Pubdate: Wed, 02 Oct 2002
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2002 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Author: Gwen Filosa

DA HOPEFULS SAY VIOLENT CASES BUNGLED

Candidates vying to become the next Orleans Parish district attorney 
slammed Harry Connick's office Tuesday night during a forum, saying it 
bungles violent cases. They cited a Faubourg St. John killing Friday in 
which two of the suspects had recently been released from jail because 
prosecutors failed to charge them in an earlier case.

The slaying Friday morning of Christopher Briede, 32, and the subsequent 
finger pointing between prosecutors and police about why the suspects were 
on the street, dominated Tuesday's candidate forum, sponsored by the 
Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association.

Eddie Jordan, a former U.S. attorney in New Orleans, said the district 
attorney's office needs to work as a team with police. "They have an 
adversarial relationship," he said. "Criminals fall through the cracks, as 
they did last week."

On Monday, Connick's office blamed the police for the suspects' release, 
saying reports had not been filed properly. But Tuesday, just before the 
candidates forum, Connick said prosecutors hadn't been able to build a case 
because the victims and witnesses were uncooperative.

Criticism of Connick's office, particularly for its low conviction rate, 
has been a staple of the district attorney race, with the candidates vowing 
tougher prosecution of the most violent crimes.

"Two people were let out because the case screeners didn't do their jobs 
and now a man is dead," said Dolores "Dolly" Mason Smith, the only 
Republican in the field of eight and a prosecutor in the 1980s. "I will be 
there until midnight if it has to be, to screen cases."

James Gray II said the district attorney's office has to use common sense. 
Prosecutors can't waste time when it comes to felony cases, he said, 
referring to the 60 days the district attorney has to charge suspects with 
the most serious crimes.

"Someone should have picked up the phone or walked over to the Police 
Department, not on the 59th day, but on the 10th day, and said, 'We have . 
. . no report,' " Gray said.

Morris Reed, a former judge, assistant U.S. attorney and police officer, 
said he would create a homicide-narcotics task force to begin working on 
the backlog of homicide cases in Orleans Parish's criminal justice system.

When the candidates were asked to name the biggest problem facing the 
district attorney's office, several themes emerged.

Gray said the district attorney needs to develop a better relationship with 
citizens, who he said don't trust the system and won't cooperate with 
prosecutors.

Dale Atkins, the clerk of Civil District Court and Connick's choice for 
district attorney, said the office needs more money to keep and develop 
staff. She said a "loan forgiveness" program for the assistants would help 
reverse the alarming turnover of the district attorney's trial lawyers.

Jordan said the office has no "team approach" to solving crime.

The assistant district attorneys in Orleans Parish took their share of hits 
from the candidates for seemingly lacking the skills and experience to win 
cases at trial. Their salaries start at about $31,000 a year, with little 
hope of ever approaching $40,000. Connick asks for a three-year commitment, 
but in 2001 the trial division had a 66 percent turnover rate.

"We've got 25- and 26-year-old lawyers trying cases against 45- and 
50-year-old seasoned trial lawyers," said Franz Zibilich, the chief deputy 
city attorney who has done defense work for years. "That's got to change."

The setting of priorities was another key issue in the forum.

Gary Wainwright, a criminal defense lawyer who advocates decriminalizing 
marijuana, said the district attorney's office needs to focus on "the real 
crimes," not the flurry of small-scale drug possessions.

Paul Massa, an independent who has based his campaign on fighting white 
collar crime, agreed. "We've been chasing after crackheads. We've got a 
jail full of them, and it hasn't made a bit of difference in our lives," he 
said.
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