16 city cases dismissed

When Charles Evans was unceremoniously booted by former Troy mayor Don Banning in February, the pending court cases at the time were up in the air. 

They’ve started to come down now, and there is no one to catch them.

Since Evans’ dismissal, 16 criminal misdemeanor cases, ranging from assault to theft to driving under the influence have been dismissed.

The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees a “speedy” trial, and so, at six months after arraignment, if a case has no plans for a trial it is 

dismissed without prejudice. These cases have one year to be reviewed and readdressed to keep them from falling through the cracks. Troy’s City Court Clerk, Denise Killingsworth, said that is not likely.

The dismissed cases, reaching back as far as last September up until January, and few more pending cases, not only have kept possible criminals on the streets, but also have cost Troy nearly $12,000 in missed fines, Killingsworth estimates.

“We don’t have a prosecuting attorney, so any citation could ask to be dismissed,” she said. “From a speeding ticket to the most egregious misdemeanor.”

Killingsworth said in Wednesday’s City Council meeting in Troy that of the city’s 150 yearly citations, half are $20 speeding tickets, but that still leaves 75 more serious offenses.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the city of Troy,” she said. “It develops an attitude of perpetrators that they can basically do whatever they want.”

Allen Dye, Troy Municipal Court Judge, was reached for comment, but wanted to let the city procede before making any comment.