Standard Case Set - Measuring Prosecutor Decision-making (From Criminal Justice Research, 1980, P 73-88, Barbara R Price and Phyllis J Baunach, ed. - See NCJ-75119)

• NCJ Number: 75123
• Author(s): J E Jacoby
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-006
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An instrument for assessing the decisionmaking processes among prosecutors was evaluated through a test with 356 assistant prosecutors in 4 jurisdictions.

Abstract

The participants completed a standard set of 30 cases and a case evaluation form which included questions on priority of cases for prosecution, acceptance and rejection of cases for prosecution, and sentencing recommendations. The participants in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Wilmington, Del., rejected about half as many cases for prosecution as those in New Orleans, La., and Salt Lake City, Utah. Plea-oriented prosecution was preferred in Brooklyn and Wilmington, while trial prosecution was preferred in the other two jurisdictions. Both New Orleans and Salt Lake City relied on rigorous intake reviews; however, plea negotiation was used more extensively to dispose of cases in Salt Lake City. Limited intake reviewing was conducted in Brooklyn and Wilmington. There was consistent agreement among the jurisdictions in sentencing expectations, but median sentence lengths varied widely from site to site. Sentencing inferences comparing one jurisdiction to another should not be based on this data, however, as local practices such as parole and probation decisions, good-time credits, and habitual offender acts probably influenced decisions. The standard case set proved to be a good measurement of the prosecutor decisionmaking process among individual prosecutors and different jurisdictions. A sample case and case evaluation form are included.