


Should every criminal be prosecuted? Not necessarily. 

"The goal of criminal prosecution first and foremost is public protection, right?" said 4th Judicial District Attorney Steve Tew. The goal, when possible, is to make the victim and the public whole.

Prosecution doesn't always get that result. 

"It's not simple. It's not a one-size fits all. It doesn't happen in our business. It doesn't happen at all," District Attorney Charles Ballay, who represents Louisiana's 25th Judicial District, said.

Tew said general guidelines to consider are:

  • 1. Is the public at risk?
  • 2. Is this a violent offense or a repeat offender?
  • 3.  What are the damages? What harm was caused and is it likely to repeat?

He said the policy applies to an array of crimes and scenarios.

"Let's say that there's theft or there's embezzlement and there's no real criminal history and the victims are on board with it, we will oftentimes, depending on how egregious the crime is, offer some sort of pretrial diversion whereby restitution is made and criminal prosecution does not occur," Tew said.

Ballay said his office has handled school board cases, hospital cases and many others through the years.

"Do we receive matters that involve theft- or embezzlement-type situations involving governmental agencies? Of course. Yes. Theft occurs in many situations. Do we have to screen those, work with those, investigate those, prosecute those sometimes — however they're handled? Yes. But they all vary how they're handled," Ballay.

Two audits for school boards in Bossier and Claiborne parishes recently were published by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office. Court was avoided in both cases and restitution was paid.

In Bossier, officials found that deposits weren't being made to the Butler Education Complex's activity fund. The school's bookkeeper reportedly admitted to taking $700. The theft is believed to have occurred over an approximate time period of Nov. 9, 2016 to Feb.16, 2017. She was fired, and the school board pressed charges. Restitution was made, so adjudication was not necessary.

In Claiborne, $640 from candy sales was not deposited into the school's bank account. The employee, who was a sponsor for an extracurricular activity, resigned and agreed to pay restitution. No criminal charges were pending when the school district's audit was filed.

Brad Cryer, Director of Local Government Audit Services for LLA, said his office collects public audits and investigates incidents to provide complete information to district attorneys who then determine whether to prosecute.

"Most of the work that's done in local government is done by contracted CPAs and so when they report a possible theft or a possible fraud, we send that report straight to the DA. We don't make a recommendation of whether to prosecute or not prosecute. That's strictly up to the DA to take the facts of the case and make that decision," Cryer said.

The DA can ask the original CPA for more information or ask LLA investigators to work on the case. In those cases, he said, the office tries to work with the DA to provide the information they need.

While the LLA does follow up on cases it investigates, it does not track whether every incident of misappropriation or embezzlement noted in audits goes to court.

There's no clearinghouse statewide to see how many potential cases are prosecuted.

There are 42 judicial districts in Louisiana, Cryer said, and each DA could have a different approach.

"Each case, each incident is judged on its own merits, and whatever should be done with it depends, obviously, on the person's record, the magnitude of the crime, the victims involved. Many, many, many issues go into deciding how it's to be handled. There's no uniform way," Ballay said.

In Ouachita, neither a teacher nor a bookkeeper at West Ridge Middle School faced charges after the LLA traced almost $22,000 that was not deposited into school bank accounts. The state auditor released its report on the issue in March 2017.

In that case, Tew said, they made complete restitution. The victim was the school board and the school.

"The result that we got is the result that everybody agreed to," he said.

So how would employers know if someone has been charged with a crime?

Tew said employment applications ask if  you've ever been arrested. It's up to an employer to do due diligence with background searches.

"It's not a mathematical formula. Each case is a little different. The victim's input is important to us, and in some instances, we will prosecute but not seek jail time and have the court order restitution. There's more than one way to skin the cat," he said.

Tew said you can look at the accused person's history as a guide. A theft offender with three prior theft arrests is not a good risk.

"We need to prosecute that case, and restitution may not happen. If we send someone to prison, they're not going to make restitution. The judge can't do both. They either have to put them on probation and order restitution or they put them in jail," Tew said.

Ballay said some offenders who normally would go to prison opt to join the military. The armed services will take them and give the offender discipline and structure. "That works great a lot of times. Now is that for everybody? Of course not."

Other times, Ballay said, the person gets out of prosecution by providing information to police.

Recently, Tew said, a dog owner wasn't obeying leash laws. Their dog injured another. It wasn't a violent attack, but it did require a trip to the vet. He said the incident had the potential to be resolved without the need for court if the vet bills were paid.

"If the victim is good with getting reimbursed for her out-of-pocket expenses and we don't prosecute on a leash law violation, way to go. We don't clog the criminal court up with that. Everybody's happy. The defendant dog owner is happy. The victim dog owner is happy, and hopefully the lesson's learned,"  Tew said.

Each case is judged on its own merit. 

"People don't understand that every matter we have is really looked at — inside, outside, every way possible to make sure that we're making a right call or right decision on what should be done with it. Prosecuted, not prosecuted, whatever. It's not like we are delivering hamburgers out the window at McDonald's and if you get one bag out of 100 wrong, well, that's just the way it goes because you're in a fast business. That's not how it goes, you know. We don't do that," Ballay said.


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