Thread: 32 illegal border crossing cases dismissed after prison computer glitch

32 illegal border crossing cases dismissed in San Diego after prison computer glitch

Kristina Davis Contact Reporter


Misdemeanor charges of illegal border entry against more than 30 people were dismissed in San Diego federal court Wednesday after a nationwide computer crash that affected the downtown prison delayed them from seeing a judge.

Late Tuesday, Federal Defenders of San Diego filed 37 writs of habeas corpus on behalf of clients who were scheduled for arraignment earlier that day but were not produced by authorities.

“The Bureau of Prisons has experienced a nationwide computer shutdown which began early Tuesday morning and is ongoing,” said Kelly Thornton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego. “This has affected the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s ability to process new inmates.

“As a result, the United States filed motions to dismiss a number of cases against defendants who were not brought to court in a timely manner,” she said. “The MCC’s computer system is improving and we expect this issue to be resolved in the near future.”

At a hearing on the issue Wednesday morning, U.S. District Chief Judge Barry Moskowitz granted the government’s offer to dismiss all of the misdemeanor cases — 32 in all — and ordered authorities to produce the remaining five defendants with felony charges for arraignment. They were eventually arraigned Wednesday morning.

Defense lawyers say the inability to get detainees to court in a timely manner goes beyond a technology hiccup and is part of the ongoing chaos being caused by the new policy under U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to criminally prosecute every single person who crosses the border illegally. Previously, prosecutors targeted unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories or numerous prior illegal entries. Most others would typically be processed on civil immigration violations.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday’s problems were confined to the prison’s computer shutdown and had nothing to do with the zero-tolerance policy. The crackdown on illegal immigration is the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises.

“We must promote and enforce the rule of law in order to protect our nation and its citizens,” DOJ spokesman Devin O’Malley said. “The Department of Justice, through multiple avenues, has been in touch with administrators of the federal judiciary in order to find practical solutions to an expected increase in prosecutions along the Southwest border. We look forward to continued coordination with the courts and their Chief Judges in order to properly adjudicate cases and respect due process rights.”

Defense attorneys argue the system is not built to handle this many defendants right now. And with the influx, it becomes even harder to deal with what would otherwise be small glitches in the infrastructure.

“Our court system can’t handle it. We don’t have the infrastructure and can’t provide appropriate due process and representation,” said Reuben Cahn, executive director of Federal Defenders of San Diego, the agency who handles the bulk of public criminal defense work in the Southern District of California.

“People are falling through the cracks,” he said. “The ability to move that number of cases isn’t there.”

The agency has filed handfuls of similar requests to produce detainees over the past few weeks as the zero-tolerance policy gains speed, but this week’s batch was the biggest yet, due to the computer breakdown.

Typically, someone arrested on suspicion of illegally crossing the border would get processed at a Border Patrol station, then be transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in downtown San Diego, where he or she would be screened for tuberculosis and booked.

If the person was arrested before 6 a.m., the detainee might be transported to court for arraignment that same day, but more likely it would be the following day — adhering to a one-day rule of thumb.

An arraignment is the first step in a criminal court case after charges are filed. It informs the defendant of the charges against him and of his rights, provides the chance to consult with his attorney and is the first opportunity to discuss the potential for bail.

Federal defender Ryan Stitt, who represented the 37 detainees in front of Moskowitz Wednesday, said many of the delays this week could have been avoided if the detainees had been transported to MCC gradually over the long Memorial Day weekend rather than in one wave Tuesday morning. Of the five felony cases that are going forward, four arrests were made Saturday and one made Sunday, he said.

Instead, many detainees languished in Border Patrol stations, which are not set up for long-term confinement, he said.

“They are sitting in really horrible conditions, with inadequate food, inadequate clothing, inadequate bedding,” Cahn said.

Border Patrol referred comment to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This is not the first time the issue has come up in San Diego.

Around 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office ramped up illegal border crossing prosecutions, an influx that resulted in a logjam of detainees not being produced timely for arraignments.

Lawsuits were filed on detainees’ behalf, and both Moskowitz and the U.S. 9^thCircuit Court of Appeal established some guidelines about what was and was not reasonable in terms of delay.

Reasonable: issues surrounding transportation, distance and the availability of a magistrate judge, as well as delays for medical reasons, delays due to the unavailability of government personnel to hold an arraignment, and delays necessary to determine if criminal charges should be filed.

Unreasonable: Jail booking delays or X-ray medical screening delays.

The wrinkles in procedures were smoothed out to account for the increased caseload, and the situation improved, Cahn said.

“Now (the current caseload) has outstripped even those capabilities,” he said.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/

Federal judge in Arizona says courts not equipped for more border cases

Duh.