There are fewer trials – but more wins for prosecutors – in the local halls of justice these days.

The number of jury trials at District Court has been cut nearly in half in the past year since Dist. Atty. Charles Branson took office, a review by the Journal-World found. Branson is winning a higher percentage of them than his predecessor, Christine Kenney, but he’s not living up to the goal he set during the election – winning a felony conviction in 80 percent of felony trials.

“I’m pleased that we’re doing better,” Branson said. “Am I satisfied? No. I think we’ve got to continue to improve.”

Here’s how Branson’s numbers stack up to Kenney’s:

¢ There were 24 jury trials in the first 10 months of the year, compared with 40 in a similar timeframe last year under Kenney’s administration.

¢ In 66 percent of felony trials this year (10 out of 15), defendants were found guilty of at least one felony. For Kenney’s office, that number last year was 54 percent. During the election, Branson criticized Kenney for not winning enough and said that for a good prosecutor, that number should be “in the 80s.”

¢ In 33 percent of felony trials this year (5 out of 15), defendants were found not guilty of all felonies but guilty of at least one misdemeanor. That number last year was 21 percent.

¢ None of the felony cases tried by Branson’s office ended in an across-the-board acquittal – something that happened in 21 percent of felony trials last year.

Three felony trials this year were declared mistrials, and there was no verdict.

One key difference is that Branson tried only six misdemeanor cases, compared with 16 tried by Kenney’s office last year. Branson won four and lost two; Kenney’s office won seven and lost nine.

Kenney said during the election that a high winning percentage could be a sign that a prosecutor isn’t trying tough cases. But Branson said that’s not been the case.

For example, he cited the trial of a Lawrence man who was charged with raping a former girlfriend in his car. He was acquitted of rape after a nearly weeklong trial and convicted only of two drug-related misdemeanors.

“You can’t back down on a case like that,” Branson said.

Kenney was criticized at times by defense attorneys, who said her office had an unreasonable approach to plea bargaining. That criticism has diminished since Branson, himself a former defense attorney, took office.

Defense attorney Shelley Bock said he thought the fewer trials showed Branson’s office was “working more on negotiating and coming to reasonable solutions.”

“I think there are some complaints by some defense attorneys regarding some of the assistant DAs, but I think we’ll always have those problems,” he said. “A defense attorney will always disagree with the opposition on some things.”