The U.S. prosecutor for the nation’s capital is defending his office for not prosecuting the majority of arrests made by officers in the city.
Prosecutors under U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves declined to prosecute 67 percent of people arrested by police, including 53 percent of felony cases. That was higher than many years in the past. In 2015, for instance, the same office prosecuted 65 percent of those arrested.
Graves, a Biden appointee, blamed several factors, including how the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences lost certification in 2021, adding costs for the analysis of evidence.
“We have to prioritize violent felonies and make sure we are doing the forensic testing for those cases. Our office is often bearing the cost for this analysis,” Graves told the Washington Post….