Vidal served as the Deputy DPP under Lutchman Sooknandan, and thus after the latter's departure naturally came under consideration for promotion. Vidal was said to have a good relationship with the police, unlike past DPPs whose terms had been marked by acrimony and a breakdown of communications. Some members of the 12-person Senate expressed concern over Vidal's past actions; Erden Salazar wanted a chance to question her over her decision to charge Orange Walk mayor Ravell Gonzalez with death by careless conduct rather than the standard and more serious negligent manslaughter for his role in a traffic accidenttwo weeks prior. Douglas Singh stated that Solicitor-GeneralTanya Herwanger issued a letter suggesting that Vidal be hired on contract as acting DPP rather than given a full appointment to the position; in the end, the Senate voted to confirm Vidal as acting DPP. Soon after her contract began, Vidal had to begin dealing with even more political cases, such as the decision to charge Said Musa with the theft of US$10 million of funds received from the Hugo Chavez administration in Venezuela. She also faced an increasing trend of witnesses refusing to testify in court cases due to fear, continuing the rising trend of declarations of nolle prosequi. One reform that Vidal suggested was to amend Belize's Evidence Act to be more similar to Jamaica's Evidence Act and allow witness statements to be introduced into evidence even when the witness is kept away from the court proceedings due to threats. Under Vidal's tenure as DPP, Belize also saw its first trial without jury, when two men were charged with the attempted murder of PM Dean Barrow's law partnerRodwell Williams. Vidal also won Belize's first conviction for human trafficking. The DPP's office also suffered an unusually high number of resignations of lower-level staff under Vidal's tenure. In November 2008, a Canadian couple both working as Crown Counsels resigned from their positions and left the country after threats against them, leaving the DPP's office with just three Crown Counsels. Three more local lawyers also resigned over the next two years. Nevertheless, in June 2010 she was confirmed as substantive DPP when her original contract as acting DPP expired. A British expatriate lawyer who had been declared bankrupt in her home country was also hired to work in the DPP's office, but was assigned instead to the police, resigned a month later, and left the country. By the end of 2013, however, the office staff had grown to 10 crown counsel along with Vidal.
