Case dismissed

The case against David Bonds, the accused killer of Dinerral Shavers, was dismissed today in the New Orleans criminal court system. Why? Because the DA was unable to locate the witnesses, or in some cases, unable to compell them to testify after they had given their statements. The public defenders were able to throw out all testimony outside of the courtroom. The gun was retrieved, but in six months, no ballistics were run. There's no telling how many other crimes it may have been used in. And since no one wants to go to the trouble of testing, I guess we may never find out.

Back in January, I met with the ADA handling the case and were told that they NEVER get cases in which there is this much from the start: multiple witnesses, a weapon, motive, etc. Yet the case fell apart before our eyes, and talking to the key players along the way, it would seem the reason is this: no one felt it was their responsibility to get a conviction. The DA's office would only do the minimum with what the detective gave them. The detective would only do the minimum as far as getting statements and investigating leads. And so, here we are, and the great tragedy is that none of it is that surprising.