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D.A. getting heat over slow pace of court cases
District Attorney Frank Parrish, the subject of at least a half-dozen affidavits petitioning for his suspension or removal, was the focus late last year of two meetings of court clerks and sheriffs about the pace of cases moving through the court system.
Some of the concerns brought up in the meetings broadly parallel specific allegations in the recently filed affidavits, which contend that the District Attorney’s office ignored or acted too slowly on cases and other filings.
One of the petitions was from a police officer involved in a legal action over a personnel grievance with Kill Devil Hills. Before filing suit against the town, he had contacted Parrish, saying his complaints warranted the removal of the police chief.
Correspondence and other documents show that on Nov. 28, 2011, a local sheriff e-mailed an invitation to the First Judicial District’s seven Superior Court clerks and sheriffs. The meeting was attended by all of the sheriffs and clerks as well as Superior Court judges J.C. Cole and Jerry Tillett.
According to the documents, the main concern was a backlog of cases, much of which was attributed to slow response from the District Attorney’s office.
A similar meeting at the District Court level in October was attended by all seven Superior Court clerks and sheriffs. The purpose of that meeting was to conduct “an informal discussion of ways cases might be more expeditiously heard.”
Shortly after the meeting, one document reveals an attendee saying “after that meeting I received a call from Frank Parrish about the meeting and I informed him of the problems we were having with court cases.”
In a letter, Parrish outlined changes he hoped would result in “far better service to the public and your agency.”
One was the assignment of Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lamb as “Chief Assistant District Attorney,” making one of her duties “quality control” and noting she will only continue to “try cases as necessary.”
Parrish, in an interview, said that many District Attorneys have assistants that serve in such a capacity.
“It’s something I probably should have done a while ago,” he said.
Another document that was released after the meeting notes in October, 2006, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge J. Richard Parker also held a meeting with Parrish and all seven district clerks and sheriffs, covering the same problems and stating several months later that no improvements were forthcoming.
A list of pending court cases filed in two small counties underscores the problem. In one, five cases have been pending for time periods ranging from 270 to almost 1,600 days. The charges in those cases include indecent liberties, child abuse, first degree murder and concealed weapons charges.
In the other county, six pending cases have been languishing over 450 days with one case 695 days old. The case load for that county totals 11 pages.
In one county, only 12 cases were on the calendar and none of them were brought to trial in the recent term.
One sheriff who did not want to be named said such meetings occur from time to time between judges, sheriffs, clerks and municipal police chiefs. He recited the old saying that the wheels of justice turn slowly slow, and also pointed out other problem areas that slow trials down, such as an overwhelmed crime lab in Raleigh that handles evidence for small jurisdictions.
Parrish, who oversees 11 assistant district attorneys in seven counties, said he did not attend the meetings and could not address specific concerns that might have been discussed about his office.
But besides delays in processing forensic evidence, Parrish said, other factors contribute to backlogs. One case, for example, might take up an entire weeklong trial session.
Also, he said, the law requires some sessions to be dedicated to administrative matters such as motions, bail and pleas, so the system is limited by time. In Dare County, Superior Court sessions are once a month. Every other month is an administrative session, where dozens of defendants, families and lawyers pack the courtroom.
“The reasons are as multiplicitous as humanity,” he said.
Overall, Parrish said, the judicial system receives about 3 percent of the state’s budget.
Because they are pending, Parrish said he could not comment on petitions filed in Pasquotank County by attorney Kathryn Fagan on behalf of clients who allege problems with his office. In most of them, complainants allege a lack of communication from the D.A.’s office or a lack of action in investigating and responding to ongoing cases and other filings.
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NagsHead2 says:
One of the biggest issues plaguing the DA’s Office is a lack of qualified staff, which is a direct result of the ridiculously low salaries the State offers. The DA’s Dare County Office has been a revolving door for young attorneys. They get courtroom experience under their belts and then head into private practice where the can make ten times what the State can offer.
