ATLANTA,None — A Whistleblower 2 Investigation has found a tremendous upsurge in the backlog of cases before an Atlanta judge whose primary responsibility is DUIs.
Also up sharply -- the number of DUIs being sent from municipal court to Fulton County court.
Judge Calvin Graves told Channel 2 Action News investigative reporter Richard Belcher that blaming him is unfair. This is not the first time a Channel 2 investigation has raised questions about the efficiency of Atlanta's Municipal Court.
Sixteen months ago, Channel 2 examined courtroom videos to estimate the average times that judges spent on the bench.
The judge who had less time on the bench than all his fellow judges is primarily responsible for DUIs. Most of the defendants at municipal court face routine traffic charges, such as running red lights or speeding. Most will complete their cases in a single visit.
But DUIs are complicated, requiring several trips to court, and delays are evidently growing because Channel 2's investigation discovered a huge increase in the backlog of DUIs.
Last year, Atlanta police and state troopers wrote about 3,100 DUI cases within the city limits. But no one is arguing that the increase in the DUI backlog was caused by a sudden increase in the number of DUI arrests. So Channel 2 took a look at the presiding judge of the DUI division.
Graves has been an Atlanta judge since 1993. He came to Channel 2's attention when a Whistleblower 2 Investigation looked at the work patterns of all the municipal court judges.
Channel 2's sampling found Graves on the bench an average of two hours and 27 minutes a day -- less than any of his colleagues.
Graves said he's not the problem.
He blames any delays on cuts in the prosecutor's office and on the police department's failure to provide the court with arrest videos.
The increase in his backlog is significant.
In 2008, Graves had a monthly average of 315 cases pending in his court. That more than tripled in 2009.
And the number of pending cases before Graves doubled again last year.
When Channel 2 added it up, Graves' case backlog rose by 580 percent over those three years. Not only are cases backlogged, municipal court also had a sharp increase in the number of DUIs handed over to Fulton County for prosecution -- up 140 percent last year alone.
The chief solicitor for municipal court sent Belcher an e-mail acknowledging there were cutbacks on his staff in 2008 and 2009.
Graves declined to be interviewed on camera, but he left a voice mail charging that our story is unfair, misleading and racially motivated.
WSBTV
