Jackson County Prosecutor Defends Record Amid Rampant Criticism

Historic spikes in crime and high-profile prosecutions against law enforcement have sparked longstanding criticism against Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. However, a recent deadly mass shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade & rally has ignited a political firestorm against her office. 

Recently, police union leaders have openly questioned her record on gunfire at Crown Center.

And lately we notice that otherwise progressive locals are starting to question "systemic" issues that contribute to local violence and crime . . . Critics are calling out the prosecutor in that regard. 

Accordingly . . .

LIKE IT OR NOT, LOCAL CRITICISM OF THE PROSECUTOR IS STARTING TO TAKE HOLD AS SHE IS ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND HERSELF IN THE MEDIA!!!

Strangely . . . Only one local news outlet has prominently featured her defense so far.

We might push this post down later given a presser happening in a few moments but for now . . . Here's the crux of her argument and more info . . .

"My office is demonstrating through this data that we are handling more homicide cases than we've ever handled," Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker said in a statement. "And we are handling them more effectively. Our outcomes on these cases are strong with results that rival or surpass the average for such charges in the state of Missouri."

During 2023, Bakers office disposed of 102 homicides with 93 convictions, including 77 via guilty plea a conviction rate of nearly 91.2%.

Another 19 cases went to trial, with Jackson County prosecutors securing a conviction in 16 of those 19 cases, while two were referred to a special prosecutor, two were dismissed for lack of evidence, one resulted in an insanity plea and the defendant died in another case.

The average sentence in those cases, whether resolved by plea or trial, was 27.6 years a 19% increase from 2019 when the average sentence was 23.2 years and roughly 2.1 years longer than the average sentence for a homicide conviction among all Missouri Department of Corrections inmates at the end of the last fiscal year on June 30, 2022.

Despite a perception that Jackson County is lenient on violent offenders, the data suggests the county prosecutors office is highly effective at prosecuting such cases and the commensurate sentences are 8% longer than the state average.

Baker was quoted in the report describing a recent conversation with a law-enforcement official who believed Jackson County homicide convictions typically resulted in a 10-year sentence from her office: "I was floored that his perceptions were so off. But his perceptions are part of a general refrain that is not in line with the data. Those views may be formed because prosecutors generally work without media and without law enforcement alongside of us."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Jackson County homicide sentences average 2 years longer than MO state average, per new analysis

People convicted of homicide in Jackson County face sentences two years longer than the average for homicides statewide.