Fear is a big factor in getting witnesses to violent crimes to cooperate with police and prosecutors in New Orleans, but the Orleans Parish district attorney's office doesn't have a witness protection program.  Many say starting one is too expensive for the cash-strapped prosecutor’s office, but other states have found a way to do just that. 

It’s something that local victims and their families feel is worth the price, including Desiree Watson. Her brother "Josephine Johnny" Watson is a rapper known for his words, but three years ago, he was quiet when it mattered most. Johnny Watson and his nephew were both shot on Philip Street.  Johnny survived, but his nephew Yoshio Watson didn't.

"Johnny said he fell on the ground or something like that and didn't move. But the person who killed my son stood over him and shot him," Desiree Watson said.

Rival rapper "B Stupid" was charged with the double shooting, but the district attorney dropped the case, saying no witnesses would testify.

"Were there witnesses? Yes there were,” Desiree Watson said. “There was a guy who walked up to me the same day and said, ‘I saw who killed your son.’"

Now her grandson, Yoshio Watson Jr., is growing up without a father.  And even though many people reportedly saw what happened that day, including Desiree Watson’s brother Johnny, it appears no one will ever pay for Watson's murder.

Watson says she knows why.          

"Are y’all going to let him continue to get away with this here? Do you think somebody needs to go and tell this to the police so that he don't kill somebody else? They'll tell you.  And who’s going to protect me?"

Prosecutors agree that witness testimony is key.

"The single most important issue in prosecuting a violent crime case is continuing the cooperation of victims and witnesses,” said Val Solino, Orleans Parish executive assistant district attorney.

A big part of that is safety, and Orleans Parish only has a victim assistance program.

"Witnesses and victims who need assistance come to our attention and we provide them what we can. What we can provide is sympathy, compassion, safe harbor, assistance with food if they need it," Solino explained. He says the office can only offer short-term help like transportation to a relative's house, for example.

"I know there are some people within the district attorney's office that work with victims and witnesses, but I don't think that we have enough and I don't think that they're all necessarily properly trained," said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

The district attorney’s office has seven victim witness coordinators.  Since 2006, they've had $250,000 dollars in grant funding to assist victims and witnesses.  That includes flying witnesses, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, back to New Orleans for trial.  It's money that's already spent.

"Somebody who's not going to cooperate from the initial stages, whether or not that person would cooperate if we had more services, of course, the theory would be yes," said Solino.

Trying to provide real protection on a limited city or district attorney's office budget is a problem across the country.  It's why 13 states created formal, witness protection programs.  One of the newest is in Massachusetts, where the state is pioneering a new kind of crime fighting tool, hoping it will trickle down to the city's roughest neighborhoods.

"When you go to the scene of a crime and a young person has been killed usually as a result of gang violence, usually by people known to him and known to police, it's a troubling situation,” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

"The witness protection program has been used over 100 times by the Boston police and the district attorney in Suffolk County and the program works,” Davis said. “It's certainly not as intricate or well-funded as the federal program, but it does give us the option to move people out of the city when we need to, and that saves lives."

Massachusetts lawmakers created the statewide witness protection fund, which administers the money through the state's Office of Public Safety and Security.

"The district attorneys, sometimes without witness testimony, would really have no other way to get these convictions," said program administrator Catherine Bailey. Bailey says the state allocated $1.5 million for the first two years of the program, money that every district attorney in every county in the state can tap into.

District attorneys petition for funds with a specific purpose to help “critical witnesses.”

"We've actually never turned down a petition,” Bailey said.  “Sometimes petitions have been modified in the amount that they were requested for, pared down a little, but we've never rejected a petition in full."

A five-member statewide board votes on every petition.  Representatives of the district attorneys association, the Office of Public Safety, Attorney General’s office, state auditor and Chiefs of Police association make up the board.

"The purpose of the program is really to get them back on their feet after a relocation," Bailey said.

That includes moving expenses for the witness and their family members, tuition reimbursement and even police details for added protection.

"When the witness enters the program, he or she has to sign a memorandum of understanding agreeing to a certain number of things,” Bailey explained. “One of those is to take all precautions to avoid disclosing to other people that they are participating on the program."

Since many witnesses have criminal histories, they must pledge not to commit crimes while in the program.  They must also agree to testify truthfully and completely and cooperate with law enforcement.

Last year, Boston only had 67 murders, compared to 162 in New Orleans.  But other big states like California have also made headway with similar witness protection programs.

"I've got 40,000 gang members in my city,” said Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton.  “We work very closely with our district attorney to enable him to get people to come forward with witness relocation, but it's a very costly program." Bratton said that in the long term, adequate funding is key to making a program work.

"People are afraid to come forward. They are afraid to come forward," said Desiree Watson, who has seen the consequences of street justice first hand.  The man accused of killing her son, "B Stupid," admitted to shooting another man after Yoshio Watson's murder and is now serving 25 years in federal prison.

"I don't want to see another mother go through what I went through," said Desiree Watson.

"There are new players in the game now, and again, those players are ready to come to the table and perhaps do something,” said Val Solino.

The New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation will soon allow the district attorney’s office to tap into about $12,000 a month for victim assistance, more funding for those same kinds of services.  In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice has hired two victim/witness specialists to help train their counterparts in Orleans and Jefferson parishes on how to more effectively run their programs.