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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152487
12/01/2012 12:19 PM
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This is the same office that prosecuted James O'Keefe (of ACORN and Breitbart fame) for attempting to make recordings at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. O'Keefe eventually pled guilty to a single misdemeanor, for "entering a federal building under false pretenses." I'm wondering if prosecutors pulled that same stunt with him?

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152488
12/06/2012 11:09 AM
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The Louisiana prosecutor's scandal has claimed its first victim . U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who had previously won acclaim for prosecuting corrupt government officials (which, after all, is his job), is resigning. He had previously said that he had no idea what his colleagues were up to.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152489
12/06/2012 11:19 PM
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I think it just proves that they have a bunch of infighting going on. Something tells me that none of those people are actually motivated by a desire to protect the public from abuse or forward the causes of liberty.

The fact that there were no news reports of US Marshals stomping the living shit out of those NOPD cops on national television and hauling them to Gitmo or one of those federal brick hole lockdown brigs where they occasionally take some wayward Marines who get pissed and massacre some hadjis tells me they all had a gentleman's agreement sort of prosecution anyway. I don't think any of them got tortured into signing a confession statement and "plea agreement".

Not too often does someone under indictment for homicide get to keep weapons and police powers while having their buddies conduct a massive retaliatory investigation against anyone and everyone involved with the prosecution.

What they will do is play dirty against each other in the name of maintaining the perception of being the "good guys" among their respective constituencies. I am not fooled by either side claiming moral superiority on that one except that I put a bit more integrity points on the US Attorney side of that conflict, only because the state level people there are so blatantly dirty that their style of government would even soil the integrity of a lot of third world dictatorships.

The employees at the prosecutors office were simply stating their informed opinions about the guilt of the officers involved in the Danziger bridge massacre. Maybe they bent some rules which restrict their free speech as part of the job, but lets face it, they are people, and they are apparently just trying to absolve themselves of their past association with the state level filth that call themselves functionaries in the regular Louisiana "justice system".


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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152490
12/07/2012 12:34 AM
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If they wanted to state their "informed opinions," they should have identified themselves. And they shouldn't have lied to the judge about it.

The judge has yet to rule on the defense motions for new trials. I think it's unlikely the defense will prevail, but it's taking the judge a long time to write his opinion.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152491
02/04/2013 06:10 AM
02/04/2013 06:10 AM
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Texas judge faces "court of inquiry" in wrongful conviction.

Back in 1986, Michael Morton was convicted of beating his wife to death, and he spent 25 years in prison until DNA evidence finally freed him. Now Mr. Morton is going after Judge Ken Anderson, who prosecuted him at the time, for withholding evidence that should have been turned over to his attorney. Amazingly, Texas has now convened a "court of inquiry" to determine to determine of Judge Anderson should be punished, and perhaps even prosecuted.

Quote
...

A “court of inquiry,” part of Texas law since 1965, has usually been used to examine allegations against elected officials, never to address suspected misconduct by a prosecutor. Some hope this week’s hearings lead to a greater examination of alleged prosecutorial misconduct that has led to wrongful convictions not just in Texas, but nationwide.

“There is no doubt that the eyes of Texas are going to be on this proceeding,” said Kathryn Kase, executive director of Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit that trains and assists lawyers who represent death row inmates. “Bad forensic science is not the only reason people get wrongfully imprisoned, and we have to be dedicated to trying to stop that.” (...)
The State Bar of Texas has also begun proceedings that could end with Anderson being disbarred. It's good to see prosecutors finally being held responsible for their misbehavior.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152492
03/11/2013 07:34 AM
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Somebody has taken this ball and run with it. The Open File , made up of a loose collection of lawyers, law professors, law students, and others, is dedicated to uncovering prosecutorial misconduct, and they're off to an impressive start. Some of the cases they've talked about have already been highlighted here, but many more haven't. This is a blog you will want to bookmark!

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152493
03/18/2013 09:08 AM
03/18/2013 09:08 AM
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Texas may end prosecutorial immunity.

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With more than 300 exonerations across the nation of people convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, we all have witnessed the limits of a criminal justice system flawed by human error — be that unintentional or intentional.

Nowhere more than in Texas has the weight of those imperfections been felt in cases that have tested public confidence in the criminal justice system and spurred big changes at the Legislature. That was true in the Timothy Cole case and is proving true in the Michael Morton case.

