No-Show Witnesses Tossed in Jail

[Rose Siding]

Kenyetta Costes had been in a Baltimore jail more than five months when, in a handwritten letter, she pleaded with a judge to set her free.

"My life has totally stopped," wrote Costes, 19. "I've lost my life, my family, my children and my home. I humbly ask, would you please consider releasing me on home until the court date?"
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Generally, witnesses are held no longer than several days, a few weeks at most, prosecutors say. Costes, a mother of two, was the rare case: She spent 163 days in jail before a judge, responding to her letter, set her free in January after she gave a videotaped deposition.

The city's top prosecutor, State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, acknowledged that her office uses so-called body attachment writs more frequently than other state's attorneys in Maryland but said she has little choice. "I would rather not , but we need to get justice for our victims and we need to get justice for our community, so we do what we have to do," she said. "It's not always pretty."
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Richard A. Finci, former president of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys' Association, said he has "major constitutional concerns" about holding witnesses for months at a time and about the tactic of detaining witnesses generally.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38616-2005Apr8.html