Since he took control of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah 21/2 years ago, Scott Matheson Jr. has prosecuted a quarter fewer cases than his predecessors.
The decline has caused some federal law-enforcement officers to complain privately that Matheson delays or refuses to prosecute a number of good cases."He's obsessed with review, overreview and re-review," said one federal agent, who requested anonymity. "He wants every case to be a sterile, academic, dissected thing. And it just doesn't work like that in the real world."
An officer from another federal law-enforcement agency put it like this: "It just seems (Matheson and his prosecutors) analyze and analyze until they become paralyzed."
Matheson, however, said decisions about when and whether to prosecute are based on merit - not numbers.
The complaints of a few agents, he said, may be the result of lack of understanding on their part about his role as "gatekeeper" to the prosecutorial system.
"When we charge anyone with a federal crime, that's a very serious decision," he said. "We're not going to indict a case unless we feel it meets the charging standards it needs to meet."
A review of criminal prosecutions during the past 61 months in U.S. District Court shows that in the 32 months before Matheson's administration, the U.S. attorney's office prosecuted 948 cases, an average of 29.6 per month. In the 29 months since Matheson took over, the office has prosecuted 659 cases, an average of 22.7 per month.
Matheson's numbers represent a 23 percent decrease in prosecutions over his predecessors, David Jordan and Dee Benson.
During the four months he was in office in 1993, Matheson's attorneys averaged 20.5 prosecutions per month. In 1994, they averaged 21 per month. In 1995, Matheson's numbers went up to an average of 25.3. But that's still about 15 percent less than his predecessors' rates.
The number of individuals prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office is also down. During the 32 months before Matheson was sworn in, 1,284 people were named as criminal defendants, an average of about 40.1 per month. In Matheson's first 29 months, his office has prosecuted 852 suspects, an average of 29.4 per month.
This represents a 26 percent decrease in prosecution of criminal defendants over the previous 32 months.
Matheson said several factors explain the decline in his numbers. The most dominant is that in 1994, federal agencies brought him fewer cases.
Drawing on a sports analogy, Matheson said, "If John Stockton is not passing the ball to Karl Malone, he's not going to score as many points."
Matheson said a pair of large nationwide investigations came to an end in the first half of 1993, before he took office, skewing the numbers. He also pointed out that prosecutions were down generally in 1994 in most federal judicial districts.
Another issue surrounding the number of Matheson's prosecutions are the types. During the past two years, a noticeable chunk of indictments charged people with being illegal aliens - a type of case that is relatively easy to prosecute. The second week of February, four of eight indictments were against illegal aliens.
Matheson acknowledges without apology that illegal-alien prosecutions are up.
"It turns out that the (Immigration and Naturalization Service) is producing more cases for us to file. INS has more investigative resources than before."
Jordan, who declined to comment specifically about Matheson's tenure, said that under his administration, only a "tiny, tiny percent of our cases" involved charges solely of being an illegal alien.
Despite the discontent among some rank-and-file federal agents, their supervisors report that they have a satisfactory working relationship with Matheson.
"We've got great dialogue with Scott," said Tom Kubic, special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City office. "He treats us as a client. He's been really good to work with."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Criminal prosecutions in federal court
Under Scott Matheson Jr. Under his predecessors
(29 months) (32 months)
Total cases 659 948
Avg. cases per month 22.7 29.6
Total defendants 852 1,284
Avg. defendants per month 29.4 40.1