Summary of Project Successes
The DPA helped to ensure that juvenile fire-arm offenders in King County were held fully accountable for their crimes. In cases where the juvenile is charged with a serious violent firearm offense, has an extensive offender history, and has exhausted all of the rehabilitative resources of the juvenile justice system, the prosecuting attorney may bring a motion asking the court to waive juvenile jurisdiction and transfer the case to (adult) criminal court. The prosecutor has the burden of proving that transferring jurisdiction is in the best interests of either the juvenile or the community. These motions are brought against only the most serious and dangerous offenders. The standard of proof is very high, and juvenile courts transfer only a handful of cases each year. During the grant period, the DPA was in a unique position to identify, assess, and prepare those cases that were better suited for the criminal court. As a result, more cases involving serious, violent, and chronic juvenile firearm offenders were transferred for criminal prosecution.
Each juvenile offense carries a standard range of detention time. This range isbased upon the seriousness of the offense and the juvenile’s offense history. Usually, the court is required to enter a disposition within the standard range. However, in certain cases, the standard range may be insufficient to appropriately address the juvenile’s rehabilitative needs and/or provide for adequate accountability. If certain statutory aggravating factors are present (e.g., the offense was committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner; the juvenile inflicted serious bodily injury to another; the juvenile has recent criminal history or has failed to comply with the terms of community supervision), the prosecutor may bring a motion asking the court to impose an exceptional sentence above the standard range. During the grant period, the DPA developed an indepth knowledge of juvenile firearm offenders, their offense histories, and the specific facts of each and every firearm case. Therefore, the DPA was able to accurately identify those cases where the standard range was inadequate and was able to more effectively argue in favor of exceptional sentences. Consequently, the number of exceptional sentences imposed during the grant period increased, resulting in additional time for the rehabilitation of the more serious and chronic offenders.
The
DPA also improved the efficiency and effectiveness of prosecution efforts.
The additional emphasis on the prosecution of firearm offenders influenced
the way police agencies, the courts, and the probation department handled
these juveniles. Through the collaborative efforts of the DPA and the
Seattle Police Department, significant improvements were made in virtually
every aspect of the prosecution of juvenile firearm offenders, including
the following:
- Communication improved between the prosecutor, police, judges, and
probation officers.
- Police investigation and incident report quality improved, resulting
in a higher adjudication rate for firearm cases.
- Delinquency charges and cases against juvenile offenders were filed
faster.
- More cases where the juvenile was detained were successfully “rush”
filed (i.e., an incustody case was filed within 72 hours), an increase
from 86 percent to 91 percent.
- Filing backlogs were eliminated.
- More juveniles were detained at their first appearance hearing, an
increase from 83 percent to 94 percent.
- The pretrial dismissal rate was reduced by one-half.
- The length of time needed to adjudicate gun cases was reduced.
- Successful adjudication rates at trial increased from 65 percent to 78 percent (see figure 6).
Stronger cases and an improved filing policy meant fewer cases were reduced during plea negotiations. With fewer plea offers being made, defense attorneys were more likely to set the cases for trial. During the grant period, the number of firearm cases that went to trial doubled. Due to the training and research efforts of the DPA, those cases that went to trial were better prepared. As a result, the dismissal rate went down, the adjudication rate went up (the adjudication rate at trial rose by 13 percent, with four out of five trials ending in a guilty verdict), and the number of transferred cases increased, resulting in a record number of successfully adjudicated cases.
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