Office of the Pima County Attorney Significant Accomplishments 2016

Transcription

1 Office of the Pima County Attorney Significant Accomplishments 2016 FINANCIAL IUGHLIGHTS 1. The Asset Forfeiture Unit, during calendar year 2016, had 72 bonds forfeited and 16 bonds partially forfeited, resulting in $359, in bond forfeiture monies sent directly to the county general fund. 2. The Adult Diversion Program collected $13, in restitution and $126, in revenue sent directly to the general fund for a total of $140, for fiscal year Victim Services Division utilized 122 trained community volunteers to provide crisis and advocacy services to crime victims. These trained volunteers, working along with our Victim Advocates, contributed 21,063 hours last fiscal year, gifting Pima County with $421,260 in donated victim services. During fiscal year , volunteers provided 6,420 services to 1,914 victims (1,479 crisis victims on-scene and 435 victims through court or in the office). 4. The Crime Victim Compensation Program processed 249 new victim claims and paid out $414,084 from our grants and monies received from restitution awards, assisting victims' payments for medical, mental health, lost wages, crime-scene cleanup, transportation, and funeral expenses. Victims also received $148, 711 worth of services that did not have to be paid for because staff successfully negotiated discounts with medical and mental health providers, resulting in a combined total assistance of $562, The Civil Division Tort Unit received 18 new lawsuits from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016, and currently has 31 open/active lawsuits in various stages of litigation. In that same period, the Tort Unit closed 28 matters. Additionally, the Tort Unit is monitoring an additional 13 claims that remain open. A total of four claims closed without litigation. 6. The Civil Division Tax & Bankruptcy Unit, during fiscal year , filed claims in bankruptcy cases totaling $361, and collected $972, in real and personal property taxes, benefitting Pima County. During the 2016 fiscal year, the Unit handled 811 cases consisting of 219 bankruptcy cases, 226 excess proceeds cases, 214 tax lien foreclosure cases, 78 tax court appeals, 34 small claims tax court appeals, and 40 eminent domain cases. 7. The Bad Check Diversion program served a total of 9,402 individuals and merchants participating in the program as victims of bad checks. For fiscal year , the program successfully returned $129, 165 in restitution to the victims of bad checks. The Bad Check program continues to be the top program of its kind in the nation and is a preindictment program diverting cases from the criminal justice system.

2 Page 2 8. The 88-CRJME program, since inception, approved more than $1,572,645 in cash rewards and assisted in the recovery of $19,850,350 property, nearly $90,312,716 worth of drugs seized and over 454 weapons seized. Tips received by 88-CRIME have resulted in 5,796 arrests. For fiscal year , 88-CRIME received 3,048 tips assisting law enforcement in protecting our community. 9. Administration staff trained and utilized 151 volunteers throughout the Pima County Attorney's Office (not including the Victim Services Division volunteers or Community Justice Board volunteers). Administrative volunteers donated 15,950 hours calculated at $13.33 per hour saving Pima County $212, in fiscal year Our detectives, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force detectives, seized from criminal enterprises three residences and 18 vehicles used in connection with criminal activities, resulting in assets and currency totaling $866,470.00; DEA Task Force detectives seized over 24 kilos of meth, over 10 kilos of heroin, and made 14 arrests. Our detectives, along with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Task Force detectives seized almost three kilos of methamphetamine, Yz kilo of cocaine, 219 kilos of marijuana, $1, in U.S. currency, six firearms, 12 vehicles, and made 20 felony arrests (narcotics and money laundering) and also recovered over $200,000 in property purchased with stolen credit cards. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION 1. The Criminal Division, during calendar year 2016, reviewed a total of 11, 17 4 criminal cases presented by 30 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies primarily throughout Pima County. Pima County continues to maintain one of the higher crime rates per 100,000 populations in the nation, with a crime index of 5, 180 exceeding both Maricopa County (3,371) and the state of Arizona (3,346). However, the number of reported homicides in Pima County ( 46) for calendar year 2015 was a 9. 8% decrease over the number of reported homicides in Pima County (51) for calendar year The Felony Unit prosecutors' average caseloads are above the reasonable range. In order to protect public safety, the County Attorney places a priority on taking dangerous offenders to trial. This ensures that they receive prison sentences that will hold them fully accountable and remove them from the community for as long as possible. For fiscal year , a total of 63.5% of all felony trials involved defendants charged with violent crimes, including homicides, aggravated assaults, sexual assaults, armed robberies, drive-by shootings, and felony DUis. 2. The ~.. 1isdemea11or Unit handled 21,840 cases \Vith 11 prosecutors (1,985 cases per prosecutor) compared to the City of Tucson, which handled 41,813 cases with 30 prosecutors (1,394 cases per prosecutor). Our misdemeanor prosecutors' caseloads are now at the high end of the reasonable range.

