INDEX

TOTAL $ 4,971,525 4,622,357

State prosecutions of misdemeanor offenses and traffic offenses are handled by the District Court Unit. Each Assistant Prosecuting Attorney primarily covers one judge=s docket. Pretrial conferences, pleas, formal / informal hearings, motions, bench trials, and jury trials are handled by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys. The District Court Unit operates as a team covering vacations or sick days so the District Court case volume flows uninterrupted. Assistant Prosecutors are additionally assigned to review cases for issuance of Complaint and Warrant.

All felony cases begin in District Court. Felony cases are reviewed by committee to determine appropriate offers based on the facts contained in police reports. The committee is comprised of all Attorneys available on Wednesday afternoon. Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys present a factual summary and defendant=s criminal history. Each case must be reviewed before the scheduled preliminary examination. The committee review process provides consistency on how similar cases will be handled. The Assistant Prosecutor must exercise discretion where new facts or evidence comes to his or her attention at the Preliminary Examination. Plea negotiations, case resolutions, waivers, or preliminary examinations are handled by the Assistant Prosecutors. Court room skills combined with the art of negotiation resulted in most cases being resolved without the time and expense of a trial.

The CATS (Court Activity Tracking System) introduced in 1997 is being updated. The updated system is expected to provide a more accurate oversight of case activity. The 1997 CATS program is the computerized system available for providing oversight in how cases are being handled. Felony cases resolved in district court are manually recorded by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys and the records are collected. The procedure assists supervisory personnel to monitor trends in case disposition.

DISTRICT COURT UNIT/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FOCUS

The two district court unit chiefs each have an area of special focus. One area of emphasis is domestic violence. In 2001 the Prosecutor=s office processed 1, 847 (one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven) warrant requests that were domestic related. Beyond the sheer volume of the cases, domestic violence was selected out of the concern for responsiveness to victim=s needs, accountability for offenders, and the need for a coordinated response from our office, and with the various law enforcement agencies.

In addition to the efforts outlined above, our office, in conjunction with the Lansing Police Department and the Personal Protection Order Office, applied for and received a grant to: create a coordinated Domestic Assault Response Team(DART); increase the level and intensity of services provided by the Personal Protection Order office; and establish an integrated electronic monitoring system between the police and prosecutors. The DART team consists of a prosecutor, a detective, a victim=s advocate, and a part time advocate from the Personal Protection office. The team will work together to investigate charges, maximize prosecution and strengthen sanctions against offenders.

2001 REPORT

The Ingham County Prosecutor=s Office is responsible for the prosecution of all felony and high court misdemeanor cases in the 30th Judicial Circuit for Ingham County. These are the most serious crimes, carrying prison penalties from two years to non-parolable life offenses. This responsibility is handled by the seven-person Circuit Court Unit.

With respect to the circuit court level cases, the attorneys deal with all aspects of the criminal case once it has been bound-over to the circuit court. Duties include: review of police and other agency reports, review of evidence and scientific analyses performed on the evidence, document preparation and reviews, meeting with and interviewing victims and witnesses in preparation for trial, and legal research and brief-writing with regard to issues raised by the defense or inherent in the case. The Circuit Court Unit attorneys also engage in pretrial negotiations and litigate pretrial motions. They attend and handle all arraignments, pretrial hearings, pretrial motions, plea hearings, trials, sentence hearings, and many post-trial motions. In addition to representing the state in these criminal matters, the attorneys represent the Department of Corrections in probation violation hearings and the Secretary of State in driver=s license appeals.

As a result of the restructuring of the Michigan court system by the legislature, the criminal case load for the Ingham County Circuit Judges handling felony cases increased dramatically. Consequently, those Circuit Unit attorneys assigned to specific judges are now required to prepare for a trial docket of five straight weeks versus the three week dockets previously required. The two unit chiefs Afloat@ between courtrooms to try cases and attempt to provide a Abreak@ for the docket attorneys in the middle of their dockets, or are involved with the special investigation cases mentioned above.

