|
|
Article: Prosecutors drop 49% of felonies: Clogged courts, shortage of staff dog D.C. system.(Special Report)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- August 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
D.C. prosecutors dropped charges on three previous occasions against the man accused of firing the first shots in a gunbattle that left a popular grandmother dead.
Had the federal prosecutors pursued those earlier charges, Kent Claude Chambers, 21, might have been behind bars June 21, when two stray shots fatally wounded Helen Foster-El in the back as she tried to shelter four frightened children caught in the cross fire.
Instead, Chambers turned himself in five days later. And when he was charged with second-degree murder while armed in the death of Mrs. Foster-El, 55, it was the Landover resident's fourth arrest on felony charges in two years.
...