Seattle, WA
‘Seattleites should feel safe’: City attorney plans to eliminate criminal case backlog by 2023
The Seattle Metropolis Legal professional is saying extra plans in her effort to scale back the felony case backlog she inherited when taking workplace.
SEATTLE — Seattle Metropolis Legal professional Ann Davison says her workplace will eradicate the felony case backlog, which was as much as practically 5,000 circumstances when she took workplace in January, earlier than 2023 beneath a brand new plan.
Davison, who inherited the backlog after taking up the workplace from Pete Holmes, introduced the brand new plan Tuesday, saying it has been knowledgeable by former U.S. Legal professional Brian Moran.
“At the moment’s plan will eradicate the backlog by the tip of the yr. We may even enhance the processes of the Prison Division to forestall one other miscarriage of justice like this backlog,” Davison mentioned Tuesday in a press release.
Moran was referred to as in by Davison in early January as she took workplace to particularly assist ease the case backlog.
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The plan consists of combining employees sources by assigning further circumstances to assistant metropolis prosecutors, filling extra assist employees vacancies and establishing a system of prioritizing backlog referrals.
“My primary precedence is bettering public security. Seattleites ought to really feel protected strolling down the road or going to the park. My early actions to implement five-day submitting and create a Excessive-Utilizer Initiative to deal with frequent offenders have been first steps to disrupt the tradition of crime in Seattle,” Davison mentioned.
Underneath the brand new plan circumstances involving crimes towards individuals, which embody home violence, assault with sexual motivation and different assault and harassment crimes can be prioritized first, a launch acknowledged. The town legal professional’s workplace will then prioritize crimes involving firearms and weapons, DUIs and those that meet the Excessive Utilizer Initiative standards or anybody with three or extra present referrals within the backlog respectively.
“Merely submitting each case wouldn’t resolve the backlog – the courtroom system can not deal with an inflow of circumstances of this magnitude unexpectedly. Underneath our new course of, and with the continued dedication of our Prison Division employees, we are going to tackle the backlog by the tip of the yr,” mentioned Prison Chief Natalie Walton-Anderson in a press release.
Moreover, circumstances within the backlog which have gone past the statute of limitations are being declined.
Davison, who mentioned she has already stuffed 9 vacant prosecutor positions since taking workplace, may even search a supplemental price range request to fund further employees till the backlog is eradicated.
Davison introduced various earlier initiatives to eradicate the felony division’s case backlog together with reducing the submitting determination time for brand new circumstances to a most of 5 days.
In March, the Excessive Utilizer Initiative recognized no less than 118 people who have been answerable for greater than 2,400 circumstances during the last 5 years within the metropolis. This system appeared to boost the outcomes for these people to get them out of the felony justice system whereas additionally diminishing their influence on public security.
In response to town legal professional’s workplace, these efforts have decreased the felony case backlog by 428 circumstances.