Report: Durham prosecutors dismiss majority of felon firearm possession charges

The report, compiled by the county's Gang Reduction Strategy office and presented to city and county leaders on Wednesday, determined that charges in 53 percent of the 363 arrests for possession of a firearm by a felon were voluntarily dismissed between 2016 and 2018.

Although the dismissal rate rose each successive year, from 46 percent in 2016 to 58 percent two years later, the report offered no comparisons with other North Carolina counties, making it difficult to determine whether the figures are high, low or average.

"I think, when you look at the numbers, you certainly have to think about it," said Jim Stuit, manager of the Gang Reduction Strategy office. "From the folks that I’ve talked to, there seems to be a consensus that, if you’re a felon and you carry a firearm, there’s a low potential of having any negative consequences."

District Attorney Satana Deberry, who was elected last November, said such charges are often dropped as part of a plea deal to more serious felonies, such as robbery or assault.

"It is not very often the case that we get firearm by a felon cases," Deberry said. "You can’t just look at this one thing as some indication of what’s happening."

Former District Attorney Roger Echols, who was in office during the period Stight studied, texted WRAL News that there was never any concerted effort to dismiss felon in possession charges.

"Cases could be dismissed for several reasons such as strength of evidence, federal prosecutions and pleading guilty to other charges," Echols said. "What reasons may speak to an increase in dismissals for a particular period, I am not sure of, however."

Stight said the felon in possession charge is important to consider as the Durham area fights an increase in gun violence. Homicides in the city are up 15 percent over a year ago.

"When we look at violent crime in Durham, so many times, we see that either the suspect or the victim is somebody that’s already a felon," he said. "So I think by being a felon in possession of a firearm, it greatly increases your chances of being a suspect or a victim in a crime."

The report offers recommendations on how to decrease the prevalence of felons carrying firearms, such as establishing a Project Safe Neighborhoods program in Durham. The nationwide initiative brings together federal, state and local law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders to identify violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

Other recommendations include identifying and monitoring felons repeatedly caught with guns, utilizing social service agencies and nonprofits to steer offenders away from guns, conducting more searches of felons on probation and continued checking on the disposition of gun cases in local courts.

"I would like to see continued concern about this, and hopefully that results in a higher level of monitoring of these outcomes in court for this particular charge," Stight said.