DC courts see surge in cases amid Trump's crime crackdown
DC courts see surge in cases amid Trump's crime crackdown
The White House continues to tout successes with crime reduction in Washington, D.C. They say 179 arrests were made over the weekend?over 1,000 total?and they?ve gotten over 100 illegal guns off of the streets. This has led to a surge in court cases for the District. FOX 5's David Kaplan reports.
WASHINGTON - The White House continues to tout successes with crime reduction in Washington, D.C.
They say 179 arrests were made over the weekend—over 1,000 total—and they’ve gotten over 100 illegal guns off of the streets in the District.
Dig deeper:
FOX 5 wanted to get a sense of what some of these arrests and cases looked like, and the reality inside D.C.’s court system. The number of charges brought seems to have increased.
Mondays are typically busy for the courts, but there were 125 cases in front of the judge today. One lawyer estimated that’s about double what they’d normally see.
Dig deeper:
Defense attorneys say a few things have happened in the last two weeks—mainly, they’re seeing more cases charged. At times, cases that may have normally been charged as misdemeanors are charged as felonies.
Defense attorney Sellano Simmons tells me he’s noticed less wiggle room for line prosecutors to amend charges in the initial stages of a case.
"Prior to two weeks ago, you would see thoughtful consideration to what charges were brought. Sometimes these charges are amended to lesser charges. As equally important, you’d see plea negotiations back and forth. It’s our understanding, prior to two weeks ago, that the line attorneys no longer have the authority to negotiate downward in plea negotiations, Simmons said.
While sitting in court, FOX 5 took note of several drug possession charges.
In one case, the man charged had an open container of alcohol on the sidewalk. Police stopped and searched him and found marijuana. Another man was charged for having an illegal gun.
And finally, a man charged with two felony assault charges appeared before the judge today and was held—the alleged incident happened in Georgetown last November, and he was recently arrested. Indications are that he didn’t have any other outstanding charges in D.C.
Big picture view:
In terms of charging decisions, the US Attorney's Office told FOX 5 that they are charging 88% of all cases since the emergency was declared two weeks ago.
FOX 5 asked around and was told that number was higher than usual.
Despite pushback, protests and a Washington Post poll shows that seven in 10 D.C. residents strongly oppose this federal presence, the Trump administration, continuing to tout the success they’ve seen as data shows violent crime has dropped in the last two weeks.