Melissa Hinton

CJUS 2050
10.1 Forum
Delineate the three major reasons for case attrition.
A. Legal judgment
a. Is there probable cause & it is a prosecutable case?
i. Leading causes for prosecution to deny taking a case:
1. Non-cooperation from witnesses
2. Insufficient evidence
3. Credibility of witnesses
4. Evidentiary support from police reports
B. Policy priorities
a. Less likely to pursue:
i. noncommercial gambling
1. Ex: Race determines an individual winner or winners
a. Ex: Horse racing
b. More likely to pursue:
i. Major narcotics cases
1. Ex: Seizures of large amounts of cocaine, heroin, and/or marihuana
ii. Organized crimes
1. Ex: Money Laundering
iii. Sex offenders
1. Rapists, sexual abuse, etc.
C. Personal standards of justice
a. Attitudes of members of the courtroom work group about what actions should not be
punished.
i. Cases may be reduced or dropped if the defendant is not a genuine threat to
society.