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Seth Williams waiving to the audience as he takes the oath of office as Philadelphia's District Attorney on January 4, 2010. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmerak)
In the wake of recent media reports that Philadelphia has one of the lowest felony conviciton rates in the nation, newly elected District Attorney Seth Williams has announced changes to the way his office will charge offenders with crimes.
The District Attorney's Charging Unit is responsible for receiving information from police officers upon an offender's arrest and changing it into offenses that will comprise the criminal complaint, the document which initiates proceedings in criminal cases.
In the past, the policy had been for the Assistant District Attorneys to take that information and charge under the facts given all crimes that can possibly be established, whether or not those crimes will result in convictions.
The Unit was often comprised of inexperienced, young ADAs, working in a basement office of the Criminal Justice Center under rushed circumstances. The result was a plethora of felony cases filed where many did not make it to the trial stage.
Williams in a recent news release has pledged that he will change the way the Unit operates. To that end, he has appointed veteran prosecutor Jodi Loebel as Municipal Court Chief to oversee the Charging Unit. He has also identified a team of experienced prosecutors to work in the unit to see that charges are brought in such a way that will have the greatest impact and ensure that violent offenders will pay for their crimes.
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