3 Page 3 3. The Juvenile Unit was presented 4,221 cases by law enforcement resulting in 2,5 11 cases filed. Our juvenile prosecutors' caseloads are in the reasonable range. 4. The Detectives Division received 10,571 requests for investigative services, served 2,815 subpoenas, conducted 568 interviews, located 906 victims, located 1,059 witnesses, processed 1,610 requests for technical services, and completed 80 special investigations during fiscal year The Detectives Division also made 23 arrests. 5. A PCAO detective is assigned to and participates with the Pima County Sheriff's Department Domestic Violence Task Force. During fiscal year , Domestic Violence Detectives served 365 arrest warrants and made 24 probable cause arrests. 6. The Pima County Attorney' s Office addresses domestic violence through specialized prosecution, a dedicated court, and victim advocacy. Domestic Violence Court arraigned 1,617 misdemeanor cases, channeling 936 of the most serious cases for heightened oversight. Victim advocates assisted a total of 3,358 domestic violence victims in court (1, 142 through Domestic Violence Court) and 488 domestic violence victims on-scene 7. Victim advocates made 42,026 contacts with 9,256 crime victims, providing 86,148 services (including 24-hour crisis intervention, group crisis intervention, court accompaniment, advocacy, assistance with victim compensation, and referrals to community services) during fiscal year In 2012, the Pima County Attorney's Office initiated a Courthouse Dog Program with the addition of Russell, a Golden Retriever and fully-trained service dog. Russell quickly demonstrated his value and the demand was so great that in 2013 we added a second dog, Blake, a Black Labrador with the same training. Both dogs help victims cope better with their past trauma while reducing the stress they face in the criminal justice system. Russell and Blake complement other efforts such as our Kids and Teens in Court programs. Between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 there were 79 cases in which Blake was involved in assisting victims. Of those 79 cases - 54 of them went to trial. Colleen Phelan, the courthouse dog' s handler, had more than 203 contacts with victims where Blake was involved. Many of these were child victims of terrible abuse. Blake was able to comfort and provide a feeling of safety for these young victims. 9. The Pima County Attorney's Office recently developed and took the lead in implementing a Lethality Assessment Protocol in coordination with law enforcement and nonprofit domestic violence agencies. In 2015, the Pima County Attorney' s Office expanded the Protocol after successfully lobbying the State Legislature to adopt a law requiring judges to consider risk for lethality in determining conditions of release from jail for those arrested on domestic violence charges. The goal of the Lethality Assessment Protocol is to reduce the number of domestic violence murders by assessing victims' risk for homicide and then connecting those identified as being at high risk with advocacy services. The Protocol is now two-fold. First, it has victim advocates at crimescenes evaluate domestic violence victims for lethality risk and connect those at high risk with social services. Second, the Protocol also has local law enforcement officers complete a Lethality Assessment form at all domestic violence crime-scenes and then submit that form to the court, reporting factors indicating risk of future lethality posed

