Annual Report 2012 - Alaska Department of Law

Third Judicial District – Anchorage
The Anchorage District Attorney’s Office is the largest prosecutor’s office
in the State. The office tried 132 cases in 2012, up approximately 50%
from five years ago. The office experienced an increase in sexual assault
and sexual abuse of a minor cases going to trial—likely due to legislative
changes in how these cases are sentenced. In Anchorage, the courts
hold trials for only half-days and only four days a week. Because of this
schedule, trials take longer to complete than in other locations in the
State. Sexual abuse of a minor and sexual assault trials, consequently,
take three to four weeks on average to complete—an unfortunate amount
of time for the victims of these offenses. Approximately the same level of
resources are going into these cases as the average homicide case.
Anchorage has also seen an increase in
the level of violent offenses committed
by offenders who are high on synthetic
drugs such as “spice” and “bath salts.”
“Spice” is a street name for synthetic
marijuana. Unfortunately, the law has
been unable to keep up with spice
because Alaska’s statutes reference very
specific chemical compounds, and spice
manufacturers are able to chemically
alter their product so that it does
not contain any banned compounds
but still produces a similar high. As a
result, when a substance is seized and
reported to be spice, chemical analysis
often reveals that it is not a controlled
substance under Alaska law. “Bath salts”
is the term for synthetic drugs used
as substitutes for methamphetamine
and cocaine. Specific testing for these
drugs is currently being performed by
the new State Crime Laboratory. The
law enforcement community and the
Anchorage District Attorney’s Office
have responded to these synthetic drugs
by vigorously prosecuting distributors
and aggressively seeking to confiscate
the proceeds of drug sales and property
items used in drug crimes.
A recent case highlights the problems
caused by synthetic drugs: Byron
Syvinski, high on bath salts, attacked
and beat a seven-year-old girl who
was riding her bicycle. She suffered
a serious head injury requiring
hospitalization. At trial for first degree
assault and robbery, the defendant
argued that he had been in a druginduced
psychosis and had not known
what he was doing. Medical testimony
revealed that the hospital cannot
currently test for synthetic drugs, and
had diagnosed the defendant as high
on bath salts by process of elimination.
The jury convicted on all counts. The
court imposed a composite sentence
of more than 20 years—19.5 years for
this crime plus additional time imposed
because the defendant had violated his
probation in an earlier case.
Annual Report 2012 ~ Alaska Department of Law 21