Quarter of state’s 2010 murder charges came from Lake
BY Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com December 13, 2011 4:28PM
Michael McArdle/Post-Tribune Neighbors in Dyer stop to view the crime scene investigation at 632 Hillside Saturday April 10, 2010 after the occupant Beverly Thompson was found murdered at the scene. ptmet
By the Numbers
According to the Indiana Judicial Service Report, Lake County had 54 murder cases filed in 2010. That’s the highest since 2002, including:
42 in 2009
37 in 2008
45 in 2007
40 in 2006
41 in 2005
47 in 2004
51 in 2003
47 in 2002
Updated: January 15, 2012 8:13AM
Lake County filed 54 new murder cases in 2010, more than a quarter of all new murder cases filed that year across the state, according to a study released Tuesday.
The study, called the Indiana Judicial Service Report, tracks data on all case types and finances for state courts in Indiana and is released annually. Lake County’s 54 murder cases were the most the county had seen in a year since 2002, the first year detailed statistics were available on a county level.
The report said that 205 murder cases were filed in Indiana in 2010, making Lake County’s cases 26 percent of the state’s total. Lake County’s total was second only to Marion County, which had 75. No other county came close. Porter County had one murder case filed last year. It was an increase for Lake County from 2009, when it filed 42 murder cases.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernie Carter pointed out that the number of murder cases filed in a year doesn’t necessarily correlate to the homicides in that year because cases are often not filed in the year they were committed.
For instance, he said, there’s a possibility that charges in the homicide that took place during the Thanksgiving weekend in downtown Crown Point won’t be filed until next year.
“We would hope that we would have a safe community where nobody’s life would be taken,” he said. “But that’s not reality.”
Carter said he wasn’t surprised that Lake County and Marion County had so many more homicides than any other county in the state because the two counties have large urban areas with a large amount of drug trafficking.
Although some of Lake County’s cases were related to domestic issues or were cold cases, Carter said most of the homicides are connected to drug activity, such as gang members fighting over territory. That’s why it’s so important for local law enforcement to go after people on drug charges because it will help get people who are willing to kill others for drug profits off the streets, he said.
Carter praised recent efforts by the U.S. Attorney’s office to go after a large number of gang members, such as in recent indictments against the Latin Kings and the Imperial Gangsters.
“When you have that kind of interaction with law enforcement, it reduces crime,” he said.
Although Lake County did see an increase in murder cases, it saw a drop in Class A, C and D felonies from 2009 to 2010.
In Porter County, the numbers of Class A, B and D felonies were down, too.
Case disposition varies
The study also tracks how many cases the courts disposed of in 2010, and both Porter and Lake counties kept almost even with new cases coming in. Lake County disposed of 9,819 criminal and civil cases while it took in 9,891. Porter County disposed of 5,597 cases and took in 5,152 cases.
Lake County had 141 jury trials, which comprised 9 percent of the jury trials across the state. Porter County had 30 jury trials. Jury trials are usually one of the most expensive ways for courts to end a case.
About 52 percent of the cases that were closed in 2010 in Lake County ended through plea agreements. About 62 percent of Porter County’s closed cases that closed in 2010 ended in plea deals.
Porter County’s courts actually raised more money than the $5.4 million they spent in 2010, although $3.5 million went to the state. Another $3.2 million went to local and county governments.
Lake County courts raised a total of $12.775 million in 2010, with about $6.1 million going to local and county governments. They spent $14.7 million, according to the study.
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