise, saying, "Christine wears so many hats. She handles the most serious and difficult crash cases, despite all the responsibilities on her shoulder. She never complains and is always willing to help her colleagues."

Christine's humility and commitment shine through: "We don’t do this job for awards or accolades or anything like that,” she said, in accepting the award. “We do this to help the community and protect victims. We work really long hours, we work nights, we work weekends. But we all have each other, and I feel like that’s the best part of this job, so for you guys to vote for me for this, this is really, really special.”

And the Outstanding Performance Award goes to Timothy W. Lutes! Tim, who joined our office in 2019, is an indispensable part of our appellate unit and serves as our open records officer.

District Attorney Schorn highlighted the crucial, behind-the-scenes work of the appellate unit, stating, “They’re there for us whenever we need them. And you can never predict when that will be, inevitably it will be in court, and there’ll be an issue that comes up that is a time-sensitive issue.” She added, "We could not do it without the appellate unit. You are doing so much of the heavy lifting so that we can be the face of a successful conviction, but it does not happen without all of you.”

About Tim specifically, DA Schorn praised his unwavering integrity: "You just step up, you rise to the occasion every time. You are clearly someone whose integrity is without question. If you don’t know the answer, you find the answer, and it’s always so thorough."

Tim graciously accepted his award, saying, "Thank you, guys, for this. This means a whole lot.”

Join us in congratulating Christine and Tim on these well-deserved honors! Their dedication and hard work make a real difference in Bucks County every single day.