"From the Desk of the DA" is a weekly column published in the local papers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by our District Attorney, Jason J. Legg. All of the columns since 2004 are available on his website, SusquehannaCounty-DA.org .
This blog provides an opportunity for you to comment on any of Mr. Legg's articles. Or, for that matter, anything you'd like to offer relating to his webside.
Read the July 7th post for Tips.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Frustration
The 17 October 2008 article discusses one of the causes of frustration for the District Attornehy: A convict unwilling to make restitution at a reasonable rate.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I understand your frustration when it comes to things like this, Officer Bradley of the PSP recieved a complaint back in June or July in which a parent supplied tobacco and alochol to two minor children. When asked what was going on with the case, he responded "that all of the paper work was filed, the one minor recieved a citation and recieved a suspenion on his drivers license, and as far as the two adults who supplied the minor children with tobacco and alcohol, he informed me that he had two years to serve the papers, he stated the DA office had ok'd it and he would probably do something after the holidays, but did not give any definate answer. So I can understand why you are frustrated I to am frustrated with the system that is in place and the people who run it. Its time for a change and when election time comes I will be at the poles with bells on, not just this election, but this whole thing has encouraged me to get involved in all of the local elections. I will fight with every thing I have to support the change in this county, We desperately need this change.
As I have said to anyone who would listen, the Pennsylvania State Police have a difficult job to cover a large county with very little assistance from local municipal police departments. Georgraphically, the State Police are covering over 850 square miles of real estate, including a major requirement to monitor interstate 81. As a result, there is often a lag between an investigation and the filing of a criminal complaint. The trooper has to find time to sit down and prepare the paperwork, which necessarily takes them off the street for a time. If the trooper is constantly being dispatched to different locations for accidents, domestic disputes, and other problems, one can see how it becomes difficult to find the time to get the paperwork prepared for a criminal complaint.
The important distinction to remember is that there is a significant different between a citation and a criminal complaint in terms of the time and effort necessary for the preparation. A citation for underage drinking fits on a small ticket form and can be handwritten by the trooper right at the scene if necessary. A criminal complaint is a multi-page document that requires much more information, including an affidavit of probable cause to support the arrest. It simply takes much more time to file and prepare than the citation itself. This may explain one of the reasons for the lag in the filing of a criminal complaint in your example.
For misdemeanor offenses, the statute of limitations is two years, and this would apply to a furnishing alcohol to minors charge. As such, this representation was accurate in your post.
In terms of my Office's involvement, I cannot tell you with any specificity what that involvement was without more information, such as the names of adults. I would be happy to look into the matter further if you provide me more information. You can email the information privately to me by going to our website and use the contact icon.
Finally, as to political participation, I would encourage everyone to educate themselves and get involved in the political process. The reference to "change" that we "desprately need" is too vague to comment on with any detail. If you are frustrated with the state police, there is nothing that local county officials can do about that -- it is a state agency. If your dissatisfied with something this office has done, I will simply reiterate that I always willing and open to discussions with anyone regarding their complaints or concerns.
While there may be more than one anonymous, if this is the same person as previous postings on this blog, I have already extended an invitation to discuss this with you, and I am still waiting for a response. It seems unfair to claim frustration with someone when you do not even give them an opportunity to address the issue. The invitation remains open.
2 comments:
I understand your frustration when it comes to things like this, Officer Bradley of the PSP recieved a complaint back in June or July in which a parent supplied tobacco and alochol to two minor children. When asked what was going on with the case, he responded "that all of the paper work was filed, the one minor recieved a citation and recieved a suspenion on his drivers license, and as far as the two adults who supplied the minor children with tobacco and alcohol, he informed me that he had two years to serve the papers, he stated the DA office had ok'd it and he would probably do something after the holidays, but did not give any definate answer. So I can understand why you are frustrated I to am frustrated with the system that is in place and the people who run it. Its time for a change and when election time comes I will be at the poles with bells on, not just this election, but this whole thing has encouraged me to get involved in all of the local elections. I will fight with every thing I have to support the change in this county, We desperately need this change.
As I have said to anyone who would listen, the Pennsylvania State Police have a difficult job to cover a large county with very little assistance from local municipal police departments. Georgraphically, the State Police are covering over 850 square miles of real estate, including a major requirement to monitor interstate 81. As a result, there is often a lag between an investigation and the filing of a criminal complaint. The trooper has to find time to sit down and prepare the paperwork, which necessarily takes them off the street for a time. If the trooper is constantly being dispatched to different locations for accidents, domestic disputes, and other problems, one can see how it becomes difficult to find the time to get the paperwork prepared for a criminal complaint.
The important distinction to remember is that there is a significant different between a citation and a criminal complaint in terms of the time and effort necessary for the preparation. A citation for underage drinking fits on a small ticket form and can be handwritten by the trooper right at the scene if necessary. A criminal complaint is a multi-page document that requires much more information, including an affidavit of probable cause to support the arrest. It simply takes much more time to file and prepare than the citation itself. This may explain one of the reasons for the lag in the filing of a criminal complaint in your example.
For misdemeanor offenses, the statute of limitations is two years, and this would apply to a furnishing alcohol to minors charge. As such, this representation was accurate in your post.
In terms of my Office's involvement, I cannot tell you with any specificity what that involvement was without more information, such as the names of adults. I would be happy to look into the matter further if you provide me more information. You can email the information privately to me by going to our website and use the contact icon.
Finally, as to political participation, I would encourage everyone to educate themselves and get involved in the political process. The reference to "change" that we "desprately need" is too vague to comment on with any detail. If you are frustrated with the state police, there is nothing that local county officials can do about that -- it is a state agency. If your dissatisfied with something this office has done, I will simply reiterate that I always willing and open to discussions with anyone regarding their complaints or concerns.
While there may be more than one anonymous, if this is the same person as previous postings on this blog, I have already extended an invitation to discuss this with you, and I am still waiting for a response. It seems unfair to claim frustration with someone when you do not even give them an opportunity to address the issue. The invitation remains open.
Jason Legg
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