Inquirer Editorial: Crime witnesses must believe it's safe to testify

Witness intimidation remains an obstacle to law enforcement in Philadelphia. Too often, criminals or their associates threaten potential witnesses to keep them from testifying - or worse.

The intimidation can occur in a variety of ways. A witness on the stand certainly got the message recently when a spectator in the courtroom suddenly snapped a cellphone photograph of him. The frightened witness, also cowed by the cold stare of the defendant, suddenly forgot what he knew about a crackhouse murder. A second witness lost his memory, too.

This was in the case of Devin Smith, who was charged with punching and kicking a 47-year-old woman to death inside a Frankford drug house. One of the memory-challenged witnesses had earlier told police he helped carry the victim to an upstairs bedroom after she was assaulted. Who can forget carrying a dying or dead woman up a flight of stairs? Fortunately, the sudden cases of amnesia didn't prevent Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan from ruling there was enough evidence to hold the alleged killer for trial. Dugan also held the cellphone cameraman in contempt.

The incident is just one of many instances in which Philadelphia crime witnesses are so afraid of retaliation that they choose their own survival, or that of their families, over justice. Who can blame them? Observers say witnesses are commonly threatened in the Criminal Justice Center, in its lobby, its elevators, stairwells, hallways, and courtrooms. The situation is so tenuous that the preliminary-hearing room for murder suspects has a bulletproof glass divider between the spectators and participants.

It goes without saying that the intimidation is worse in crime-ravaged neighborhoods where residents live in constant fear of retaliation for any indication that they cooperated with police. These communities will never become safe until the people who live in them know they can report crimes without fear.

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's Office has limited the opportunities for witness intimidation by using grand juries to indict defendants, which allows witnesses to give their testimony in private. But the grand juries need to be used more often. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams said a grand jury was not used in the Smith case because there was no prior suspicion of witness intimidation. It seems logical, though, to consider witness intimidation likely whenever an alleged drug dealer is accused of murder.

Philadelphia deserves credit for reducing homicides, assaults, and violent robberies thanks to changes in police tactics and court procedures. Using advanced data analysis, police anticipate violence and deploy officers to hot spots. By asking for higher bails, the district attorney is keeping more repeat criminals off the streets. A special court has been created for fugitives, bail collections have been increased, and trial delays reduced. But unless more witnesses feel they can testify without retaliation, in too many neighborhoods, the criminals will have the upper hand.