Berkshire edge court news11/9/2023 ![]() “The ADAs are trained to recognize low-level offenses where dismissal is appropriate. ”The assistant district attorneys are aware of the office’s vision of focusing our prosecutorial resources on violent crime, firearm offenses, drunk driving, and large drug trafficking cases,” he said in an email. The Eagle requested a list of all offenses that the office generally declines to prosecute, such as one released by Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, but Andy McKeever, a spokesman for the office, said no such list exists. ”It made sense for our resources and for justice then, and it makes sense now,” she said. “Witnesses move away people lose interest.”īut she said the backlog is “manageable,” noting her prosecutors typically decline to prosecute lower-level offenses including possession of narcotics, operating a motor vehicle on a suspended license - as long as individuals get their license restored, and “minor” driving and trespassing offenses, charges she said are “a result of people struggling with substance use disorder or mental illness or poverty.” ”When you have cases that are old and have been hanging around for over a year, it’s hard for people to wait for justice, and it does present challenges,” she said. Harrington acknowledged court delays have presented challenges to trying cases before a jury, like ensuring the presence of witnesses in court. Jurors will be available for trials in the district courts in Pittsfield and North Adams starting in September. Recent data from the District Attorney’s Office shows 2,428 pending cases across all Berkshire County courts, about 5 percent higher than the number of pending cases when Harrington took office in January 2019. As the courts reopen in the coming weeks, Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington said, the backlog will present challenges, but her office is prepared to prosecute those cases. The COVID-19 pandemic ground trials to a halt in March 2020, forcing courts to balance public health and safety with the rights of defendants to a speedy trial. Meantime, potential jurors who have received summonses to appear in September or later for jury service at the Holiday Inn will receive a notification this summer about a change of location, Donahue said.ĭeborah Capeless, clerk for the Superior Court, where felony cases are tried and penalties are more severe upon conviction, said the court will be trying only criminal cases through December civil trials will remain on standby. “Having trial dates meant that cases were resolved by parties through settlements and plea agreements.” “The way most cases resolve - either criminal cases by plea or civil cases by settlement - is to set a firm trial date,” she said. “This enabled the Trial Court to offer jury trials to defendants who wanted their cases to go before a jury. “During the pandemic, the Trial Court provided locations in which jury trials could safely proceed,” said Jennifer Donahue, noting that officials also are trying to terminate leases for temporary spaces leased in Springfield and Greenfield. Now, a Trial Court spokeswoman said, the state is trying to end its lease agreement early. ![]() ![]() It landed on the Holiday Inn & Suites on West Street, and agreed to pay $854,100 to hotel owner Berkshire Hospitality Group LLC, of the New York borough of Brooklyn, to rent space inside for one year.īut, just four months later, only two trials - both defendants were juveniles - have been completed at the Holiday Inn, Harrington said. The state spent months searching for a location outside existing courthouses that could provide enough space to ensure that people could maintain safe distances and avoid transmission of COVID-19. Recent data from Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s office shows 2,428 pending cases across all Berkshire County courts, about 5 percent higher than the number of pending cases when Harrington took office in January 2019. ![]()
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