4 Page 4 by the domestic violence perpetrator. The court is required by the new law to consider those factors and the Lethality Assessment in making decisions regarding conditions of release from jail for those arrested on domestic violence charges. In 2015, Victim Advocates from the Pima County Attorney's Office trained judges, Pretrial Services staff, and prosecutors on the new law and on how to utilize the Lethality Assessment. In fiscal year , a total of 857 victims were screened, of whom about 83% screened at high risk of being murdered. The majority (56%) of those at high risk were successfully connected with community-based advocacy and support services. 10. The Pima County Attorney' s Office maintains several multi-agency protocols for the investigation and prosecution of crimes affecting children and families. They are. the Multidisciplinary Investigation of Child Abuse Protocol, the Drug-Endangered Children Multidisciplinary Protocol, the Custodial Interference Protocol, the Sexual Assault Protocol, the Domestic Violence Response Protocol, and the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison Protocol. The protocols are available through the Pima County Attorney's Office website at Periodically, these protocols are updated to reflect changes in legislation and service agencies. Currently four of those protocols are under revision and review. 11. The Pima County Multidisciplinary Task Force (MDT) for Child Abuse Prevention is run by the Pima County Attorney's Office Special Victims Unit and the Southern Arizona Children's Advocacy Center, a non-profit agency that began under leadership from the Pima County Attorney's Office in In fiscal year , the Children's Advocacy Center evaluated 1,329 child victims of alleged abuse and 882 defendants were presented to the County Attorney's Office for child abuse charges. Additionally, 95% of the cases presented at the Advocacy Center were jointly investigated by the Department of Child Services and law enforcement, ensuring a high level of service coordination across agencies. 12. The Pima County Attorney's Office co-chairs the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (DVFRT). The Team is committed to working together in a "no blame, no shame" environment to critically review systems related to a domestic violence homicide in an effort to uncover areas where the response may have been inadequate and to make systemic improvements going forward. This year, DVFRT expanded its membership to include DV survivors and representatives from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. It completed its fourth review and report to the Arizona Attorney General and worked on implementing the recommendations of past reports. 13. The Pima County Attorney' s Office continued to work with law enforcement and the Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART), previously Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (SACASA), to develop a forensic strangulation exam program. In appropriate cases, victims of strangulation are offered a free forensic exam to determine '.vhether the victim is iri~ured and to document evidence of domestic violence. Twentynine forensic strangulation exams have been performed. The forensic strangulation team continues to track its cases and evaluate team agent performance. 14. The Pima County Attorney's Office worked closely throughout 2016 with the County Administrator, the Sheriff, the Court and its Pretrial Services and Probation Depai1ments,

5 Page 5 and, Indigent Defense on the MacA1ihur Foundation Safety + Justice Challenge to assist with implementation of the strategies being implemented to reduce the jail population and to eliminate racial disparities. The Pima County Attorney's Office devoted significant staff time of Office leadership toward participation in the Community Collaborative and the various implementation committees. As part of its commitment to the Safety + Justice Challenge, the Pima County Attorney' s Office has developed a proposal for expansion of its Diversion Programs in conjunction with Community Bridges and has worked with the Superior Court Presiding Judge through the Behavioral Health Treatment Court Collaborative to come up with a timeline and plan to develop a Consolidated Multi-Jurisdiction Misdemeanor Problem Solving Court adding substance abuse assessment, drug testing, and addiction treatment services to the range of services available to those in the existing Misdemeanor Mental Health Courts at Justice Court and Tucson City Court. Once completed, the Consolidated, Multi-Jurisdiction Misdemeanor Problem Solving Court is expected to reduce recidivism and thereby reduce the use of incarceration in the jail for non-violent, non-dangerous defendants suffering from mental illness, drug addiction, and homelessness. The Pima County Attorney's Office is using funds it administers under the Behavioral Health Treatment Court Collaborative (BHTCC) grant from the federal Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to plan and develop this new Problem-Solving Court. Moreover, the Pima County Attorney' s Office is pursuing means by which to improve and expand its Adult Diversion Programs for those non-violent, non-dangerous defendants charged with both misdemeanors and felony drug possession or paraphernalia offenses. 15. The Pima County Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Pima County Sheriffs Depaiiment, the Tucson Police Department, and Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse is following up on the recommendations of the Domestic Violence Blueprint for Safety Task Force, which was chaired by the Pima County Attorney' s Office, to seek funding to expand the resources available to domestic violence victims who are determined to be at high risk for serious physical injury or death according to a Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment. A multi-agency project is underway to obtain the financial resources via grants to fund several projects to: (a) expand the emergency hotline at Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse to respond to victims at high risk for lethality; (b) expand the legal services available to those victims through Southern Arizona Legal Aid; (c) train law enforcement officers more widely on the administration of the Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment; and ( d) provide additional victim services to those who are at high risk for lethality. The Pima County Attorney's Office has taken a leadership role at the state level in the development of a uniform, statisticallyvalidated Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment instrument to be implemented statewide by law enforcement officers, courts, and organizations that provide services to victims of domestic violence. 16. The Pima County Attorney's Office has taken a leadership role, along with the Sheriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department, in providing Crisis Intervention Training to law enforcement officers throughout Pima County. This training facilitates safe intervention by law enforcement officers when dealing with individuals suffering from mental health crises.

