时代周刊:联邦调查局受审(7)

The Bundy sons and five supporters who helped in the takeover were found not guilty of conspiracy¹ and weapons charges, in another jarring setback² for the government.

在政府再次遭遇出人意料的挫折的另一起案件中，他们发现，邦迪的两个儿子和五名帮忙占领的支持者的阴谋罪和武器罪不成立。

Some legal experts and defense³ advocates see the string of recent not guilty verdicts

一些法律专家和辩护律师将最近的一系列无罪判决

as a sign that jurors and judges are less inclined to take what the FBI says in court at face value.

视为陪审员和法官不太愿意相信联邦调查局在法庭上所说的话的征兆。

Data examined by TIME support that conclusion.

《时代》杂志调查的数据也佐证了这一结论。

The number of convictions in FBI-led investigations⁴ dropped last year for the fifth consecutive⁵ year—

去年，联邦调查局主导的调查中，定罪的数量已经连续第5年下降了

from 11,461 in 2012 to 10,232,

从2012年的11461起降到了10232起，

according to Syracuse University data, which was obtained under Freedom of Information Act requests.

雪城大学根据《信息自由法》的规定获得的的数据显示。

Moreover, TIME's analysis shows a surprisingly low rate of success

此外，《时代》杂志的分析显示，

for the thousands of cases the FBI investigates and sends to the Justice Department for possible prosecution⁶.

联邦调查局负责调查并移交司法部，以备起诉之用的那数千起案件最终成功的几率都低得惊人。

Over that same time period, the Justice Department has ultimately won convictions

在同一时期，联邦调查局移交的那些案件，

in fewer than half the cases the FBI referred for prosecution,

司法部最终定罪的还不到总数的一半，

with a conviction rate of 47% last year, the data showed.

数据显示，去年的定罪率为47%。

That fell well below the average of 72% for all agencies.

远远低于所有调查局平均定罪率72%这一平均水平。

Prosecutors⁷ themselves have rejected many of the FBI's referrals before they ever got to court.

而且，检察官们在上法庭之前就已经驳回了联邦调查局的许多指控。

The bureau's low success rate in these cases has remained largely unchanged in recent years.

该局在这类案件上的低成功率近年来基本上一直没有起色。

Federal prosecutors still win the bulk of the thousands of cases they choose to bring based on FBI investigations.

从联邦调查局调查的案件中选出来的数千个案件，大部分仍然是联邦检察官们胜诉。

Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior says

司法部发言人伊恩·普赖尔说，

a variety of factors could play into the drop in prosecutions⁸ and convictions over the last five years,

过去五年起诉和定罪案件数量的减少跟很多因素，

including "de-emphasizing" some crimes under Obama-era policies and cutbacks in prosecutors in recent years.

包括“淡化”奥巴马政策下的一些犯罪案件的重要性这一政策以及近年来检察官数量有所裁减都有关。

Prior says that "judging the performance of the FBI based on a minuscule⁹ sample of cherry-picked cases" ignores its thousands of annual convictions.

普赖尔说，“光凭精心挑选的案件凑成的极小样本来判断联邦调查局的表现”就是忽略了它每年数千次成功定罪的事实。

1 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

5 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

9 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。