NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams is taking aim at a report that’s critical of his office’s handling of a legal deadline in prosecuting felony cases.
“Some are spreading erroneous and misleading information,” Williams told reporters during a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Crime Commission released a report that states the DA’s office missed the 701 rule deadline for nearly 60% of the felony cases that it considered in 2021.
The 701 rule requires prosecutors to officially accept the case against a suspect within weeks or even months of their arrest, depending upon the crime. If the deadline passes with no action from the DA’s office, the suspect can be released from jail.
Williams says that the numbers in the MCC report are deceiving because less than 1% of the missed 701 deadlines actually resulted in the release of suspects from jail. The other suspects, he says, had already posted bond and were no longer being held behind bars.
Williams also says that, while the MCC report is misleading, he still hopes to make decisions on accepting charges against defendants within 5 days, far fewer than required under 701, and a goal that Williams ran on during his campaign for DA.
Williams also says that there are factors contributing to the 701 statistics including the Covid pandemic, courthouse closures, and witnesses who refused to testify.
“We will not accept a case or move to prosecute a case without evidence,” he said.
Williams is reassigning members of his team and hiring additional staffers to address the 701 concerns. But he also says that there are other stakeholders who must also raise their games to improve the numbers.
“The people of this city need to know that the 701 numbers from 2021 are absolutely not the result of any new progressive policy or reforms. In fact, quite the opposite,” Williams said. “These numbers are the result of a system breakdown.”
Williams also says he plans to meet with neighborhood and religious groups to better explain the 701 process.