6 Page The Pima County Attorney's Office has taken a leadership role in facilitating a special ethics training for law enforcement officers and prosecutors throughout Pima County known as "What You Do Matters: Lessons from the Holocaust." This training was developed by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with top prosecutors and law enforcement officers, and its curriculum is approved by the Museum. Arizona is the first state to bring the training out of the Museum and into its community. Facilitators underwent a year-long training to become certified and subsequently have undergone mandatory, annual refresher trainings. The ethics training - which has been presented to law enforcement academy trainees, to law enforcement agency commanders, and to law enforcement officers from a variety of local and state agencies - is sponsored jointly by the Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training Board and the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council, both of which offer continuing education credits for the training. CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES 1. The Employment Unit received 10 employment related cases in the last year. These cases were administrative proceedings before the Pima County Merit System Commission and Pima County Law Enforcement Merit System Council, charges before the Arizona Civil Rights Division/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Federal Court and Superior Court cases. A total of 18 employment cases are currently pending. The Unit closed 24 employment cases in the last year, with no adverse decisions to the County and only one monetary settlement. In addition to handling this caseload, the Employment Unit provided legal advice and information on a daily basis to Pima County's elected officials, appointed officials, and department heads. This included analysis, research, and assistance in a variety of disciplinary matters and Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Fair Labor Standards Act issues 2. The Health Law Unit, during fiscal year , reviewed, revised, and drafted health-related contracts and managed approximately 1,900 active cases involving petitions for involuntary commitments to hospitals for mental health treatment, which is consistent with the previous year' s case volume. The unit provided numerous hours of training to law enforcement agencies and hospitals, on the civil commitment process as well as several hours of training to various county departments and community organizations on topics such as legal intervention in tuberculosis cases, and open meeting and public records laws. The unit worked closely with the Health Department to revise the entire Pima County Food Code and general Health Code provisions, the restructuring of the Pima Animal Care Center Advisory Committee ordinance and by-laws, and expansion of law enforcement authority in relation to social hosts serving alcohol to underage guests. The unit successfully resolved the Arizona Center for Disability Law's complaint alleging that the County' s Animal Code violated the service animal provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, in addition to cases involving the neglect of animals and a complaint of discrimination filed with the Arizona Attorney General's Office Civil Rights Division. The unit also researched and developed a process and created standard forms for the Health Department to obtain search warrants to inspect and abate public nuisances. Once again, the unit worked to further the safety and

7 Page 7 protection of the public through the successful prosecution of involuntary TB cases, numerous dangerous dog cases and development and implementation of a public health emergency response plan to the Zika virus outbreak and natural disasters. The unit also assisted the County Attorney with designing and drafting of legislation for the supervision and treatment of criminal defendants who are non-competent and not restorable to competency, and those found guilty except insane. 3. The Sheriffs Legal Advisor Unit responds to requests for legal advice and assistance on a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week basis. During fiscal year , the Unit provided 78 hours of training and reviewed 65 contracts and Intergovernmental Agreements. In addition, the unit provided advice and assistance in responding to the voluminous public records requests received by the Sheriffs Department. 4. The Business & Transactions Unit (BTU) provides legal advice to most Pima County departments and special taxing districts about all aspects of their operations, assists in structuring the County's many business transactions, handles commercial litigation matters (in-house or with assistance of outside counsel), and provides audit-response letters to the County's auditors. BTU also provides advice and training throughout the County on open-meeting and public records laws, and the Unit handles real property condemnations. Last year the BTU attorneys, along with the Health Law Unit attorneys, reviewed, negotiated, and/or drafted several thousand contracts, contract amendments, ordinances, and resolutions involving complex business and legal issues, and provided legal advice on issues ranging from environmental compliance and liability to state constitutional requirements and business-risk assessment. Attorneys in the Unit were cocounsel in the case the County won against the state of Arizona involving many millions of tax dollars improperly imposed upon the County, resulting in an overall savings calculated by County Administration at approximately $17M. 5. The Land Use and Environmental Unit enforces County environmental and land use ordinances, provides legal advice, and defends claims related to County activities both for the County and affiliated entities. The unit manages an active caseload of both administrative proceedings and matters litigated in state or federal courts. The unit also provides representation in defending the County from environmental liability for landfills once owned or operated by the County. This year, in the State v. Ashton, et al. landfill litigation, the County, with other intervening parties, resolved its objection to the State's settlement of liability of 22 defendants for soil and groundwater contamination at the Broadway-Pantano WQARF Site. In exchange for the County agreeing to dismiss its complaint in intervention, the State agreed that in any future administrative or judicial proceeding against the County it would only seek the proportionate share of the County' s liability and would allow the County to argue the defendants' liability exceeds the settlement amount. The unit negotiated a final settlement in pending litigation with a developer in which the developer claimed approximately 27 million dollars in damages. As a result of the settlement, the County pays no damages, and the settlement vv'ill result in the developer re-paying approximately $1.4M to the County that the County was forced to expend when a developer failed to satisfy its road improvement obligations. The unit obtained a final dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit in which a developer claimed damages in excess of $10M and alleged the County was obligated to select and pay for the developer's preferred intersection alignment.