Morton’s testimony last week before the Texas Senate helped steer Senate Bill 825, prompted by his case, over a crucial hurdle. The bill aims to hold prosecutors accountable if they hide or suppress evidence from defendants. Morton’s lawyers claim prosecutors failed to turn over key evidence supporting Morton’s claim of innocence. Clearly, current laws are too lenient in punishing such practices, which not only are unethical, but illegal. The Legislature should pass the bill.

No one can give back freedoms, dignity or time stolen from people wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. But the Legislature can improve an imperfect system. It took action in the Cole case after the tragic details of Cole’s case went public. Cole, who died in prison in 1999 while serving a 25-year sentence for a rape he didn’t commit, was posthumously pardoned in 2010 by Gov. Rick Perry after DNA evidence cleared him and implicated another man who confessed to the crime....
Red the whole thing. And if you're a Texan, pressure your state lawmakers to pass this bill.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152494
04/12/2013 09:00 AM
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District attorney should be disbarred for prosecutorial misconduct, state bar court recommends. I'd like to see more of this. A lot more.

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The State Bar Court of California has recommended that Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Michael Alexander, who already had been disciplined three times in the past, be disbarred, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In its opinion (PDF), the bar court found that Alexander, reportedly the state’s first sitting prosecutor to face disciplinary charges, abused his prosecutorial power by speaking with a criminal defendant about her case without her lawyer present; and after learning from her that she, not her co-defendant, owned the illegal drugs found during their arrest, failed to give that exculpatory evidence to the other defendant’s lawyer; then lied to an assistant DA by saying he had not spoken with the defendant (who had recorded the conversation).

Alexander has been widely respected for once beating his own addiction to methamphetamines and later working extensively in helping other addicts—he started the first 12-step program in Del Norte County for juveniles.

At an eight-day bar hearing in October, witnesses—including judges, lawyers, mayors, community leaders, politicians, law enforcement officers, social workers and others—testified to Alexander’s good character.

Noting that some of them traveled a long way to do so, the bar court Judge Lucy Armendariz wrote that “they invariably dismissed respondent’s misconduct as either insignificant or not at all unethical. Many did not comprehend its egregiousness.”

The bar court dismissed charges against Alexander concerning loans he made and received before taking the position: $14,000 to a probation officer who sometimes worked cases he had as a public defender; $6,000 from a criminal defense lawyer who once Alexander took the DA position, would be dunning him to dismiss a case and represented Alexander in an earlier bar discipline case. The bar court found bad judgment but no moral turpitude in those matters.

Armendariz not only found the earlier discipline matters aggravating, she noted that in the most recent one Alexander “demonstrated lack of insight into his wrongdoing. He blames others for his ethical and professional lapses, including outside political forces and the State Bar.”

The California Supreme Court will review the judge's recommendation, but Alexander has for now, as of April 7, been deemed "not eligible to practice law" by the state bar.
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152495
04/20/2013 02:38 AM
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Former Texas district attorney Ken Anderson will face criminal charges for his prosecution of Michael Morton, an innocent man who spent almost 25 years in prison.

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A former district attorney acted improperly when he prosecuted an innocent man who spent nearly 25 years in prison, a Texas judge ruled Friday as he ordered the former prosecutor's arrest on criminal contempt and tampering charges.

Ken Anderson was in the courtroom as Judge Louis Sturns issued his ruling and turned himself in afterward. Sturns said there was sufficient evidence that Anderson was guilty on all three charges brought against him for his handling of the case against Michael Morton: criminal contempt of court, tampering with evidence and tampering with government records.

"Mr. Anderson consciously chose to conceal the availability of the exculpatory evidence so he could convict Mr. Morton for murder," Sturns said. "This court cannot think of a more intrinsically harmful act than a prosecutor's intentional choice to hide evidence so as to convict a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence."

Morton, 58, was released from prison in October 2011 after new DNA tests showed he did not fatally beat his wife, Christine, in their north Austin home in 1986. Another man has been arrested for the killing. Anderson, who has been a judge in Williamson County since 2002, has apologized to Morton for what he called failures in the system but said he believes there was no misconduct in the case.

