Graphical Highlights
 
Federal Prosecutor Terrorism Definition*
Criminal Terrorism Referrals That Were Declined
Fiscal Years 2004 - 2008

Reason Given by Assistant U.S. Attorney for 
Declining to Prosecute
Number Percent
All 5,995 100.0%
 
Weak or insufficient admissible evidence 1,328 22.2%
Lack of evidence of criminal intent 1,261 21.0%
Agency request 845 14.1%
No federal offense evident 571 9.5%
Office policy 309 5.2%
Suspect to be prosecuted by other authorities 292 4.9%
No known suspect 235 3.9%
Lack of investigative resources 195 3.3%
Suspect being prosecuted on other charges (e.g., UFAPs) 117 2.0%
Lack of prosecutive resources 106 1.8%
Minimal federal interest or no deterrent value 101 1.7%
Civil, admin or other disciplinary alternatives 95 1.6%
Jurisdiction or venue problems 65 1.1%
Staleness 62 1.0%
Offenders age, health, prior record, or personal matter 44 0.7%
Pretrial diversion completed 41 0.7%
Juvenile suspect 32 0.5%
Suspect deported 28 0.5%
Suspect deceased 26 0.4%
Suspect serving sentence 22 0.4%
Witness problems 21 0.4%
Statute of Limitations 18 0.3%
Declined per instructions from DOJ 15 0.3%
Suspects cooperation 14 0.2%
Department Policy 12 0.2%
Suspect a fugitive 8 0.1%
Petite policy 4 0.1%
Citation filed 2 0.0%
Extradition 2 0.0%
Local Agency Referral Presented by Federal Agency 2 0.0%
By Action of the Grand Jury 1 0.0%
Final order of forfeiture-asset substituted 1 0.0%

* For details of definition see table. The reason was missing or there was an inconsistent code on 120 matters out of the 5,995.


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Copyright 2009