System Strained, Sweetser Says Prosecutor Says Staff Overworked Due To Increasing Number Of Cases Going To Trial

It’s not the best time for Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Sweetser to be asking for more money.

His office has been under fire since judges said a prosecutor’s errors forced them to dismiss two separate rape cases over the past few months. In one case, the charges were reinstated, but the public relations damage had been done.

While Sweetser denies his office bungled the cases, he warns that more charges will be dismissed if his overworked prosecutors don’t get some relief.

He has asked county commissioners for $163,000 more to get him through the year. His selling point is that he’s bringing more cases to trial than ever before.

“We can’t do much more than we are right now,” Sweetser said. “Sooner or later, something will have to give.”

More plea bargaining and dismissals will result if the extra money doesn’t come through, he said. Twenty-two murder cases are pending in his office, with all five major-crimes deputies handling at least one aggravated murder case.

“We can’t keep this up,” said Kathryn Lee, the major-crime unit’s team leader.

Prosecutors are on track for a 20 percent increase in criminal cases over last year.

Considering how stretched their resources are, Sweetser said he’s amazed how well his deputies are doing.

“We’re juggling more cases than ever before, taking more cases to trial than ever before and getting longer sentences for criminals,” he said. “And we’re doing that without additional deputies or support staff. It’s impressive stuff.”

Sweetser refers to publicity over the recently dropped rape cases as “a bad rap.” He is appealing the one remaining dismissal.

He also compares Deputy Prosecutor Carol Davis, who handled both cases, to the cartoon character who has a perpetual black cloud over her head.

“This could have happened to any one of my deputies,” Sweetser said. “Unfortunately Carol was hit with both. It is not a reflection of her work.”

Records show that by the end of May, Davis had closed 17 cases this year with only one dismissal - the rape case currently under appeal.

Of the 10 she took to trial, nine resulted in guilty verdicts. Six cases were settled with guilty pleas.

Davis said recent criticism of her work has had a “devastating effect on my career.

“I’ve been publicly and privately supported by Jim Sweetser and that’s really gotten me through this,” she said last week, after a judge reversed his earlier decision to drop charges against an accused rapist.

“I am a good lawyer and I get results,” Davis said.

Superior Court Judge Robert Austin agreed that dismissals like the ones Davis handled are rare. Both cases were dropped because judges believed a speedy-trial violation had occurred, he said.

“Very rarely does this happen,” said Austin, the court’s presiding judge. “But we’re all feeling the crunch of the current caseloads, and (prosecutors) have way more to handle than what is recommended.”

Austin said Sweetser’s rate of cases taken to trial last year was about 5 percent, compared to 3 percent before he was elected in 1994.

The additional trials are affecting the entire court system.

An 11th judge is needed to help get all of the waiting cases to trial, Austin said. The public defender’s office recently received an additional $100,000 to handle the increase this year, and plans to ask commissioners for another $300,000. More sheriff’s deputies are needed to transport prisoners back and forth to court.

“It’s an endless sponge,” Austin said. “(Sweetser’s) right, something does have to give.”

Spokane County Public Defender Don Westerman said his office needs more money because, unlike Sweetser, he can’t control the number of cases going to trial.

“We have to take everything that walks in the door,” Westerman said. “Jim can make some choices. He can prioritize his caseloads and determine which ones to go after. It’s his office to run.”

Westerman said he has 17 lawyers handling felony cases, versus Sweetser’s 21. Nearly 90 percent of all people charged with crimes in Spokane County are represented by the public defender’s office, he said.

“If there’s limited resources, the prosecutor can control what he’s able to do to a certain degree,” Westerman said.

Sweetser, however, said Westerman is not an elected official who must be accountable to the public.

“I don’t want to have to tell victims we can’t go fight for them because we don’t have enough money and something else is more important,” he said. “How could I ever do that?”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Spokane County court cases increase