New database shows how often suspects are freed before trial in Fairfax Co.

New bond dashboard launched to increase transparency

A new database is providing insight into how often people accused of crimes are freed before trial in Fairfax County. FOX 5's Lindsay Watts spoke with Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano about the new online tool.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - A new database is providing insight into how often people accused of crimes are freed before trial in Fairfax County.

The online tool was just launched by the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and highlights disagreements between judges and prosecutors in both violent and nonviolent cases.

The data looks at a six-month timeframe. It shows in nearly 30% of felony sex crimes cases, a judge has decided to release the defendant even though the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office wanted the person held.

That happened a third of the time in misdemeanor sex offense cases and 20% of the time in violent felony and misdemeanor cases.

"We wanted to give the community an understanding of what the decision-making process is," said Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano.

"Really the bottom line for this is our data is showing that we are focusing on holding the people who represent an immediate risk of danger to the community while we are advocating for releases of those who don’t," Descano explained. "That is all about building long-term, lasting broad-based public safety. We’re not perfect. There are opportunities for improvement, and we’re going to continue to release data."

Descano has made it a priority to release suspects accused of nonviolent crimes pre-trial, and the data shows over half of people arrested for nonviolent felonies are freed. In 10% of nonviolent felony cases, judges have held a suspect prosecutors sought to release. That was true for 14% of nonviolent misdemeanor cases.

Descano said putting people in jail pre-trial increases the recidivism risk.

FOX 5 asked Descano if he was tracking how often people released are reoffending.

"Right now we don’t have that data, only because our systems don’t talk to all of the other systems in the criminal database systems," he said.

FOX 5 has looked into several questionable releases in the county recently, including a man who police said had thousands of Fentanyl pills in his possession when he wrecked a stolen car following a high-speed chase near Lorton.

Alpha Amin Kamara was also on supervised release in a federal drug trafficking case, but was freed the day after his arrest.

Then a man, also on probation, was freed after police said he was caught with drugs and charged with a felony offense. Just days later, police reported Anthony Agee went on to rape a woman in her Reston home.

Descano said in both of those cases, the suspects were freed before his office could be involved in the proceedings.

Fairfax rape suspect has long rap sheet

The Reston man accused of raping a woman at knifepoint was free in the community despite multiple other arrests and probation violations. FOX 5 asked law enforcement officials what happened.

In Virginia, a magistrate may decide to release a suspect following an arrest, a process that doesn’t involve prosecutors. And in Fairfax County, Descano says prosecutors are also barred from arraignments, where a judge could decide to grant bond.

The database doesn’t track those cases, only the bond hearings that involve prosecutors.

Descano says his office will continue to update the dashboard with new bond data.