8 Page 8 ADMINISTRATION 1. IT successfully negotiated a contract with Taser Inc., also known as Evidence.com to utilize their cloud-based digital evidence management solution to share video evidence between participating law enforcement agencies reducing internal storage requirements at no cost to Pima County. 2. IT developed and released a new external web application in coordination with the release of CAMMS for Felony providing the courts and law enforcement critical and time sensitive information regarding case data. 3. IT worked closely with Pima County IT (PCIT), Superior Court, and Juvenile Comito provide secure wireless access via certificates, ensuring mobile staff has the ability to connect to critical resources from courtroom locations. 4. IT and PCIT worked collaboratively to deploy the ShoreTel VoIP phone system throughout the Legal Services Building and the County Attorney's Juvenile Division, located on Ajo Way, allowing for removal of the outdated Siemens system. 5. IT along with Administration continues to participate in collaborative efforts between multiple agencies to provide required data and assistance to the County in its efforts to support future grant funding through the MacArthur Foundation. 6. IT successfully upgraded all office computers replacing 13 7 attorney laptops with Surface Pro 4 and 228 desktops with high performance HP tower computers. This replaced computers that were more than 10 years old and incapable of running relevant software. In addition, IT upgraded all desktop operating systems to Windows 10 to ensure security and technical relevance is maintained at the desktop level. 7. IT completed the development and released CAMMS for felony replacing a 20-year-old PowerBuilder application. This release removes the dependency on WordPerfect, as all documents generated in CAMMS are Microsoft Word, paving the way for complete elimination of WordPerfect. 8. IT developed and released a new priors application, replacing an aging Access 97 system. This application directly links to all case management systems providing staff quick access to identify history and progress of all requests for information about prior criminal histories. 9. IT completed a significant update to CAMMS for Juvenile improving document composition, efficiencies, and functionality, both internally and in Juvenile Court. 10. IT replaced its aging help desk software with Spice Works to ensure a focus on continued '"'StATY'IP"t" sunno...t PVf'PllP n f' P VU l.v.l.1.j..'-'.1 l-"_t-' J.L-...,/'\. "-"V..l V.J..1.V'-' ThP n PU 7 S"StPTY'I prrn1irlp<: PnhanrPrl nser ('()TY'ITYlllnir!'ltirm..L.l.J.."'.1..1'-'"" J '-''-' L.L \.J,......_._...,LJ..., _......,...,~._.....&. "'"-.l..&.l..1...& ~.a ,~......_...,.,....._, o feedback through surveys, and enhanced reporting capabilities. The new system was obtained at no cost to the county.

9 Page Administration prepared and submitted on-time 824 monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports to federal, state, local agencies and various depai1ments during fiscal year COMMUNITY SUPPORT 1. The Community Justice Board Program, a juvenile diversion program operated by the County Attorney in collaboration with community volunteers, holds juvenile offenders accountable and provides early intervention strategies. Currently, there are 94 adult volunteers participating to operate the program. The 18 Community Justice Boards were referred 372juvenile offender cases for calendar year The program had a 94% compliance rate for the year. The cases referred to the Community Justice Boards are juvenile cases that were not prosecuted. Successful completion and diversion from prosecution saves the county from defense, court, and probation costs. 2. The Communities Addressing Responsible Gun Ownership Program (CARGO) attended 29 community events and distributed 1,875 gunlocks in The "Lock up Your Gun" campaign distributed 5,473 gunlocks to 53 participating community organizations and partners. A total of 7,348 gunlocks were distributed free to the community for calendar year Since inception of the CARGO and "Lock up Your Gun" programs, more than 80,000 gunlocks have been distributed. These gunlocks are paid for with funds seized from criminal enterprises. 3. The Adult Diversion Programs diverted 870 defendants from criminal prosecution providing significant savings to the county and the courts. The success rates for these programs were 80% for felonies, 94% for substance charges, and 79% for other misdemeanors, with an overall success rate of 86%.