PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

March 2, 2005

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150

IT’S OFFICIAL: DONOVAN’S DA’S OFFICE LEADS NYC IN FELONY CONVICTION RATE

***D.A. Donovan Announces 94.8% Felony Conviction Rate in 2004, Tops Among the City’s Prosecutors***

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that his office lead the entire City of New York with the highest Conviction Rate for Felony Indictments in 2004, his first year in office.

“I am pleased to announce to the people of this community that their District Attorney’s office has lead the entire City of New York in obtaining convictions in indicted felony cases,” stated the District Attorney. “Felony cases by definition are the most serious crimes in our justice system and my office is prosecuting these criminals, obtaining convictions, and putting them behind bars.”

According to statistics provided by the State of New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the Richmond County District Attorney’s office led the entire City of New York, including the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, with a 94.8% conviction rate for indicted felony cases disposed of in the year 2004. Out of 420 disposed of in 2004, 398 resulted in a conviction. This was significantly ahead of the citywide rate of 89.2%.

“As District Attorney, I am continually looking for ways to judge the performance of my office and to identify areas in need of improvement,” added D.A. Donovan. “These statistics indicate that my Assistant District Attorneys and support staff are performing at a high level, but we will not rest on our laurels and pledge to continue to further our efforts on behalf of Staten Island.”

Prior to District Attorney Donovan’s assuming office, in calendar year 2003, the Richmond County District Attorney’s conviction rate ranked fourth in the city. For calendar year 2002, the District Attorney’s office ranked fifth in the city. In 2001, the Island DA’s office had the worst conviction rate for indicted cases in the city.

Richmond County District Attorney’s Rank in Modified Felony Conviction Rate,
2001-2004

YEAR	RANK (out of 6)	Conviction Rate (as a %)
2004	FIRST	94.8%
2003	FOURTH	90.1%
2002	FIFTH	86.2%
2001	SIXTH	87.4%

MODIFIED CONVICTION RATES FOR FELONY INDICTMENTS
January 1, 2004 through December 30, 2004

Total	Disposed	Convicted	Not Convicted
RICHMOND COUNTY	420	398	22
	100%	94.8%	5.2%
QUEENS COUNTY	4699	4330	369
	100%	92.1%	7.9%
BRONX COUNTY	5009	4473	536
	100%	89.3%	10.7%
NEW YORK COUNTY	5618	4973	645
	100%	88.5%	11.5%
KINGS COUNTY	4567	4023	544
	100%	88.1%	11.9%
SPECIAL NARCOTICS	2318	1992	326
	100%	85.9%	14.1%
NYC TOTAL	22631	20189	2442
	100%	89.2%	10.8%

Source: DCJS, ISS (2/2005)

MODIFIED CONVICTION RATES FOR FELONY INDICTMENTS
January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003

 

	TOTAL DISPOSED	CONVICTED	NOT CONVICTED
NYC TOTAL	23369	21018	2351
	100.0%	89.9%	10.1%
BRONX	5490	4887	603
	100.0%	89.0%	11.0%
KINGS	4533	4092	441
	100.0%	90.3%	9.7%
NEW YORK	5777	5208	569
	100.0%	90.2%	9.8%
QUEENS	4400	4037	363
	100.0%	91.8%	8.3%
RICHMOND	436	393	43
	100.0%	90.1%	9.9%
SPECNARC	2733	2401	332
	100.0%	87.9%	12.1%

Source: DCJS, ISS (8/2004)

MODIFIED CONVICTION RATES FOR FELONY INDICTMENTS
January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002

	TOTAL DISPOSED	CONVICTED	NOT CONVICTED
NYC TOTAL	24997	22355	2642
	100.0%	89.4%	10.6%
BRONX	6069	5324	745
	100.0%	87.7%	12.3%
KINGS	4812	4322	490
	100.0%	89.8%	10.2%
NEW YORK	6093	5513	580
	100.0%	90.5%	9.5%
QUEENS	4844	4476	368
	100.0%	92.4%	7.6%
RICHMOND	327	282	45
	100.0%	86.2%	13.8%
SPECNARC	2852	2438	414
	100.0%	85.5%	14.5%

Source: DCJS, ISS (8/2004)

MODIFIED CONVICTION RATES FOR FELONY INDICTMENTS
January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001

	Total Disposed	Convicted	Not Convicted
NYC TOTAL	24338	22019	2319
	100%	90.5%	9.5%
BRONX COUNTY	6237	5566	671
	100%	89.2%	10.8%
KINGS COUNTY	4464	3927	537
	100%	88%	12%
NY COUNTY	5845	5349	496
	100%	91.5%	8.5%
QUEENS COUNTY	4888	4586	302
	100%	93.8%	6.2%
RICHMOND COUNTY	239	209	30
	100%	87.4%	12.6%
SPECIAL NARCOTICS	2665	2382	283
	100%	89.4%	10.6%

Source: DCJS, ISS (2/2002)

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