Ridiculous says:
@NagsHead2- none of the ADA’s currently in the District Attorney’s office are the typical young attorneys attributable in most DA’s offices throughout the state. All of them have over 3 years of experience or more. Frank Parrish has not had a high turnover rate.
One of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system is the fact that everyone has a right of appeal on all district court cases to superior court b/c “people can’t pay” or their “not ready to lose their license.” So even after an entire trial in district court in which someone is found guilty, they just appeal it. And who knows how long that takes…
Matlock says:
So before the usual suspects start their moaning and groaning lets get a few thing straight:
1) The State has cut back on magistrates, judges staff, district attorneys, district attorneys’ staff, public defenders, and public defenders’ staff.
2) The State has cut back on state law enforcement including positions at the State Lab.
3) Right now there are probably over 150 cops in Dare County. The work they generate is funneled down to TWO assistant district attorneys. Even if each cop just made three arrests a year, that’s two people to deal with 450 cases. And, on average, the cops certainly arrest more than 3 people a year.
4) You get what you pay for, or in this case, what you don’t pay for.
One should also bear in mind that defense attorneys purposefully dig in their heels and draw out cases for as long as possible. Why? Cops leave for greener pastures. Victims move. Witnesses’ memories fade. A year after a crime it is often harder to pull together all the pieces needed to present a successful case in court. The end result is that their client gets a sweetheart deal or, best case scenario for them, their case gets dropped.
There’s another reason defense attorneys love to postpone cases and that’s called consolidation. A discussion for another time perhaps, though perhaps Russ and Rob will pull back the curtains and throw light on that unsavory practice.
NagsHead2 says:
@Ridiculous -
I can name at least a dozen ADA’s that have come and gone over the past ten years. If that’s not a high turnover rate in an office of two, I don’t know what is. And to your second point, WE HAVE A CONSTITUTION IN THIS COUNTRY!
Roger says:
Matlock is correct that all of those items MIGHT be a legitimate reason for a case to be slow to move to court, but are they the reason? We can’t assume they are which is why we have a local paper to dig through the data and find out if the reasons are legitimate or negligent. There are those who will jump on negligent immediately and scream and holler for someone’s head before all the data is in and there are those who will assume legitimate reasons exist for slow responses which is just as bad an assumption. Let’s find out which is true ….
obxdad says:
Legal reform is long overdue. And it will never happen in the current antagonistic political environment.
There should be a formula determining the exact amount of law enforcement money spent on cops vs. prosecutors in the each district. If the towns hire more cops, then resources need to be available to actually process the extra cases.
Is there still a right to a speedy trial? I think the citizens paying taxes to fund these trials have a right for them to be speedy too.
junkman says:
I’m sure some of these cases are real and need to be prosecuted vigorously and fairly. However I’m also certain that many are nuisance cases where cops make charges to build their reputations, harass citizens they dislike or make money for the towns. If we can weed out the unnecessary, we may just get down to those that legitimately need to be prosecuted. Maybe then we’ll see we really have enought recources.
Ridiculous says:
@Nagshead2- in the last 7 years only 3 ADAs have left this district. Two of them went to other DA’s offices. The other one went into private practice. There were several that went before that however 1 went to another DA’s office, 1 became a judge, 2 went to private practice. And I can name each and every one of them. Knowing the turnover rate in other District Attorney’s Offices around the state I must say that the turn over rate in this district is not high.
To your second point, I am very aware and fully support the United States Constitution. It is why our country is so great. The legislative intent our founding forefathers envisioned so that everyone would have a right of appeal and be entitled to the 6th Amendment right to a jury trial are extremely different from people appealing cases because they don’t have the money right then or because they don’t agree with the District Court Judge’s verdict. Appealing cases on that basis causes unnecessary delays and that’s a fact.
Matlock is correct on EVERY single point adding to the increase in reasons why cases aren’t handled in a timely fashion.
obxdad says:
We should move all the cases with victims to the head of the queue. Why waste time on guys growing their own weed and whatnot?