Witness intimidation

Look, just hope nothing  bad ever happens to you in this city. Even the DA isn't really on your side if it does.

In one 2016 case, a female rape victim was jailed for more than a week after the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office issued a material witness warrant for her arrest. She was incarcerated at the same facility -- the Orleans Justice Center -- where her accused rapist was also being held, said Simone Levine, the executive director Court Watch NOLA.

In another case, an attorney for an attempted murder victim told a watchdog group his client was too scared to speak with the watchdog group or media about being jailed for refusing to testify or failing to show up in court.

The two cases mentioned above were among at least six in 2016 in which victims of crimes were incarcerated on material witness warrants for refusing to testify against an offender or failing to appear in court, Court Watch NOLA reported in an annual report issued Tuesday (April 11).