In 2001, there were 1,289 new felony cases filed in the circuit courts; of those, 115 were felony cases carrying possible life sentences B these are the most serious cases such as first degree sexual assault crimes, armed robberies and murders. Including cases which had been filed in previous years, the total caseload was 1,756 cases. About 577 cases remained pending at year end. This means nearly 1,200 cases were resolved during 2001 (not including probation violations, driver=s license cases and district court appeals). On average, then, each of the five docket attorneys disposed of over 230 cases during the year; of that average, about 18 would have been Alife offense@ cases.

Most cases were resolved by guilty plea. Unfortunately, a breakdown of our reporting software prevents providing statistics such as those provided in previous years. Other sources show the following. About 90 Alife offenses@ were resolved; 75 by plea and 15 by trial. Nearly 1100 other felonies were resolved, over 1050 of those by plea and 25 by trial. Number of days used to try the cases of those 40 defendants electing to take their cases to jury trial amounted to over 200 Atrial days.@

Between guilty pleas to felonies and jury verdicts of guilty in felony trials, 1179 defendants were convicted of their felonious behaviors. The resulting removal of those felons who are a danger to the community will mean safer streets and neighborhoods for Ingham County. The Ingham County Prosecutor=s Office remains a fundamental Aenvironmental protection@ agency.

1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

2001 REPORT

The Major Crime Unit was instituted within the Prosecutor=s Office during 1998. It was intended that the Unit be a Aclearing house@ and coordinator for prosecutions involving drug crimes, gang-related criminal activity and other cases assigned for special handling. The effort has been successful.

The attorneys assigned to this Unit are to handle those cases from start to finish, that is, by authorizing charges, conducting pre-trial conferences, preliminary examinations, motions and discovery, through to disposition by way of trial or plea negotiation. This constant personal attention given to the prosecution of these cases results in the title of Avertical@ prosecution. The method ensures consistency in the case, and fosters better communication between the police agencies, crime victims, and the assistant prosecutors.

Since the Amulti-tasked@ Unit works closely with several police specialty units, criminal intelligence gathered by any one such team is increasingly directed to other applications. In 2001, for example, investigations conducted by Tri-County Metro Narcotics Unit were coordinated with a homicide task force, resulting in the convictions of two men for the 1999 murder of East Lansing resident, Shemika Rogers. In another, intelligence gathered by Tri-County Metro was instrumental in the prosecution of a Home Invasion ring pursued by the Mason Police Department and the Ingham County Sheriff. Finally, intelligence gathered by officers assigned to the Agang Unit@ of the Lansing Police Department proved important in the conviction of an individual for a double homicide occurring within Lansing Township. The Aclearing house@ potential of the Major Crime Unit is becoming realized.

During the past year, 181 criminal cases have been commenced by the three attorneys assigned to the Unit on behalf of the Tri-County Metro Narcotics alone. The Major Crime Unit has also provided Avertical assistance@ to the Special Operations Section of the Lansing Police Department, and PACT, an enforcement cooperative.

Although less dramatic than Aring-busting@ convictions, the systematic use of police intelligence regarding gang structure and membership in case-by-case decision making has had a significant impact on gang-related criminal activity. In a typical Agang@ case, the Major Crime Unit is notified that an individual gang member has become suspect in criminal activity. The allegation is given special attention by the Unit. In this way, more than 20 individuals reputed to be gang members, mostly leaders, have been vertically prosecuted and convicted. These convictions have had a noticeable impact on the street gangs operating in Ingham County.

As we enter 2002, the hierarchical gang structure demonstrated by the Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples just several years ago is greatly diminished. Identifiable street gangs today are smaller, more local, and less well organized. Preliminary data prepared by the Lansing Police Department indicates that 2001 will show another consecutive year of decline in gang-related criminal incidents.

- CATHERINE EMERSON, Unit Chief

Professionals reported approximately 1.6 million children to be victims of maltreatment, either abuse or neglect. This number is a rate of 23.1 per 1,000 children under age 18.

