(MOBILE, AL) - Thousands of cases move through the court system in Mobile county every year. LOCAL 15 News found some accused felons are escaping the legal system because of a critical error.
The LOCAL 15 Investigators dug through hundreds of cases, and found accused criminals charged with everything from DUI to Burglary, were allowed to walk free. Defense attorney Tim Fleming says it happens often. While he is used to it, his clients are not.
"Typically they are confused, they don't know what is happening, and I'll just usher them out of the courtroom as fast as I can," Fleming said.
"If the officer is not there, of course we cannot go forward with the hearing at that time," Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said.
When officers don't show up for court, the judge has two options, either reset the case to a later date or toss it.
"With 17,000 charges a year there are inevitably cases where officers do not attend," Deputy Chief Jim Barber of the Mobile Police Department said.
LOCAL 15 checked with the courts. Judge Bob Sherling says he documented 57 times law enforcement officers missed court from March through August of 2011. Police say they didn't know there was a problem.
"I would find it hard to believe if we had that many cases falling through the cracks, that we wouldn't be notified by the District Court, you would think certainly there would be some effort. We've received no correspondence to that effect," Barber said.
Rich says her office keeps track of the officers who don't show up for court.
"We have system in place where we are notifying the sheriff and the police chief when an officer doesn't show up," Rich said.
The LOCAL 15 Investigators requested documentation, but the district attorney wasn't able to provide it. Her office contacted LOCAL 15 later in the day. After checking with her staff, Rich asked for a second interview, to tell us she was wrong. Her office had not been keeping track of officers who missed court, resulting in law enforcement agencies not being notified.
"Based on the fact that we had so many budget cuts in the office, we had not been doing that," Rich said.
As a result, cases were thrown out, accused criminals sent back on the street, and no one was being held accountable.
Deputy Chief Jim Barber confirmed since January of 2010, no one at the Mobile Police Department has been reprimanded for failing to show up in District Court.
As a result of our investigation, the district attorney has implemented a new policy. The office is now using a computerized program to keep track of officers who don't show up. The system documents the case, the reason why the officer failed to appear in court, and if the case was reset or dropped. The first list, which showed four officers missed court, has been sent to the Sheriff and Police Chief.
