No-Show Witnesses Tossed in Jail
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Another nice gem from The Washington Post. Headline linked.
No-Show Witnesses Tossed in Jail
Baltimore Prosecutors Use Tactic on Those Who Fear Testifying
By Eric Rich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 9, 2005; Page A01
Kenyetta Costes had been in a Baltimore jail more than five months when, in a handwritten letter, she pleaded with a judge to set her free.
"My life has totally stopped," wrote Costes, 19. "I've lost my life, my family, my children and my home. I humbly ask, would you please consider releasing me on home [detention] until the court date?"
On the court date in question, Costes was not to be a defendant. She was charged with no crime, but was a witness -- a state's witness who, like countless others in Baltimore, had decided that testifying was a risk not worth taking. Prosecutors, determined to put her on the stand, soon found themselves in the awkward position of asking a judge to jail their own witness.
In Baltimore, where cooperative witnesses are routinely shunned and sometimes killed, prosecutors estimate that each week they get three to five orders allowing them to arrest witnesses who have skipped court dates. Within three days, the witnesses must come before a judge, who then can order them held or set conditions for their release.
Generally, witnesses are held no longer than several days, a few weeks at most, prosecutors say. Costes, a mother of two, was the rare case: She spent 163 days in jail before a judge, responding to her letter, set her free in January after she gave a videotaped deposition.
The city's top prosecutor, State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, acknowledged that her office uses so-called body attachment writs more frequently than other state's attorneys in Maryland but said she has little choice. "I would rather not [jail witnesses], but we need to get justice for our victims and we need to get justice for our community, so we do what we have to do," she said. "It's not always pretty."
... more at linked article
Oh my god, where the hell are the Americans without a CLUe when someone like Ms. Costes needs them?!! Shouldn't they be involved in helping to free this witness, who after all was only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time so as to witness some criminal activities? Even better, why wouldn't the ACLU be trying desperately to get this witness released so as to help protect the rights of the person that was originally being charged -- after all, if a witness is being held against their will, they are more likely to make up testimony to fit the desires of the government prosecutors, aren't they?!!?
Argh, another "what a mess" situation. This is, as indicated in the article, a growing problem in Baltimore (and I'm sure some other high crime jurisdictions). There have been far too many cases lately of witnesses winding up dead before they could testify, or just after giving testimony. Family members wind up dead or threatened, and increasingly, witnesses have become reluctant to testify for fear of retribution.
The government must do a better job of protecting witnesses, and making sure that the environment is such that witnesses need not fear doing the right thing. Going to the extremes of placing witnesses in custody so that they will testify is most definitely going too far. And doing it for the periods of time that were involved here are absolutely ridiculous.
Just more examples of how corrupted our legal system is, and how badly we are doing at making sure our legal system is "just".
No-Show Witnesses Tossed in Jail
Baltimore Prosecutors Use Tactic on Those Who Fear Testifying
By Eric Rich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 9, 2005; Page A01
Kenyetta Costes had been in a Baltimore jail more than five months when, in a handwritten letter, she pleaded with a judge to set her free.
"My life has totally stopped," wrote Costes, 19. "I've lost my life, my family, my children and my home. I humbly ask, would you please consider releasing me on home [detention] until the court date?"
On the court date in question, Costes was not to be a defendant. She was charged with no crime, but was a witness -- a state's witness who, like countless others in Baltimore, had decided that testifying was a risk not worth taking. Prosecutors, determined to put her on the stand, soon found themselves in the awkward position of asking a judge to jail their own witness.
In Baltimore, where cooperative witnesses are routinely shunned and sometimes killed, prosecutors estimate that each week they get three to five orders allowing them to arrest witnesses who have skipped court dates. Within three days, the witnesses must come before a judge, who then can order them held or set conditions for their release.
Generally, witnesses are held no longer than several days, a few weeks at most, prosecutors say. Costes, a mother of two, was the rare case: She spent 163 days in jail before a judge, responding to her letter, set her free in January after she gave a videotaped deposition.
The city's top prosecutor, State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, acknowledged that her office uses so-called body attachment writs more frequently than other state's attorneys in Maryland but said she has little choice. "I would rather not [jail witnesses], but we need to get justice for our victims and we need to get justice for our community, so we do what we have to do," she said. "It's not always pretty."
... more at linked article
Oh my god, where the hell are the Americans without a CLUe when someone like Ms. Costes needs them?!! Shouldn't they be involved in helping to free this witness, who after all was only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time so as to witness some criminal activities? Even better, why wouldn't the ACLU be trying desperately to get this witness released so as to help protect the rights of the person that was originally being charged -- after all, if a witness is being held against their will, they are more likely to make up testimony to fit the desires of the government prosecutors, aren't they?!!?
Argh, another "what a mess" situation. This is, as indicated in the article, a growing problem in Baltimore (and I'm sure some other high crime jurisdictions). There have been far too many cases lately of witnesses winding up dead before they could testify, or just after giving testimony. Family members wind up dead or threatened, and increasingly, witnesses have become reluctant to testify for fear of retribution.
The government must do a better job of protecting witnesses, and making sure that the environment is such that witnesses need not fear doing the right thing. Going to the extremes of placing witnesses in custody so that they will testify is most definitely going too far. And doing it for the periods of time that were involved here are absolutely ridiculous.
Just more examples of how corrupted our legal system is, and how badly we are doing at making sure our legal system is "just".
