WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – A Wayne County judge took the Local 4 Defenders into the courtroom on Tuesday to reveal just how behind the system has fallen.
The early days of the COVID pandemic put courts behind schedule and more than a year later they’re still trying to catch back up. That means more defendants than normal are out on bond.
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Judge Kenneth King, with the 36th District Court, said he starts his docket at 8 a.m. and works until 3:30 p.m. Every day he has felony cases where the defendants have been out on bond waiting for their day in court.
“People who are out on bond may re-offend,” King said.
When the COVID pandemic started, preliminary hearings and jury trials were put on hold. The backlog is 5,000 cases. Wayne County usually has 400 verdicts in a year. In 2020 it had 83 verdicts.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said part of the spike in crime can be linked to defendants out waiting.
“It is new to us to have these people waiting for trials for so long,” Worthy said.
Worthy said hiring more prosecutors and bringing in more judges would help with the problem.