Shackled and wearing a grayish jumpsuit, Jarvis Giles, 33, approached thepodiumfor his first court hearingsince entering the Chatham County Detention Center three years ago.On Aug. 5, at about 3:40 p.m., after 43 months behind bars and a nearly30-minuteplea and probation hearing,Chatham County Superior CourtJudgeBenjamin Karpfproclaimed Giles a free man. By 8:30 p.m.,Gileswas at his West Savannah homehugging hisfourkids.
Giles’ situation – waiting months that turn into long years to have his case heard – is the same faced by58otherswho've been inthe Chatham County Detention Center for more than 1,000 daysas of Aug. 9, long before the COVID-19 pandemic even started.
Criminal reform advocates in Savannah and the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office have raised concerns about the number of inmates languishing in thejailawaiting a plea hearing ortrial.That numberfluctuates daily basedon how many cases have been adjudicated, with some inmates going to prison, othersbeing released.
The jail has, on average, 1,400 inmates per day and can hold up to 2,100.More than half those inmates are behind barson probationor paroleviolation charges, according to a report fromDeep Center,aSavannah program which focuses in parton criminal justice policy reform.The reportincludes data collected between July 2019 and July2020.
More:Chatham Commission should invest in DA's 'rocket docket' to clear case backlog
Longer jail stays typically resultina court system backlog.Just before shutdownslast year, Chatham County had more than 5,000 pending cases in its system.But in the past year, more than 4,600 pending cases were added to the workflow.
Backlogs have consequences: The courts are swamped with caseloads, the accused don't see their day in court for some time, and victims get neither closure orswift justice.
Backlogs also cost money. Lots of money.
In 2018,Chatham County spent $71 million in taxpayer dollars to expand the jail to 2,360 beds, according to Deep Center's report.This year, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved a $50-million budget for the jail.It costs $5.3 million to house the 56 inmates who were awaiting trial in December 2020, according to a report from the Chatham DA's office.In all of this, it raises the question about the true nature of a speedy trial.
Extended Stay
On the day of his hearing, Giles, a tall, husky man, stood with his mask hung around his chin craning his head to listen to theproceedings during the virtual hearing,as Chatham County prosecutors recounted the facts of thetwo cases that landed him in jail— one for aggravated assault and the other fordriving backward and gun possession.Hespoke only whenthe judge asked him a question.
More:Salary database: Here's how much Chatham County employees make
Five days after his release, Giles told the Savannah Morning News, "This feels great to finally have freedomafter a long 43 months. It feels really great to be back home with my kids and just be able to be back to normal.”
Giles could’ve been a basketball star. The broad-shouldered, 6-footer playedfor Groves High School.
A 2006 SMN article noted Giles was a key loss for the team as it headed into its 2006-2007 season. Another news article noted Giles scored 15 points to help Groves beat Benedictine Military School in 2005.
“Jarvis had scouts coming from all over to see him,” his mother, PatriciaGiles, said from her West Savannah home, boasting about her only son's trophies and TV appearances while doting on his skills.
But Giles’ hoop dreams stalledat17 when he became adadduringhis senior year of high school.
Shortly after the birth of his first son, Giles would be in and out of the Chatham County courtswith charges ranging from low-level misdemeanors such as marijuana possession to felonycharges such asaggravated assault.
Gileshasbeen in the court system since November 2006 when he was charged with marijuana possessionand possession of tools for the commission of a crime, according to online Chatham County court records.
In 2018, Giles was arrested on a charge of"improper backing.”As described by the prosecutor during Giles's Aug. 5 court hearing, two Savannah police officers were driving near Industry Drive and East Lathropwhen they noticedGilesdriving backward downDemmond Street. Police followed Giles for two blocks before pulling himover.During the traffic stop, Giles ran from police— twice, once while handcuffed. A police search revealed Giles had a stolen, loaded Glock 40, which he was prohibited under Georgia law from carryingbecause he was on probation for aggravated assault.
The arrest and gun possession violated his probation in a 2014 case, where he fired shots at a man running from the home of his child's mother. In that case, Giles was arrested on aggravated assault and weapons possessioncharges. Prosecutors saidGiles went to the home of his child’s mother, saw a cellphone that didn’t belong to her, and discovered a man hiding in the closet.
As the man ran out the house, described Chatham County prosecutor Casey Blount during the Aug.5 hearing, Giles fired several shots, hitting the man in the ankle. Giles was sentenced to 10 years and served two years in prison.
After his January 2018 arrest, Gileswouldn’t seethe outside ofacell forthree years."I was just upset because it seemed I could never get into a courtroom,” Giles said of the wait it took to finally get a court hearing, even if it was virtual. “Every time I had a court date or plea hearing, I never made it down to the courtroom.”
Time wasn't exactly on Giles' side. He remainedincarceratedduring a pandemic, which he worried would kill him.
