Dateline: February 26, 2004

DA reports 2003 stats

District Attorney Stuart Messer released his annual report for 2003 this week.

Messer prosecuted 330 felony cases involving 279 defendants in the 100th Judicial District, which includes Donley, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, and Hall counties.

Judge David McCoy assessed fines in these cases totaling $666,866 and ordered court costs of $91,630.25. The DA’s office reports that McCoy also ordered restitution to be paid to a variety of victims in the total amount of $858,543,23.

In addition to the fines and restitution, 83 people – thirty percent of all defendants prosecuted in 2003 – were sent to prison for a total term of imprisonment of 834 years.

“2003 was a busy year for law enforcement in the district,” Messer said. “Without all the hard work every law enforcement official gives this district, we could not have successfully solved and prosecuted such a large number of cases.”

In Donley County, the total fines assessed against 50 defendants totaled $93,000, and restitution orders in those cases totaled $764,042.52. Sixty felony cases were resolved in Donley County in 2003, resulting in successful prosecution on all matters. Twenty-four of those cases involved drug prosecutions.

“I know Sheriff Blackburn is having a positive impact on the possession and use of illegal drugs in our community,” Messer said. “Drug use continues to be a major factor in nearly all the criminal cases I see, and it is gratifying to play a small part in the eradication of drugs in Donley County.”