The Case of Vanishing Witnesses

Katrina's effects can still be felt in the New Orleans criminal justice system.

ByABC News
July 26, 2007, 12:13 PM

July 26, 2007— -- NEW ORLEANS — When Michael Eberhardt began preparing for a triple-murder trial of an accused drug trafficker this year, the special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives packed his government credit card and hit the road.

Several days and five cities later — after stops in Arlington, Texas; Houston; San Antonio; Texarkana, Ark.; and Shreveport, La.— he completed an unusual mission: finding six key witnesses to a reign of terror inside New Orleans' Calliope public housing project.

"It took a while, but I got 'em all," Eberhardt proudly declares. One person in the group turned up in a San Antonio jail, he says.

Like virtually every facet of life here, much of the criminal justice system was washed away by the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina nearly two years ago. Judges, lawyers and criminals fled; court buildings and evidence rooms were flooded. The system is recovering slowly, but a hidden cost of rebuilding involves the expensive and tedious search for dozens of crime witnesses — many of them witnesses to slayings. Like half of the city's pre-Katrina population, they are scattered across Louisiana and much of the nation.

Most of the witnesses have no intention of returning, local police and prosecutors say. In many cases, a fear of retribution from suspects has made witnesses reluctant to make their whereabouts known.

Since last year, criminal charges against more than 3,000 felony suspects have been dropped because of storm-related problems, including damaged evidence and unavailable witnesses.

Some cases have become so shaky to prosecute that officials don't agree on how to proceed. On July 12, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti said he was launching a review of Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan's actions after murder charges were dismissed against a man implicated in five killings. The district attorney said a key witness in the June 2006 case could not be found.

Within hours of Jordan's decision, New Orleans police located the witness in Baton Rouge, prompting Mayor Ray Nagin to call on Foti to conduct the review.

"This failure to follow through encourages lawlessness and leads law-abiding citizens to feel unsafe," Nagin said in a written statement.