Federal prosecutor says office won't refuse Indian Country cases

Wednesday, February 9, 2011  

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Western North Carolina won't decline Indian Country cases unless they are out of jurisdiction or are bad cases, according to a federal prosecutor.

The office handles cases from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the only federally recognized tribe in the state. Declination rates weren't reported but assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast said no case is too small to warrant attention.

“The mission of the U.S. Attorney’s office is to prosecute crime,” Gast told The Smoky Mountain News. “And in Indian country, the scope of that mission is broader because we don’t have the safety net of the state court.”

Not everyone agrees with the assessment. Teresa McCoy, a council member, said some cases go unpunished on the reservation.

“Every time there’s a dismissal there’s a victim and that victim got no help,” McCoy told the paper.

Get the Story:
Jurisdiction quagmire challenges Cherokee courts (The Smoky Mountain News 2/9)