Post by OnCrime on Dec 1, 2006 0:13:23 GMT -5
Meeting with Peter Gilchrist:
I had my meeting with D.A. Peter Gilchrist today and it went well. He and his colleague, Bart Menser, spent nearly an hour with me!
I wanted to discuss three topics with them:
1) Repeat offender Kendrick Hammond's dismissals
2) Why the case involving my car theft was dismissed
3) Court funding
We ended up discussing much more than that...
Mr. Menser showed me a copy of the NC structured sentencing chart (time for the crime) and explained how felonies are classified and what sentences judges can give for the crimes committed. (More Info on structured sentencing- tinyurl.com/yg3488)
Mr. Gilchrist & Mr. Menser were prepared for our meeting and they brought all the felony case files for Kendrick Hammond and for the guy who stole my car. Mr. Menser went through Hammond’s felony conviction files one by one and went over the cases that were dismissed.
Amazingly- based on the witness statements, evidence and other facts about Hammond's dismissals- I could see why they dismissed the cases. They lacked credible witnesses, evidence and in one of the robbery cases- they were unable to contact the victim…
The murder charge against Hammond's was a mess. Apparently, he and two other men are suspected in the murder but all the witnesses, jail snitches, etc. are not credible. The caliber bullet used to shoot the victim wasn’t the same as his- amongst many other things… When Mr. Bart Menser was reading the synopsis of the entire case- even though it involved the death of a person- it was hard not to laugh at what a mess the case was! It was pretty obvious that CMPD investigators talked to a lot of people and followed a lot of tips & leads and worked really hard to pin something on one of the three- but they couldn’t!
Of course, he talked about the huge number of cases they work on each year & the limited amount they can actually bring to trial. They both said the lack of funding does not equal dismissals… All of the cases are looked at by his associates and they determine if there is enough evidence to prosecute.
They both said (a couple of times) that neither they nor there associates are perfect & sometimes cases are dismissed or pled down when they shouldn’t be… but the vast majority of dismissed cases lack good evidence, witnesses, etc. I got the impression they don’t have the staffing to ‘take any chances.’ Basically, the case needs to be pretty slam dunk to try it- otherwise; it is dismissed or pled down.
Mr. Menser explained how they have the ADA’s split up in teams by type of crime… misdemeanor, homicide, property, person, drugs, etc. and each group is only allotted a certain amount of ‘trial time’ each year- so basically they have to pick & choose the cases they want to try & the pickings are slim.
I thought the case against the guy who stole my car was pretty ‘slam-dunk’ but they went over the case with me and it was dismissed because they thought they could not prove it ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’… They did not have anyone who could visually identify him in my car- driving it or stealing it or crashing it. Everything else points at him but they say that ID is crucial to try the case as a felony. One thing I didn’t know was on the report was that his prints were matched with 3 other car thefts in Charlotte… nice!
We talked about court funding for a short time. He said he asked the state for 26 ADA's last year and they allotted funds for only 13. We all know the Mecklenburg County court system is under funded and staff is overworked and underpaid...
We need funding for more DA's, ADA's, Judges, and other support staff... not to mention more jail space! Arrests have increased by 7% this year and more housing is needed to handle the increase. Also, the length of time before a case goes to trial has increased and a suspect may sit in our county jail for 2 1/2 years before his case even goes before a jury!
Mr. Gilchrist also mentioned that he received numerous emails after Tara Servatius and I published information on Kendrick Hammond. If you thought your e-mail was ignored - it wasn't
I had my meeting with D.A. Peter Gilchrist today and it went well. He and his colleague, Bart Menser, spent nearly an hour with me!
I wanted to discuss three topics with them:
1) Repeat offender Kendrick Hammond's dismissals
2) Why the case involving my car theft was dismissed
3) Court funding
We ended up discussing much more than that...
Mr. Menser showed me a copy of the NC structured sentencing chart (time for the crime) and explained how felonies are classified and what sentences judges can give for the crimes committed. (More Info on structured sentencing- tinyurl.com/yg3488)
Mr. Gilchrist & Mr. Menser were prepared for our meeting and they brought all the felony case files for Kendrick Hammond and for the guy who stole my car. Mr. Menser went through Hammond’s felony conviction files one by one and went over the cases that were dismissed.
Amazingly- based on the witness statements, evidence and other facts about Hammond's dismissals- I could see why they dismissed the cases. They lacked credible witnesses, evidence and in one of the robbery cases- they were unable to contact the victim…
The murder charge against Hammond's was a mess. Apparently, he and two other men are suspected in the murder but all the witnesses, jail snitches, etc. are not credible. The caliber bullet used to shoot the victim wasn’t the same as his- amongst many other things… When Mr. Bart Menser was reading the synopsis of the entire case- even though it involved the death of a person- it was hard not to laugh at what a mess the case was! It was pretty obvious that CMPD investigators talked to a lot of people and followed a lot of tips & leads and worked really hard to pin something on one of the three- but they couldn’t!
Of course, he talked about the huge number of cases they work on each year & the limited amount they can actually bring to trial. They both said the lack of funding does not equal dismissals… All of the cases are looked at by his associates and they determine if there is enough evidence to prosecute.
They both said (a couple of times) that neither they nor there associates are perfect & sometimes cases are dismissed or pled down when they shouldn’t be… but the vast majority of dismissed cases lack good evidence, witnesses, etc. I got the impression they don’t have the staffing to ‘take any chances.’ Basically, the case needs to be pretty slam dunk to try it- otherwise; it is dismissed or pled down.
Mr. Menser explained how they have the ADA’s split up in teams by type of crime… misdemeanor, homicide, property, person, drugs, etc. and each group is only allotted a certain amount of ‘trial time’ each year- so basically they have to pick & choose the cases they want to try & the pickings are slim.
I thought the case against the guy who stole my car was pretty ‘slam-dunk’ but they went over the case with me and it was dismissed because they thought they could not prove it ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’… They did not have anyone who could visually identify him in my car- driving it or stealing it or crashing it. Everything else points at him but they say that ID is crucial to try the case as a felony. One thing I didn’t know was on the report was that his prints were matched with 3 other car thefts in Charlotte… nice!
We talked about court funding for a short time. He said he asked the state for 26 ADA's last year and they allotted funds for only 13. We all know the Mecklenburg County court system is under funded and staff is overworked and underpaid...
We need funding for more DA's, ADA's, Judges, and other support staff... not to mention more jail space! Arrests have increased by 7% this year and more housing is needed to handle the increase. Also, the length of time before a case goes to trial has increased and a suspect may sit in our county jail for 2 1/2 years before his case even goes before a jury!
Mr. Gilchrist also mentioned that he received numerous emails after Tara Servatius and I published information on Kendrick Hammond. If you thought your e-mail was ignored - it wasn't
