Citizen Crime Watch Blog

Letters responding to the Gwen Filosa article printed in The Times-Picayune, “Prosecutor juggles cases beset by delays and witness problems”:

Prosecutor outlines days leading to resignation
Friday, September 21, 2007

Re: “Orleans DA loses another attorney: Judge decries office’s lack of preparation,” Metro, Sept. 20.

Based on the story, I feel compelled to explain why I abruptly resigned from the district attorney’s office.

On Sept. 12 and 13, I had the privilege of trying the case of State v. Rudolph Wade with my colleague, friend and fellow member of the Violent Offender Unit, Mary Glass.

Rudolph Wade is the first cold hit DNA rape case in the State of Louisiana to go to trial. At 9 p.m. Sept. 13, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of forcible rape.

While in trial on Rudolph Wade, I was also diligently preparing for the trial of State v. Eddie Harrison which was set for trial the following Tuesday, Sept. 18. Specifically, I was attempting to resolve open discovery matters.

I successfully accomplished this while in trial on the Rudolph Wade matter and received the missing materials late on Friday, Sept. 14.

For having done my job in the most diligent and efficient manner under the circumstances, I was placed in a position of defending my office’s failures in front of Judge Julian Parker Sept. 18.

Then on Sept. 19, I was expected to be prepared to try a homicide case before Judge Camille Buras. Even with 10 years of experience and 117 trials, this was impossible.

Shortly before my abrupt resignation, I received a phone call from defense counsel on the trial of State v. Michael Davis stating she had not received complete discovery in that matter.

The Davis case is set for trial before Judge Julian Parker on Tuesday, Sept. 25. Hearing that, I knew I could not walk in front of Judge Parker, a judge for whom I have a great deal of respect, and explain to him the exact same failings of my office that had occurred Sept. 18.

I have had enough. My physical health and emotional well-being are not worth $80,000. Neither is my professional reputation.

Cate L. Bartholomew
New Orleans

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DA has time on his hands?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

We have a completely dysfunctional district attorney’s office whose leader — according to the story about overworked prosecutor Francis X. deBlanc III — “sat behind his prosecutors in the front row of the courtroom for several hours.”

Perhaps District Attorney Eddie Jordan should spend these hours more productively by pitching in and doing his job, prosecuting some of these cases himself to help his assistant district attorneys and the citizens of New Orleans.

If he doesn’t want to get back in the courtroom, perhaps he should spend the hours looking for secretaries, staff, volunteers, computers and copy machines so his assistant district attorneys can concentrate on putting criminals in jail where they belong.

Joel P. Loeffelholz
New Orleans

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Like an army, DA’s office needs selfless soldiers
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Re: “Off-target at the DA’s office,” Other Opinions, Sept. 21.

In his guest column, Harry Tervalon Jr. invoked the memory of his father’s World War II service in an apparent attempt to suggest that the New Orleans criminal justice system, especially the Police Department and district attorney’s office, are in need of additional resources.

What Mr. Tervalon should also have invoked was the well-known call to arms “when the going gets tough the tough get going.”

Without a doubt the entire criminal justice system needs additional resources. However, the critical need at this point in time is human resources. The New Orleans Police Department needs police officers, and the district attorney needs prosecutors.

Rather than reiterate hackneyed complaints regarding working conditions, Mr. Tervalon could have better honored the selfless spirit of our World War II veterans by honoring his commitment to improve the experience level of the district attorney’s office instead of bolting back to his private practice after a mere month on the job.

Prosecutors swear an oath to defend the Constitution and uphold the laws of this state and the United States. There is no place in a prosecutor’s office for an attorney, such as Mr. Tervalon, who believes that his personal ethics prevent him from prosecuting certain categories of citizens.

During his brief stay at the district attorney’s office Mr. Tervalon did not try any cases, did not facilitate good relations with anyone and did not honor his commitment to join the battle against crime.

Working in any branch of city government post-Katrina is a tough job.

The general public should know the criminal justice system has at every level individuals who, unlike Mr. Tervalon, show up to work every day committed to confront the difficulties with which they are confronted and work toward making the city a safer and better place.

Keva Landrum and Val Solino
First Assistant District Attorneys
District Attorney’s Office
New Orleans

This was a letter following up on a crime data-sharing meeting which took place last Thursday with the City Attorney. Mayor Nagin expressed interest in the idea a week earlier, and requested the meeting. I think everyone agrees so far, at least in principle, with the idea of getting more timely crime information to citizens so they can at least be aware of public safety threats. The fact that Citizen Crime Watch is comprised of volunteers, and isn’t asking for any money out of the city budget helps the cause. The questions which remain have to do with determining what entity would claim ownership of the data, and how accurate it might be. These questions are answered in the letter.

Kerrie Ramsdell made an important point about how, more than a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina, vital public safety infrastructure still remains in once-flooded ruins, in this Times-Picayune letter to the editor:

City needs police stations back
Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Our 5th District New Orleans police officers are presently working out of trailers with limited resources and technology (as are the 3rd and 7th district officers and the crime lab). It is imperative that the bureaucracy that has limited the move back to a building needs to be held accountable.

Whatever the reasons for holding up the renovations, they are unacceptable to citizens who depend upon the police for our safety and well-being.

We understand that our officers are doing the best they can with the resources they have, but the reality is that we cannot fully address crime prevention if the police don’t have adequate shelter and resources.

If we are committed to decreasing crime in the city, the city leadership must make the renovations of the district command buildings a priority.

We value our 5th District officers too much to let this issue go on any longer. We expect a realistic plan and timeline for these police officers to get back into their building ASAP.

Kerrie Ramsdell
Chairwoman
Marigny Crime Prevention Committee
New Orleans

Meanwhile, where’s the money to rebuild those police facilities?

While I applaud the recovery blueprint proposed by Edward Blakely, I think it worth noting that the $315.9 million to be devoted to the 17 target zones is less than half the $756 million that ICF International is to be paid for (mis)managing the Road Home program — and only a little more than the $275 million the U.S. is spending every day on the Iraq war. Money, as they say, talks.

Jerry Speir
New Orleans

A community ambassador delivered the letter above to Ray Nagin last week. After reading the letter, the mayor expressed interest in the idea working to create greater transparency by sharing 911 calls for service records with citizens via a data-sharing agreement with Loyola University’s Criminal Justice Program. He had some practical questions about how to implement the data-sharing arrangement from a technical standpoint, the accuracy of the emergency dispatch records, and how to protect victim privacy. There may be an opportunity to answer some of those questions in the not-too-distant future. There are good answers for all of the mayor’s concerns, so I would say that citizens should feel encouraged by his justifiably reserved but positive response, as should they feel equally encouraged by Chief Riley’s initially positive reaction last week to the idea.

I handed a letter to Chief Warren Riley today at the City Council Criminal Justice Committee hearing, requesting that he work on developing a solution with citizens to provide daily updates of the 911 calls for service crime data. Copies of the letter were delivered to members of the City Council. After a friendly conversation, Riley very politely invited me to have a meeting with him to discuss the matter further. I’ll be following through on the invitation, and will report the results.