Albuquerque Journal reports on the faults of “Risk Assessments’ in determining pre-trial release.
System allows release of suspects with lengthy police record
(posted in Albuquerque Journal – Mar 20, 2017 – click link for article)
Eric Arellano has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center since January awaiting several felony trials.
But lockup is a new look for him.
Arellano, 38, is one of an unknown number of benefactors of a local criminal court system that ignores many of his past arrests when a judge sets conditions for pretrial release.
That’s because the “risk assessment” form used by judges does not include a suspect’s past arrests if the charges were dropped, even if there were plans to refile them. And in Bernalillo County, thousands of cases have been dismissed by prosecutors in recent years.