Engulfed evidence puts New Orleans court cases in doubt By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

Engulfed evidence puts New Orleans court cases in doubt
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

Evidence from an estimated 3,000 criminal cases in New Orleans has been submerged in the toxic floodwaters that swamped police headquarters and the courthouse. It's unknown whether the evidence will be usable in prosecutions.
Thousands of witnesses and victims involved in the cases are scattered across the nation, and New Orleans authorities face an enormous task in locating them.

More than three weeks after the flooding from Hurricane Katrina began to devastate New Orleans, the crippling impact to the city's justice system is becoming more clear. A problem that began with the breakdown of the city's police force during the chaos and looting that accompanied the flooding has ballooned into a crisis local and federal officials say could make it difficult for New Orleans to maintain order on its own for years….

Calvin Johnson, chief judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal Courts, said recovering evidence that was in storage on the lower floors of New Orleans' police headquarters and the Orleans Parish Criminal District Courts will require "a gargantuan" effort involving experts from outside Louisiana….

If the evidence storage vaults in New Orleans were compromised, defense lawyers in cases that manage to go forward are likely to raise questions about using such evidence in prosecutions, said Keith Nordyke, a Baton Rouge lawyer.

Nordyke leads a task force to help displaced lawyers on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"A huge part of the justice system is in crisis," Nordyke said. "Is the evidence available, and is it in usable condition? Is DNA evidence so tainted that it is now meaningless? Is the rock of crack cocaine still there?"

Even if evidence in New Orleans' vaults can be recovered and preserved, Nordyke said, witnesses in hundreds of criminal cases "have been scattered to the wind."

"If you locate all those people, the next challenge is arranging to bring those people back," he said. "The level of need is pretty overwhelming."…

Full story at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-21-katrina-court-cases_x.htm