A friend of mine has a brother, Antonio, who was attacked and beaten badly.  He spent two weeks in the hospital.  And went through surgeries to put his face back in the correct shape.  He will live but with permanent damages—both physical and psychological.

The police captured and charged a suspect right away.  but now, ten months later, the case has still not gone to trial.  Antonio is still waiting for justice..

Why the long delay?  Here are four reasons:

1.  Even if a suspect is charged, the prosecutor may want to conduct more investigation.  Usually, this will strengthen their case against the suspect.  And the prosecutors are will to delay the case in order to have a better change for a conviction.

2.  In all urban areas, the courts are packed more than ever.  Criminal cases get preference over other cases, but the courts are still swamped.  Some types of cases move to specialized calendars like property crimes, drug court, and traffic offenses.  Hopefully, that leaves more judges available for serious criminal cases.  Even so, the crowding causes delays in court that can’t be avoided.

3.  The defense lawyers may want to delay the court case.  Like the prosecutor, they need time to fully investigate the case.  Under the rules of court, the accused person also has rights—including the right to delay the case.  The defense lawyers may hope the witnesses against their clients forgot what they saw—which helps the suspect.

4.  There’s a shortage of judges, prosecutors, and Public Defenders.  They all have huge caseloads which slow-down the system.  If the suspect in Antonio’s case had a PD who carried dozens of cases, the lawyer would put the case at the end of a long line of previous cases.  Our constitution requires the suspect get the full and competent attention of his lawyer.  Obviously this causes another delay in court.

In spite of all these realities, Antonio still waits for justice.  It isn’t fair, is it??