NCJ Number
102626
Date Published
Unknown
Length
11 pages
Annotation
In Jacksonville, Fla., the Public Defenders Office (PDO) has developed an effective and cost-efficient method for handling complex cases: the early response team.
Abstract
Once a newly arrested defendant is assigned to the PDO, a comprehensive interview is conducted regardless of the time of day or night. During the interview, information is obtained on legal aspects of the defendant's police questioning and arrest, alibi, drug or alcohol use, and other data necessary for a comprehensive view of the case. The interview data provide a basis for subsequent action. In cases that are complex or offer conflicting evidence, an investigative task force is formed. A comprehensive crime scene search is conducted as soon as the scene is released by police. Both photographic and physical evidence is collected, tagged, and sent to the PDO's crime lab for analysis. From being primarily a photographic lab, the lab's capabilities now include fingerprint development and comparison, handwriting analysis, blood-spatter interpretation, field tests for blood, microscopic examinations, and evidence preservation. In addition, PDO investigators interview all known and developed witnesses, thus reducing the time spent on locating witnesses that so often are transient in public defender cases. This approach balances the disparity between the information available to the defense and the prosecutor, permits the collection of evidence that later may become unavailable, and saves much time. It has also proven highly effective: four of the first six homicide cases were dropped by the State following presentation of PDO evidence.