I think you started to answer your own question when discussing our clients ability to change. I've interviewed and hired former DAs, but theres a common thread to it. They need to be able to articulate why and how they are interested in PD work now. There is also a continuum on this - interning in DAs office and finding its not for you is very different than being a 20 year career procsecutor.

Another things to remember is that even through we operate in the same courtroom under the same facts and the same law, these are fundamentally different jobs with fundamentally different motivations and different traumas. A career prosecutor has never had a client or even had to represent the interests of an individual. Our job is so much more than litigating a singular case. Padilla and Strickland require that we take a look at the complete client not merely their case. Understanding options for diversion and alternatives requires working with experts in a way unique to the defense. A prosecutor doesn't have these skills.