Officials in Washington, DC are reviewing thousands of criminal cases after learning that a computer glitch may have prevented defense attorneys from receiving evidence during the last two and a half years.
An apparent problem with
the database software used to log law enforcement records in the
nation’s capital was brought to the attention of authorities late
last week, the federal attorney overseeing DC said Monday,
prompting an emergency probe to be launched over the weekend of
records maintained by the city’s Metropolitan Police Department
(MPD).
According to the Washington City Paper, who broke the story on
Tuesday this week, “police could enter information into the
system, only to have it never appear in reports.”
D.C. to review thousands of criminal cases to see if a database
flaw led prosecutors to withhold info from defendants http://t.co/4p1XsGpgVK
— City Paper (@wcp) March 17,
2015
Officials aren’t sure how many cases have been affected, but the
MPD began using the database, I/LEADS, in September 2012,
according to the Washington Post.
“It was possible that in pending and past cases MPD was in
possession of information that should have been disclosed to the
defense and had unwittingly failed to provide that
information,” outgoing United States Attorney Ronald Machen
said in a letter sent to lawyers on Monday.
The missing details that have so far been uncovered have proved
to be “minimal in quantity,” Machen said, according to
the Post, and had in many instances already been disclosed to the
defense through other means. The revelation is raising concerns
among some, nevertheless, including those who defend suspected
criminals and rely on law enforcement’s information to prepare
their cases.
Julia Leighton, a general counsel for the District’s Public
Defender Service, told the Post that the news “called into
question the fairness of the trials.” In Machen’s letter,
Leighton said, prosecutors “raise more questions than they
answer about the scope and the nature of the problem.”
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Leighton said her office
will demand “a full and fast accounting” of the snafu.
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“It could be a mess, depending on how long we are talking
about and what kind of information we are talking about,”
A.J. Kramer, the Federal Public Defender for DC, told the Journal
with regards to the probe.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office, Bill Miller, told
the Post that his office was coordinating with DC police in order
to correct the issue as soon as possible.
“We are working closely with the police department to resolve
this issue and move forward with our shared goal of making sure
that the innocent are not wrongfully prosecuted and that the
criminals who harm our community are rightfully held accountable
for their actions,” Miller said.
Unlike other cities in the US, federal authorities have
jurisdiction over criminal matters in the District. Machen, the
US attorney for the District of Columbia, announced this week
that he’d be resigning from the Post effective next month.
Officials from Machen’s office told the Post that the attorney’s
resignation was unrelated to the software issue.