Milwaukee County Criminal Courts Have 2-Year Backlog [WRN EXCLUSIVE]

Some criminal cases have been dismissed because of the delays. Milwaukee County criminal courts are operating with a two-year backlog, and the felony case backlog was estimated at 1,615 cases in the latest estimate from late August, the Chief Judge confirmed to Wisconsin Right Now. We received a tip about the backlogs, which the Chief Judge, Mary Triggiano, revealed in a recent meeting before the County Board. We also obtained audio of her comments; we then called her to obtain additional context, and she spoke to us at length, explaining the situation. Milwaukee County's misdemeanor courts have a 2,800 case backlog, she said. The criminal traffic division has a 1,400 case backlog, and small claims has a 2,800 backlog, which partly consists of eviction cases that were tolled because of the moratorium on them. She acknowledged that some criminal cases have been dismissed because of the delays, noting that sometimes witnesses and victims vanish when cases languish. Triggiano spoke at the Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee on Sept. 9, 2021, along with County Clerk John Barrett, Tom Barrett’s brother. She gave them an informational report, but wasn’t asked many questions by the Committee members. There's a backlog of jury trials too. Triggiano said there are 350 cases awaiting jury trial where the person is in custody with a speedy trial request. Some of those cases will be resolved short of trial, and some still have other court activities going on, like discovery requests, she said. The courts were able to toll the speedy trial mandates and are still able to waive them for cause due to the pandemic, she said. She said that some cases, such as felony sexual assault cases, can't be done on Zoom. Divisions where more or all cases can be done on Zoom, like family court, don't have backlogs, she said. Jury trials can't be done on Zoom, she indicated, saying it's a tool with pluses and minuses, where more research is needed. A recent example of the delays: David Marshall, the Franklin kidnapping suspect who caused a stir in a local Walmart and was shot and killed by police after a dangerous pursuit. Marshall, 31, of Milwaukee, who was shot and killed by law enforcement after a chaotic and dangerous crime spree, had two open felony cases with six serious charges between them pending in Milwaukee County court, but he was released after posting $500 bail just days before the Franklin crime spree – despite racking up a series of pretrial services violations, we’ve previously reported. The court records in his case reveal an inefficient court system that failed to hold him accountable as the wheels of justice ground extremely slowly; one of his pending cases entered the court system in July 2020, but he didn’t even have his initial court appearance until January 2021. But Triggiano said this degree of backlogs is unusual for Milwaukee County Circuit Court. According to Triggiano, there used to be backlogs that were smaller and manageable, before the pandemic. In addition, there is a shortage of correctional officers, court clerks, and even defense attorneys, compounding the backlogs, she told the County Board Committee. (We previously wrote about the severe backlogs at the jail here.) Triggiano told the County Board committee that she was bringing in national experts to help the courts get a handle on the backlogs. The backlog comes as crime skyrockets in Milwaukee. Could delayed cases result in delayed justice, with victims and witnesses vanishing or defendants released on low bail to re-offend? It's worth examining. It also comes as other areas of the criminal justice system struggle, most notably the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department, which Triggiano said is down 50% in correctional officers, contributing to further delay in the courthouse when inmates need to be brought over and so on. The formula used to determine the backlog is complex, but it looks at things like disposition time, filings, and considers whether there's a balance between cases coming in and going out, Triggiano said. "They are trying to process and resolve old cases while they are getting new cases," the chief judge said. She said that COVID-19 is to blame for the backlogs because, until Sept. 7, 2021, the courthouse was still operating in person in a very limited capacity, with only a few courtrooms open for jury trials and the like.  There were 1-2 courtrooms for in-person cases for 23 judges. "We needed to keep people safe and protect lives," she said. They were set to open but then the Delta variant hit, so there are still some limits, she said. The judges are now back, but only certain courtrooms are "big enough to keep people safe," so there are still limits today, she said, causing backlogs to worsen. In some cases, they don't have enough jurors called in. The two-year figure is "projected resolution time," she said. The current backlog is largely caused by 2020 cases still in the pipeline and delayed due to COVID, according to Triggiano. The two-year estimate means that some cases may take that long to resolve, although other factors can be in play, she said.