Of these children, approximately 743,200 suffered physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. This is a rate of 11.1 per 1,000 children.

Approximately 879,000 suffered physical, emotional or educational neglect. This is a rate of 13.1 per 1,000 (the numbers of victims of abuse and neglect overlap to some extent, since some children suffer both forms of maltreatment.

Girls were sexually abused three times more often than boys.

Boys were at greater risk of serious injury than girls.

(Statistics from America=s Children 2000)

Unique Problems in Child Abuse Prosecutions:

Detection of injuries arising from Shaken Baby Syndrome (Inflicted Cerebral Trauma), Munchausen by Proxy, and chronic neglect require special expertise, consistency, and a knowledge of child development.

 

If the alleged abuser is a parent or is responsible for the care of the child, a separate civil case will issue in the Family Court for termination of parental rights and/or jurisdiction over the family to provide services in an attempt to reunite the family. This parallel case must be coordinated with the criminal prosecution.

When a child is abused, medical experts, the Family Independence Agency, foster care workers, police, detectives, and prosecutors all play a separate role. Coordination of these professionals as a multi-disciplinary team results in a better outcome for the injured child and the community.

 

Unit Duties:

To address the unique aspects of child abuse prosecution the Unit=s duties include:

1. Reviewing all requests for warrants involving physical abuse to children 12 and under.

2. Personal interview with all Averbal@ children who will be required to testify.

3. All interviewers will be trained in the Forensic Interview Protocol to use linguistically appropriate language for the child=s age group and personal developmental status.

9. Serve on the committee to construct and maintain a child friendly emergency shelter and interview location.

10. Serve on the Child Death Review Board which reviews all child deaths in the County to assure that each of the various agencies that are involved in the investigation, treatment, or prosecution of that case met all current standards of practice.

11. Maintain a Family Court docket.

12. Provide training regarding child abuse and courtroom preparation as requested by caseworkers and the Prosecuting Attorney=s Association of Michigan.

During the nine months this unit has been operational, we have adopted an official interview protocol to assure understandable and accurate statements are obtained from child victims.

We have provided specialized Forensic Interview training sessions for police and assistant prosecutors throughout the County. This improves the ability to investigate and understand age appropriate behavior for children.

In every case where the parent received a prison term for the abuse, the Prosecutor has also obtained the termination of parental rights so that the severely injured child could be safe from abuse and eligible for adoption into a loving home.

In addition to training, prosecution and coordination, this Unit has been active with various members of the community to build and staff Angel House. Angel House is community goal to build a dual purpose, child-friendly environment. Half of the house will be a shelter where children may be temporarily placed if they are removed from their home because of severe abuse. (Currently, caseworkers are required to call families during the middle of the night until they can find someone willing to open their home for the child). The second half of the home will provide one place where a child may be interviewed and medically examined. A grant was obtained from the National Children=s Alliance Foundation to provide start up costs of $35,000 and training funds of $5,000.

 

The Members of the Stakeholders Committee visited several other child assessment centers in the state of Michigan to gain insight and knowledge for a more competent approach to the problem of child abuse.

 

 

2001 REPORT

The Child Criminal Sexual Conduct Unit originated within the Prosector=s Office in March of 2000. The goal of the unit was to create vertical prosecutions for child molestation cases. Further, the unit was to provide one prosecutor to review all criminal sexual conduct cases involving victims of criminal sexual conduct under twelve years old, between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, and any special needs victim. The creation of the unit was grounded in the belief that cases concerning child molestation require the undivided attention of one prosecutor trained to deal with all of the issues arising out of such cases and how they pertain to the victim and their family.

29% = 38 CASES INVOLVING ALL OF THE ABOVE CLASSIFICATION WERE DENIED FOR VARIOUS REASONS

- SCOTT HUGHES

2001 REPORT

Introduction

The Appeals Unit is staffed by two attorneys and a legal assistant. The Unit=s duties include:

6. Review Parole Board decisions to release inmates from prison.

7. Coordinate the law student internship and externship programs. This includes recruiting, interviewing, selecting, training, supervising, and evaluating the students.

8. Respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

9. Review requests for, process, and issue investigative subpoenas for local police departments.

10. Assist the Prosecuting Attorney with policy development.

Appellate Activity

Other Activity

The Unit Chief also supervised 13 law students during 2001--three (3) work-study interns, two (2) PAAM interns, and eight (8) externs (who Awork@ to earn graduation credits). They handled misdemeanor prosecution, involuntary mental health commitments, legal research projects, and/or appeal briefs. During the summer, a work-study position was transferred from the Juvenile/Family Unit to the Appeals Unit. As a result, the Unit Chief supervises four or five students per term.

Training Activity

The Appeals Unit has continued its involvement in the Lansing Police Department (LPD) in-service training program. During January, the Unit Chief presented a videotaped lecture on new drug legislation and recent appellate decisions about search and seizure. During March, he lectured on the Michigan Rules of Evidence. These presentations give the Prosecutor=s staff an opportunity to offer practical advice to police officers, and thereby improve their effectiveness.

Statistics

2001 ANNUAL REPORT

January, 2001, saw the swearing in of two new Family Division judges - Judge Laura Baird and Judge Paula J. Manderfield. Judges Brown and Giddings returned to the general trial division of the 30^th Circuit Court. In July, 2001, the judges of the court moved to the new Veterans= Memorial Courthouse, which meant that for the first time in almost 3 years, all the judges and Referee Richard Kerbawy are located in the same building. In October, 2001, the Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney=s office moved to temporary offices at 5913 Executive Drive while the Grady Porter Building is being renovated after more than 20 years at Grady Porter. These transitions went relatively smoothly, due in no small part to the cooperation of court, casework, FIA, PPO office and prosecutor staff.

CHILD NEGLECT AND ABUSE CASES

Cases involving both child neglect and abuse remain at an all time high in Ingham County. This increase reflects not only new legislative mandates for Family Independence Agency but also an increase in casework staff to investigate reported neglect and abuse. In a very real sense, it also reflects the community=s increased awareness of potential problems for children and the community=s willingness to report neglect/abuse and be involved. The bulk of trials and proceedings handled by the APA=s in the division involve neglect/abuse cases. They remain the top priority for the division. In the past year this office has terminated the rights of parents for severe or long-term neglect/abuse at initial court proceedings in a significant number of cases. In general, APA=s work hard with court and agency casework staff to make certain that no child remains in Afoster care limbo@. Several cases have utilized the mediation process successfully to work out troublesome issues for the benefit of the children involved; for example, a graduated schedule of increased visitation for a young father who had not been involved with his 2 year old son in foster care since birth.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY CASES

Division staff and attorneys remained committed to holding youth accountable for the crimes they have committed, including making decisions to charge and/or sentence certain youth as adults. We also continue in our efforts to attack problems of delinquency and at risk youth in innovative ways in an effort to deal with minor problems before major crimes are committed. This year was the second successful year of the City of Lansing Teen Court. In addition, the grant-funded AJuvenile Intervention Program@ which targets young offenders (ages 10 to 13) who have committed serious property crimes, continued to concentrate services in cases where research has demonstrated a heavy rate of recidivism. Prosecutor staff (both attorneys and crime victims rights staff) have been instrumental in developing ways to incorporate Arestorative justice@ concepts into the program.

Truancy has long been an issue for parents as well as an indicator of Aat risk@ behaviors for teens. In August this division in conjunction with the court and the Lansing School District began ATruancy Court@ - an intensive, fast track effort to get at truancy early in the school year. Court is held every Thursday, with parents being asked to attend with their teen. The program is concentrating on middle school offenders as well as ninth and tenth graders. The object of the program is simple: Aon time to every class, every day@. Students and parents are given the opportunity to meet with school officials to deal with curriculum and other issues prior to a truancy charge being authorized. Students are also given a chance to improve attendance before formal charges. Once formal charges are issued they are on a fast track. In addition to the Lansing School District, Walter French Academy is also participating. The Truancy Court Committee hopes to expand the concept to other school districts in the county by the fall school term of 2002.

