Bronx DA: New justice system will be more efficient

The Bronx's court system is bogged down with an abundance of cases that do not seem to be going anywhere, but the borough's top prosecutor is now stepping up with a plan to make sure justice is served

News 12 Staff

Jul 21, 2016, 6:02 AM

Updated 3,057 days ago

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The Bronx's court system is bogged down with an abundance of cases that do not seem to be going anywhere, but the borough's top prosecutor is now stepping up with a plan to make sure justice is served more efficiently going forward.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says the vertical prosecution system she has recently put in place won't fix the issues of the past but offers a brighter look at the future.
The former Bronx judge says that in the old system, every case would pass through the hands of several prosecutors, with each of them overseeing a different step of the legal process. As the cases got older, Clark says witnesses would be lost for reasons such as them moving or getting fed up.
The new system, which other boroughs are already using, means every incoming case is assigned to a single prosecutor from start to finish.
Attorney John Demaio tells News 12 that vertical prosecutions may not necessarily make the system better, as they could take away flexibility from the district attorney's office and slow down the process.
But Clark says that having a single attorney all the way through can make a difference by having a lawyer looking out for the interests of witnesses and victims.