"I thought I was gonna end up catching it and possibly die being incarcerated," he told the Savannah Morning News. "I didn't want to go out like that."
More:Chatham County Jail's backlog costs taxpayers $6.76 million and counting
Court system
Hisis just one of 58 similar stories caught in a cycle of fits and starts.Cases can take windingturns for myriadreasons: charges may be added, judges change, new districtattorneysare elected, a new public defender gets appointed, and a new judge isassigned.
By then, the case has exchanged several hands and a person has sat in jail longer than some have been in prison for more violent crimes.
In aJuly15interview, DAJonesexplained how cases workthrough the court system:First, there is an arrest, then there is a first court appearance. If a person is charged with a felony, they willlikelyretain counselwho can move the judicial process forward quickly.
But as cases age, Jones said, there’s also turnover in the judicial system and a person’s casefile can go to different people.Andit’s the same with the public defender system.
Apart from that, Jones said sometimes, attorneys will have to file motions in cases, which could result in further delaying a trial. When motions arefiledtheymust be heard before the trial starts,oftencausing another delay.
“Every changeresultsin more time,”Jonessaid. “Judges rotate every two years. When that changes, it adds more time.”
Speedy trials
There are two kinds of speedy trials:statutoryandconstitutional.
Under the SixthAmendment ofthe U.S. Constitution, a speedytrial guarantees that a person is allowed a trial without unnecessary delay and with the right to an attorney and impartial jury of his/her/their peers.The amendment also guarantees peoplethe right to know who their accusers are andthe charges and evidence against them.
"When the constitution talks about the right to a public and speedy trial, that’s been interpreted in a rather vague way,” Giles’ attorney Gregory Crawford said.
Crawford saidhe'sknown ofcapitalmurder cases where people have not been brought to trial forfour, five, and sometimes six years,and courts will still find that their right to a speedy trial has not been abridged.“So,then they look to factors such as the reasons for the delayor whether the defendant was admitted to bond,or ifthe defendant, at any point, asserted his right to a speedy trial.”
In Georgia, there is a statutory provision for a speedy trialthatsays,“If you file a demand for speedytrialthey have to bring you to trial within that term of court or the next,” Crawford explained.Terms of court are quarterly and start on the first Mondays of March, June, September, and December.
Since COVID, however, Crawford explained thatthe right to a speedy trial has been truncated by the Georgia Supreme Court orders. In March2020, the Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Meltonissued an order allowing courts to suspend jury trials and grand jury proceedings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the meantime, hearings and other judicial matters that didn't require large gatherings such as jury trials were conducted virtually.
Jury trials didn't begin again in Chatham County until April.
A victim's right
As inmates await trial, their victims await justice.
In Chatham County’sVictim-Witness Assistance Program, 19 victim assistantsjuggle up to 1,000 cases,everything from misdemeanors and felonies.
And the job is a heavy lift: Victim assistants mustexplainthe legal processto victimsandensurethey knowevery single movement on the case.
“They're waiting their case to be heard,”said CherylJones, Chatham County’s Victim-Witness Assistance program director. “Sometimes, they're not at ease about what's going on,and they're uncertain.So,it eases their mind, understanding that there is a process.”
Jones said the length of time a victim waits for justice varies with the course a case takes through the court system. To easevictims' anxiety and concerns, shesaid a key part of the job is simply keeping them informed. That could be letting them know aboutupcominghearings, the outcome, when the perpetrator is released,orany part of the criminal justice process that could affect them.
In Georgia, victims are also given acrimebill of rights that clearly explains their rights and the notification process.Jones said victims receiveadditionalcompensation for medical bills and mental health services if they wereinjured. Victims' families receive financial supportfor funeral and burial services if they were killed.
But the idea of justice served is left up to the victim.
“Oftentimes, we use the word justice, but that's really not clearly defined,” Jones said. “And we can't define that. Wehave tobase everything on the law.”
Jones said the program has received surveys fromfamilieswho aren’t happy about the outcome of a case because “they feel a person should get 100 years,” when the lawmayrequirethey only get 10 to25 years.
"Itis not for us to define what justice looks like,”Jonessaid. “It is our job to make sure that the case is heard.”
Lost time
Now that Giles is out of jail and on probation, he wants to get his life back on track. He's found work as a forklift operator at a Pooler warehouse. He also is looking tomake up for lost time with his four children, ages 6 through 16.
“My second oldest and my youngest go to football practice,” he said. “SoI'm looking forward to going to the football practice.”
He's grateful he did not contract COVID-19 while in jail, as 3,870 Georgia prisoners did. He's also grateful that he did not succumb to despair. During his three years he witnessed or learned about a number ofsuicides, he said.
"I just prayed a lot," he said. "I prayed every day, prayed every night. I read the Bible and talked to my family."
Raisa is a Watchdog and Investigative Reporter for The Savannah Morning News.Contact her at rhabersham@gannett.com.
