Montgomery County D.A. Restructuring Office In Wake Of Mistake Made Earlier This Year
By Brad Segall
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office will be implementing new checks and balances and restructuring some positions in the wake of a mistake that was made earlier this year that forced the office to drop charges against a defendant.
In March the office dismissed rape charges against Robert Kerns, the former head of the Montgomery County Republican Party, after a lab report was misread. In the wake of that mistake, D.A. Risa Ferman said they started looking at ways to do better, to prevent wrongful convictions and ensure that convictions are strong.
"A mistake or an error is a very painful thing to acknowledge as you all can imagine, even if you didn't make it yourself, but if you step back and really assess it honestly. It's an opportunity to do better."
The changes include a new ombudsman position which will provide independent reviews of cases and an assistant chief of trials who will be there to answer questions from prosecutors in the office. There will also be some changes in the detective bureau.
The state attorney general's office refiled some of the charges against Kerns.
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