Anderson sat motionless as Sturns' issued his ruling, leaning forward on his elbows. He then surrendered at the courthouse, where he now serves as an elected district court judge. Anderson's lawyer, Eric Nichols, said he plans to appeal the decision and said he believes the judge overstepped his authority.

Morton, dressed in a gray sport jacket, listened intently to the proceedings.

"I don't want Ken Anderson's head on a stick, and that's true, but the system is going to do what it's going to do," he said. "We can't change the past, but we can prevent this from happening again." (...)
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152496
11/09/2013 04:32 AM
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A few posts above, I brought up the case of Ken Anderson , who both falsified and withheld evidence, sending an innocent man to prison for 25 years for a murder he didn't commit. He could have gotten ten years in prison for tampering with evidence and sending Michael Morton to prison for a huge chunk of his life.

So what did he get?

Ten days in jail, a $500 fine, and 500 hours of community service. I'm not kidding. Ten days, versus ten years. I can only hope his fellow inmates treat him well during those ten days.

Quote
...Morton was released in 2011 after DNA evidence showed he didn't beat his wife to death. He watched from the front row of the gallery Friday as the man who helped convict him now sat at the defense table, just as he once did. Morton smiled and was hugged by family members after the judge adjourned.

"In a case like this, sometimes it's hard to say what meets the ends of justice and what doesn't. There is no way that anything we can do here today can resolve the tragedy that occurred in these matters," Judge Kelly G. Moore said Friday. "I'd like to say to Mr. Morton, the world is a better place because of you."

Anderson has previously apologized to Morton for what he called failures in the system but has said he believes there was no misconduct.

Anderson accepted the plea deal in the same Williamson County courthouse where he later spent 11 years as a state judge. He resigned in September....
Mr. Anderson also agreed to be disbarred as a part of the plea deal. I guess us taxpayers will now be paying for his damn food stamps. mad

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152497
01/20/2014 05:58 AM
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Government lawyers committed "egregious misconduct" in their handling of discovery in a lawsuit about how the Federal Bureau of Prisons treats inmates classified as "terrorists."

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Lawyers in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington committed "egregious misconduct" in their handling of discovery in a lawsuit that challenges how the Federal Bureau of Prisons treats inmates classified as terrorists, a judge said this week.

Randall Todd Royer, also known as Ismail Royer, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after he admitted helping individuals gain access to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. He was housed in the general prison population for the first three-and-a-half years of his confinement, but claims he was subjected to more restrictive conditions after prison officials designated him as a "terrorist inmate" in late 2006.

Royer, a U.S. citizen born in Missouri, filed two lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons in 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He accused the bureau of failing to follow rulemaking processes required by federal law in adopting the "terrorist inmate" program. He also alleged the prison system wrongfully classified him as a "terrorist inmate" based on false information and denied him the opportunity to challenge the designation.

Senior Judge Royce Lamberth denied the government's efforts to dismiss both cases in March 2013. Royer's attorneys made requests for discovery in June 2013. In the months that followed, Lamberth, in a Jan. 15 order, said the bureau's lawyers in the U.S. attorney's office committed a series of "egregious" errors. The judge cited missed deadlines, the production of discovery on a rolling basis and the submission of information without the proper signature.

"Even novices to litigation know that answers to interrogatories must be signed under oath," the judge wrote. Lamberth ordered the government to produce outstanding information to Royer's lawyers and to pay attorney fees.
...

"The whole point of this litigation is whether defendant can continue to single out plaintiff for special treatment as a terrorist during his continued period of incarceration," Lamberth wrote. "Did any supervising attorney ever read this nonsense that is being argued to this Court?"...

Kirkpatrick said Lamberth "appropriately recognized that there's some real urgency to produce the discovery."

"There's a real risk in a case like this that the government can simply run out the clock," Kirkpatrick said. "[Royer] could ultimately be released and his claims would be moot if the government was able to drag this out for a very long time."...

He claimed his "terrorist inmate" designation was based on information prosecutors in the criminal case acknowledged was false linking Royer to Al Qaeda. Although the trial judge ordered the government to delete the information from Royer's pre-sentencing report, Royer claimed the Bureau of Prisons kept the inaccurate information in its records and used it to make the "terrorist inmate" classification.

Royer also accused the Bureau of Prisons of adopting the "terrorist inmate" program without going through the processes laid out in the federal Administrative Procedure Act....
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152498
01/20/2014 03:58 PM
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Federal BOP and abuse, one in the same.

