 Photo from The Philadelphia Inquirer |
AIA has put a 4-part Insight series together based on a sequence of articles The Philadelphia Inquirer ran from December 13 – December 16, 2009. In recent Insights, we covered Part 1: Deposit Bail Has Failed Philadelphia, Part 2: Criminals Defy Broken 10% Deposit Bail System, and Part 3: Witness Intimidation Causes Cases to Collapse. This week, our final installment explores how defense lawyers have taken advantage of the mismanagement and chaos of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system.
“We have a system that is on the brink of overall collapse,” says Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery, a former Philadelphia judge.(1) Among large urban counties, Philadelphia has the nation’s lowest felony-conviction rate. Philadelphia defendants walk free on all charges in nearly two-thirds of violent-crime cases. “These are the most horrendous crimes that can be committed— murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault,” he adds. (1)
The number of cases filed in Philadelphia’s criminal courts has risen 51 percent since 1989, but the number of dismissals has doubled. Inmates, needed at trial as witnesses or defendants, never arrive. Police are often booked to appear in different courtrooms at the same time, guaranteeing that cases will collapse. (1) Of the cases that die, 82% collapse in Municipal Court, whose judges decide whether or not cases should proceed to Common Pleas Court for a full trial. D. Webster Keogh, administrative judge of Common Pleas Court, defends the judges: “It’s not the responsibility of a court system to grade itself on convictions and non-convictions. The responsibility of a court is to fairly decide each case on the merits.” (1)
Defense lawyers routinely exploit the court system’s chaos. They delay cases to wear down victims and witnesses. “We call that a Philadelphia special,” says A. Charles Peruto Jr., a veteran defense lawyer. “Witnesses didn’t show. Cops didn’t show. It was the usual. I’ve won shootings because the witness was waiting in line to get on the elevator.” (1)
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Among judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers, there is something called the “three-strikes” rule. It’s not the well-known national “three-strikes” law that cracks down on repeat offenders. Instead, it is a Municipal Court practice that gives prosecutors three tries to conduct a preliminary hearing or else face dismissal of a case. This often ends in cases being thrown out. (1) “It’s a scummy way to win,” says a lawyer who asked not to be named. “Does my office engage in that? Yes. If all their witnesses are there and there’s no way to win except to postpone, we postpone. It’s a battle.” (1)
With the city of Philadelphia in such disarray, the prospect of safer streets may seem bleak. However, commercial bail has proven time and again to be the most efficient and cost effective way to insure that defendants appear in court. If it was reintroduced in Philadelphia it would become a safer place. For more information about the failure of deposit bail across the United States, visit www.depositbailtruth.com to request a copy of AIA’s booklet, “Government Sponsored Deposit Bail: A Failed System.”
1. Craig R. McCoy, Nancy Phillips, Dylan Purcell, “With Philadelphia’s court system in disarray […]” The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 13-16 2009, Part I of “Justice: Delayed Dismissed, Denied.”
Part 1: Deposit Bail Has Failed Philadelphia
Part 2: Criminals Defy Broken 10% Deposit Bail System
Part 3: Witness Intimidation Causes Cases to Collapse
Part 4: Defense Lawyers Exploit the Court System