PERSONAL PROTECTION ORDER VIOLATION HEARINGS

MENTAL COMMITMENT HEARINGS

TRAINING, COMMITTEE AND LIAISON WORK

Attorneys and victim witness staff continue to serve on numerous committees in the community; for example; Child Death Review Team, the M Team (elder abuse), the Youth Violence Prevention Coalition, the Ingham County Friend of the Court Citizens= Advisory Committee, the Truancy and Teen Court committees, Angel House, the STOP Grant Committee just to name a few. APAs were also involved in training and cross training efforts throughout the year with CASA volunteers, C.A.R.E. volunteers, East Lansing Listening Ear, local law enforcement, FIA staff, MSU Crime Victim=s Academy, PAAM as well as classes and conferences at both law schools.

2001 ANNUAL REPORT

This year, In order to continue this effort our office acquired a half time attorney and half time investigator to prosecute these cases through all the stages of litigation including trial if necessary. Requests for criminal non-support warrants originate primarily from the Ingham County Friend of the Court since they are the only department with the data and personnel necessary to prove these cases. Unfortunately the FOC advised us that due to some internal processing problems as well as staff shortages they would need to halt all of their felony warrant requests during the first three months of this year because they didn=t have time to review their files in order to initiate requests. We offered the assistance of our new criminal non-support staff but were told by FOC that they didn=t have the time to train our staff to enable them to review the data in their files. During the period of time when requests from FOC were not being received, our staff continued to meet with FOC as well as a myriad of different departments affected by these warrants to smooth out communication gaps and develop efficient approaches to facilitate executing these warrant requests.

The warrant requests began to be received from FOC in April; however, they were once again temporarily halted by a computer system modification which FOC indicated precluded them from having time to review files for criminal warrant requests. In early Fall, FOC=s ability to send warrant requests was also somewhat hampered by the physical relocation of their department to another building several miles away. That move, which also included the Prosecutor=s Office and other agencies was necessary in order to accommodate remodeling of the entire Grady Porter Building.

2001 ANNUAL REPORT

The Diversion Program is a deferred prosecution program that has operated within the Prosecuting Attorney=s office since its inception in 1975. Diversion is a voluntary program which channels first-time nonviolent offenders into such programs as community service, high school completion, drug and alcohol treatment or individual counseling.

The program accepts only first time property and marijuana possession offenders. The terms of each individual program are based on a contract between the probationer and the Prosecutor=s Diversion Program. The offender must meet all terms of the contract including not violating any criminal laws, paying probation fees, maintaining active employment or educational status, paying restitution when applicable, meeting regularly with a caseworker and participating in any substance abuse, mental health or vocational programs as required. They must also volunteer 40-80 hours at a nonprofit agency within the community.

DIVERSION PROGRAM

STATISTICS

2001 ANNUAL REPORT

Members of the Unit continue working closely with Senator VanRegenmorter=s office (author of the Victim Rights Act), the Victim Witness Forum, C.A.R.E. (Capitol Area Response Effort) and other local agencies in an effort to keep abreast of new legislature as it pertains to victims.

The goal of the Victim/Witness Unit is to provide rights to all victims who may request them and to ensure that the victim=s experience within the judicial system is as comfortable as possible.

In 2001, the Victim Rights Unit once again experienced a personnel change, losing two employees to retirement and relocation. Our Unit initiated 4,009 new cases. This is an increase of approximately 9% from 2000. We are anticipating an upgrade to the present software program, CourtView 2000 in April, 2002 which should allow us the opportunity to increase our productivity. The unit=s goal for 2002 is to attend more court proceedings and provide victims with more personalized service.

VICTIM/WITNESS STATISTICS

1998 THROUGH 2001