The Associated Press said federal prosecutors declined 122 cases on reservations in Arizona during a nine-month period last year.

Of the cases, 59 percent were declined due to insufficient or inadmissible evidence while 27 percent were declined due to witness problems. Prosecutors said 16 percent were declined due to lack of jurisdiction.

The rates add up to more than 100 percent because some cases were declined for more than one reason.

“It’s not a process that leaves anyone with any comfort,” Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke told the AP.

Of the cases that were declined, 37 were from the Navajo Nation. One was the murder of 2-year-old Kiara Harvey.

“No one speaks for that baby,” said Bernadine Martin, the tribe's chief prosecutor. “It’s OK to kill her and go on because prosecutors apparently don’t want to put a little more effort into investigations.”

The tribe might still file charges in the case.

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Feds, facing myriad problems, decline to try half of crimes on Indian reservations (AP 5/31)