They regularly do secret trials, with secret witnesses, secret administrative punishments, up to and including executions with little or no outside oversight.

I know of other cases where they simply reintroduced evidence previously proven false in court and then used it to take administrative action against people under a pretty broad interpretation of how sovereign immunity works.

If you really want to see some crazy stuff in the abuse spectrum, take a look at how they do pretrial reports, which can and do lead to years of pretrial incarceration of people based on evidence and reports which are kept entirely secret from the defendant. People can and are locked up in horrible pretrial conditions as an incentive to get them to plead guilty to just about anything, which in turn is used as the justification for brutal and abusive pretrial treatment as defacto punishment for allegations for which there was never even an opportunity to dispute in open court.


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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152499
01/21/2014 04:40 AM
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Another favorite trick federal prosecutors use, it seems, is freezing a defendant\'s assets , so that they can't hire a lawyer and mount a defense.

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Although the federal government accuses Kerri and Brian Kaley of trafficking in stolen medical devices, it has been unable to identify any victims of this alleged criminal scheme. That has not stopped the Justice Department from freezing the assets they need to defend themselves. The Supreme Court is now considering whether the Kaleys have a constitutional right to challenge the order blocking access to their money before it's too late to mount an effective defense.

For people facing criminal charges, freedom not only is not free; it is dauntingly expensive. The Kaleys' lawyers estimate that a trial will cost $500,000 in legal fees and other expenses. The Kaleys had planned to cover the cost with money drawn from a home equity line of credit-until the government took it.

Technically, the government has not taken the money yet; it has merely "restrained" it, along with the rest of the home's value, in anticipation of a post-conviction forfeiture. But the result is the same for the Kaleys: They can no longer afford to pay the lawyers they chose and trust, the people who have been representing them for eight years and are familiar with the details of their case.

Those details are puzzling. Kerri Kaley, who had a job with Ethicon selling medical devices to hospitals in the New York area, knew that hospital employees periodically would ask the company's sales representatives to take overstocked or outmoded devices off their hands. Seeing an opportunity to make some extra money, she and some of her colleagues began selling the devices, which no one else seemed to want, to a distributor in Miami.

Neither Ethicon nor any hospital has come forward to complain that its property was stolen. Yet the federal government brought criminal charges against Kaley, her colleagues, and her husband, who had helped ship the devices and deposited some of the revenue in his business account.

Prosecutors sought a forfeiture of more than $2 million, claiming it was proceeds from the Kaleys' crimes. A few days after admitting to a magistrate judge that only $140,000 could be traced to the medical device sales, they obtained a new indictment that included a money laundering charge. This allowed them to claim that any assets with which the proceeds had been mingled were subject to forfeiture because they had "facilitated" the concealment of ill-gotten gains.

The money laundering charge seemed implausible, given the clear and detailed financial records kept by the Miami medical device distributor and the Kaleys' accountant. The Kaleys are accused of laundering money they made no attempt to hide after stealing merchandise from owners who evidently were happy to be rid of it.

The only Ethicon sales representative who has been tried so far- who was able to hire the lawyers she wanted, since her assets were not frozen-was acquitted after less than three hours of deliberation. Two other sales representatives pleaded guilty and received sentences of five and six months, respectively, although the judges in both cases wondered aloud who the victims were.

The Kaleys are not ready to surrender. They want their day in court with the counsel of their choice. Toward that end, they argue that the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to counsel, and the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the taking of property without due process, require that they have an opportunity to challenge the legal basis of the proposed forfeiture before they go to trial.

An adversarial hearing is especially important in this situation because prosecutors have a financial stake in forfeitures, which help fund their budgets. Given the weakness of the case against the Kaleys, it's not clear who is guilty of theft here: the defendants or the government.
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152500
02/21/2014 06:23 AM
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Pinal County, Arizona, prosecutor Richard Wintory has agreed to a 90-day suspension of his license to practice law due to his conduct in a 2011 murder case .

In 2007, he was Arizona Prosecutor of the Year. Now he's in the Prosecutor's Hall of Shame. His mother must be very proud.

Quote
Deputy Pinal County Attorney Richard Wintory has agreed to a 90-day suspension from practicing law because of his conduct during a capital- murder case in 2011 while he was an assistant Arizona attorney general.

