CC PACKET 03241998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 10, 1998 • Page 10 1 Cavanaugh questioned the comment "It is significant to note that despite St. Anthony being the 2 only suburb to have its cases heard at the Government Center" and asked what this meant. 3 Ms. Witterschein explained that most suburbs have their cases heard in Brooklyn Center or 4 Edina. Those judges tend to enter into a more "suburb mode" rather than a"city mode" and 5 impose stiffer penalties. The City of Minneapolis sees so many cases that the judges tend to 6 push the cases aside and are likely to reduce the recommended sentence and fines. 7 Cavanaugh asked if the City could prosecute their cases at one of the other locations. 8 Ms. Witterschein stated that the St. Anthony Police Officers prefer to go downtown. 9 Mr. Foster stated it has been reported back to him many times that the judge will not accept the 10 recommendation even if it is agreed to,by the defense attorney. He stated however, that the issue 11 of moving should be discussed with the Police Department. 12 Morrison noted there are other issues involved including an agreement whereas the City of 13 Minneapolis prosecutes the Ramsey County cases as well as the Hennepin County cases. This is 14 an issue which needs to be decided by the Police Department and the prosecuting attorneys. 15 Faust noted that the report indicates that the average gross revenue per citation and count for the 16 City of St. Anthony is $31.48. This is higher than the gross revenue of$19.66 for all of 17 Hennepin County and $14.75 for the City of Minneapolis. He stated this reflects high standards. 18 Ms. Witterschein stated her office makes a concerted effort to work with the judges and Police 19 Department to ensure that the cases are tight and makes all efforts to go to trial to show that they 20 are serious about prosecution. 21 Mayor Ranallo asked what the average gross revenue per citation and count was in Brooklyn 22 Center. 23 Mr. Witterschein stated she would check on this. 24 Cavanaugh asked if the prosecution would be more effective in Brooklyn Center and questioned 25 the average case calendar. 26 Ms. Witterschein stated she did not believe the effectiveness would be any different in Brooklyn 27 Center. She stated the case calendar varies from 8 to 42 in an afternoon. This past month she 28 has had three jury trials. 29 Marks asked if there was any tracking of how many cases were successful and the recidivism • 30 rate.