Published: February 09, 2006 01:01 pm            

Changes speed up justice at jail

In a world where everything seems computerized, paperwork has often slowed justice in Whitfield County, says District Attorney Kermit McManus.

But McManus and Chief Public Defender Bentley Adams say they are working to change that.

In January, McManus and Adams each agreed to put an attorney from their offices in the jail in hopes of easing overcrowding. The added benefit is the wheels of justice are spinning faster, they say.

Assistant District Attorney Bert Poston and Assistant Public Defender Ted Smith are assigned to the jail.

“Bert and Ted will look at every case within a 24-hour period and cull out those they think they can have some impact on that day,” McManus said. “We are changing things that have been taking place for decades.”

For example, less than two weeks after John Wallis Cox vandalized a Dalton church, he had pleaded guilty and was sentenced.

That is speedy justice in a judicial system that normally works a lot slower, McManus said.

“The key is that they (the inmates) have a lawyer that they are talking to,” he said. “And when they respond early, they will get a better deal.”

And that’s what happened with Cox, McManus said.

“The sentence was a good sentence,” he said. “He took responsibility and there were adequate consequences.”

McManus points out that the changes are not about letting people out of jail if they have committed crimes.

“We accomplished in a couple of days what normally takes two to four months,” he said. “This is not letting people out. It is processing cases we already have faster and more efficiently.”

Typically, it often takes the district attorney’s office seven days to find out someone has been arrested, McManus said.

A warrant taken out on a person originates in the magistrate judge’s office, then is processed at the jail, served, then it goes back to the magistrate, McManus said.

When it gets to McManus’ office, a file must be opened in a separate computer system. And the police reports, victim witness statements and warrants have to be gathered.

Another problem?

When new computer systems were purchased for the county in the mid-to-late 1980s, the magistrate’s office, the jail and the district attorney’s office purchased different systems.

“We had no vision,” McManus said. “Each department secured their own computer system.”

Poston is trying to figure out a way to generate reports that will tell the district attorney’s office what the cases are at the time arrests are made.

But getting the public defender’s office involved in cases earlier is helping get inmates through the system faster, either through bonding or pleas, McManus said.

“We (the public defender’s office and the district attorney’s office) have a common interest,” Adams said. “There are a lot of cases that could move faster.”

Smith is acting as a liaison between the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s clients at the jail, Adams said.

“One of the most important facets is to provide the best representation we can for people,” he said.

The ideas for change don’t end there for. Adams is hoping to look at how to identify city prisoners and those arrested for probation violation earlier, who are often overlooked.

And on Wednesday, Adams and McManus met with representatives from SecureAlert about new ankle bracelets. Those bracelets will be used to monitor inmates who bond out. The company is expected to deliver 300 next week.

        

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