Special | 12m 44s | Video has closed captioning.
“D.A. Time” follows a young woman in New Orleans who has to wait in jail for more than 60 days after a busted weed deal, before even being charged with a crime. This episode explores the uncertainty families face during this waiting game, and the pressures to plead guilty regardless of guilt due to the hardships of pretrial detention and money bail.
Aired: 03/12/24
Expires: 03/12/29
(distant clanging) - I know you didn't (indistinct) in the car.
- Where is DaZhee?
- [Tammy] Not yet.
(pensive music) She's 19.
She was in gifted and honors classes her entire childhood.
Never been in trouble before.
She did run away some as a teenager, but so did I.
(pensive music continues) All she told me was that she was the middleman on a weed deal basically and something went wrong with that interaction that she knew nothing about before or after the fact.
I thought it was 60 days that she could possibly sit for the DA to file charges, so I kind of committed to mind that she can sit for that long.
I would rather that than spend money to a bondsman and then them not even file charges.
(pensive music continues) She's not into conflict at all.
She avoids conflict but people die in Orleans Parish Prison.
Like, even if they're awaiting trial there can be a fight and they die.
That's what I'm most worried about.
(sound from incoming call) That's probably DaZhee.
I don't know.
Umm.
You have to put it on speaker?
Like, yeah, put it on speaker.
- [Automated Voice] A prepaid collect call from an inmate at the Orleans Parish Prison.
This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
To accept charges, press one.
To refuse charges, press two.
To permanently block your number...
Thank you for using Securus.
You may start the conversation now.
- Hey.
- [Tammy] What?
You had an attorney visit?
- [Tammy] Grandma's here right now.
- Yeah.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- [Tammy] How you feeling?
- [Tammy] They have that in there?
(Tammy laughs) - [Tammy] Okay, I'll see what I can do.
- [Automated Voice] One minute left.
- [Tammy] Oh, all right, well, time's almost up.
- [Tammy] I love you very much.
- You wanna say I love you to her?
- [Annabelle] I love you.
- Love you.
- [Tammy] Love you, be good.
- [Tammy] All right, call me tomorrow.
- [Tammy] All right, bye.
- [DaZhanee] Bye.
- So (chuckles nervously) that's how I try to have phone calls.
Just kinda lighthearted and joking 'cause she gets down if you try to talk about her charges or - What she should be doing - what's next.
Yeah.
- What's future, what- You can't plan anything, - Right.
I'm happy to hear her voice.
Like, I lost my dad and so I don't get to hear his voice.
So being able to hear her voice is kind of a blessing.
I would love to be able to see her but at least I can still talk to her.
I think we're all holding our breath for October 2nd.
The D.A.
has until October 2nd to pick up the charges or they have to let her go.
But they could pick up the charges October 2nd at 10:00 PM and God knows when her next court date is.
(pensive music) (door shuts) (pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) (court gavel pounding) (pensive music continues) - [Tammy] Are we gonna sing happy birthday to DaZhee?
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday dear DaZhee ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ You wanna blow it out?
(sound from incoming call) Oh, that's her.
No?
Who's Las Vegas?
I don't know who this is.
Hello?
- [Voice On Phone] Yes, may I speak to Tammy please?
- No.
Do you know how to cut cake?
- [Annabelle] Yeah, I know how people do that.
- Not really.
You don't really know.
Talking to her today, she's in pretty good spirits.
But from what she's talked to her lawyer prior to today she plans to plead guilty to whatever because he said worst case scenario, it'll be three years probation.
- How about we turn it this way?
- Okay.
She just knows if she pleads guilty she might get out Thursday.
And if she pleads not guilty, it could go on for a year.
Honestly, I guess I did the same thing many years ago.
DaZhanee was a year and a half and my son was two months old.
One of my exes had come over with his brother... and his brother had, like, a quarter pound of weed and the police came when I was outside talking to the police saying "I have nothing."
The brother went out the back window and put the quarter pound already bagged up in a cinder block in my backyard and kept going.
- Go, go, go!
- And so I got charged with a quarter pound, intent to distribute in the presence of two minor children.
And so I went to court for a year and I'm like, I have to move on with my life.
I can't keep going to court every month, every month, every month, not knowing, you know, about my future.
My kids got taken and my parents had them here in Louisiana.
(sighs) I said I'd plead guilty.
If I have to do 10 years in prison, I wanna start today.
They'll be 13 if I do 10 years.
And so I got a 10 year suspended sentence, but at least I was able to come be with my children.
(pensive music) (pensive music continues) (cars rushing by) (distant chattering) (pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) (gentle music) - I wanna get this shirt off.
- [Tammy] I know you do.
- It stinks, I was in JP for three days or two days before I came here and didn't shower.
I dropped OPSO for two months.
- [Annabelle] What's CPSO?
- OPSO, Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office.
- [Annabelle] What is that?
- It's been on my clothes for two months.
- [Annabelle] Cool.
- No, not cool.
(laughs) (all laugh) - No.
- Really?
You can stay here.
Here, sit down.
Somebody will pick you up.
- Nope.
(Tammy laughs) Taking you with me.
- [Tammy] You ready to go home, babe?
- Yeah.
- Let's go.
- [Tammy] Okay.
- Oh my God.
I was really happy to be getting outta jail.
Whether that means accepting a felony or whatever I had to do.
My lawyer just kept telling me, he was like, "You sure you wanna do this?"
I was like, "Yeah, I'm sure I'm ready to get outta here."
They had a girl that's been in jail for three years with trial... on trial.
They had another one that's been there for five years in trial.
Trial really lasts a long time, that's why I didn't wanna take it to trial.
The years that people sit in there is waiting for trial and they get pushed back and pushed back and they might push you back for four months.
That's a lot of time that you're completely isolated from the outside world.
After two months of sitting in jail, I was just done.
I was just like, I'm over it.
Like, I'll plead out, but that's what they wanna do.
They want you to plead guilty, they want convictions.
So they'll hold you in jail, then you'll be tired of sitting in jail and just plea.
And people who plead the things that they didn't do so they can get outta jail.
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