Attorney General's Office Scolded

D.C. Not Ready To Take On More Cases, Judge Says

Mayor-elect Fenty seeks more local control of criminal prosecutions. (Nikki Kahn - The Washington Post)

A federal judge sent a stern, angry warning from the bench yesterday to Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty: Don't let the D.C. attorney general's office start prosecuting local crimes until its lawyers competently handle the civil cases they already have.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth accused the attorney general's office of engaging in games in a wrongful arrest lawsuit an 18-year-old high school girl filed against a group of city police officers. She was arrested last year when she went to a police station seeking to rebut a routine $25 noise citation.

In a hearing on the case yesterday, Lamberth pointed to evidence that the attorney general's office helped the officers avoid being served with the suit and simultaneously tried to get the suit dismissed.

Lamberth -- who frequently admonishes attorneys he deems inadequate to the task -- said the case illustrated a pattern of lackluster performance. He said it heightened his concern about Fenty's and Attorney General-nominee Linda Singer's interest in taking over some local criminal prosecutions now handled by federal prosecutors.

"It bothers me a lot to hear that kind of talk," Lamberth said, visibly fuming. "How could there even be a thought that they could take that on? The D.C. attorney general's office is not adequately or properly handling the cases it has now."

The judge's caustic remarks come as Fenty has laid out an ambitious agenda to transform District government. To stem neighborhood crime with swifter prosecutions, he has proposed assigning more criminal cases to the D.C. attorney general's office instead of the U.S. attorney's office.

Some home-rule advocates argue that the District should have a local official prosecuting local crimes. Those who disagree say the U.S. attorney's office, although accountable to the president, has tackled local prosecutions effectively for decades.

Fenty said last night that he and Singer share a desire for local control of criminal prosecutions. In remarks forwarded by his press secretary, Fenty did not address the judge's concerns.

Lamberth's warning was spurred by the city's handling of the case of Monique Dingle, a senior on the honor roll at Theodore Roosevelt High School when she was issued the citation. Dingle says that when she and her mother went to a police station to ask about contesting a citation, Third District officers gave her two choices: Admit guilt and pay a fine or request a trial date and be processed for arrest.

The judge said there was evidence, unrefuted by the city, that Dingle's attorneys have been trying for seven months to identify the officers so that they can serve them the suit, but they have been blocked by evasive tactics from the police and attorney general's office.

"Why would [the city] want to annoy the court by playing games like this?" Lamberth asked City Attorney James Vricos.

The judge warned that Dingle's allegations appear to have merit.

"I take it you're admitting that if you want a trial date, you have to be arrested?" Lamberth asked Vricos. "Doesn't it sound like you've got serious problems in this case? This is not a frivolous case."

Lamberth instructed Dingle's attorneys to subpoena Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, demanding the officers' home addresses so that they can be served.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in an interview he has long believed that local prosecution would be better if the office had the tools it needed to do the job.

But Patrick Regan, one of Dingle's attorneys, said the unprofessional behavior by the attorney general's office in Dingle's case shows that such a proposal is foolhardy.

"You have to get your existing cases in order before you triple your caseload," he said. "Meanwhile, the U.S. attorney's office does a fabulous job."

Staff writer Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report.