In that case, Wintory had several inappropriate telephone communications with a confidential intermediary hired by defense attorneys, according to a signed consent agreement between Wintory and the State Bar of Arizona that was filed Friday with the presiding disciplinary judge of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Wintory also did not reveal to the court, the defense attorney or his own supervisors the number of conversations he had with the intermediary.

Wintory, who was Arizona Prosecutor of the Year in 2007, is now chief deputy to Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles.

In the consent agreement, Wintory “conditionally admits” that he violated the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys, specifically a rule under the heading of “misconduct” that he engaged “in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

Prosecutors are rarely disciplined for misconduct. Wintory entered the agreement rather than face a disciplinary hearing.

The consent agreement notes that “had this matter proceeded to hearing rather than being resolved by consent agreement, the State Bar would have contended that (Wintory) knowingly engaged in dishonest conduct. (Wintory) would have contended that, while negligent, he acted in good faith and had no intention to be dishonest or to deceive the court of his colleagues.”

The agreement needs to be approved by the judge.

Wintory was a prosecutor for 20 years in Oklahoma and had a history of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in death-penalty cases there before he moved to the Pima County Attorney’s Office.

In 2010, he took a case against Darren Goldin, who was accused of hiring a hit man to kill a rival drug dealer 10 years earlier. Goldin had already been convicted of second-degree murder for a similar killing in Maricopa County.

Wintory was going for the death penalty against Goldin in the Pima County case. Wintory took the case with him when he moved to the Tucson office of the Arizona attorney general.

Goldin was adopted, and in order to find information about Goldin’s family history that might mitigate a potential death sentence, his defense attorney hired a confidential intermediary to locate Goldin’s mother.

The intermediary had a falling out with the defense attorney and, in August 2011, contacted Wintory to help her get legal representation so that she could sue the defense attorney.

Wintory spoke to the intermediary several times over the next few weeks, and in an Aug. 22, 2011, hearing, he admitted as much. The defense attorney and judge both noted that the contact was inappropriate.

But the intermediary called Wintory again, and he appeared to be evasive when his supervisors questioned him about how many times he had talked to her.

He was taken off the case, which was subsequently pleaded to second-degree murder.

Goldin was sentenced to 11 years in prison, a light sentence the judge noted was due in part to “the apparent misconduct allegedly engaged in by the prior prosecutor in this matter.”

Wintory and the intermediary denied that anything confidential had been exchanged.

Wintory moved on to serve under Voyles in Pinal County.

In a statement on Tuesday, Voyles said, “I hold sacred the ethical obligations of attorneys. In fact, the entire criminal justice system depends on the public trust of the institution and our responsibilities as attorneys to abide by the laws and professional rules governing our work. ...

“Richard fully cooperated with the Bar throughout their investigation, and we look forward to the conclusion of this matter.”
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152501
02/22/2014 09:22 PM
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Prosecutor misconduct, but I am not sure if I see this as worthy of major consideration. Looked like maneuverings among a bunch of seedy people to begin with, not the victimization of a relatively innocent person.


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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152502
02/23/2014 02:56 AM
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By all accounts, Darrin Goldin was no angel. The defense must have been pretty desperate to find some mitigating evidence, to try to track down his natural parents to see if these might be something biologically wrong with him.

If Wintory had been straight up and honest about the contacts with the intermediary, nothing would have happened and he might well have gotten the death penalty against Goldin. Instead, Goldin received an 11-year sentence - for hiring a contract murderer to eliminate a rival.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152503
02/23/2014 01:08 PM
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I would not put the guy on any list for that. He was just trying to be discreet in handling a situation which looks like it jumped in his lap.


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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152504
04/08/2014 07:22 AM
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Our latest entry goes to Bronx Assistant District Attorney Megan Teesdale, who failed to reveal exculpatory evidence that would have freed a man being held in Rikers Island on rape charges. For a prosecutor to fail to hand over exculpatory evidence is, sadly, nothing new. But her actions were so blatant that the judge not only verbally dressed her down, but banished her from his courtroom .

I have actually never heard of this being done before.

Quote
... “To my mind, this is an utter and complete disgrace — not just for you, but for your office in general,” Bronx Criminal Court Judge John Wilson told Bronx assistant district attorney Megan Teesdale before dismissing the case on March 21.

The defendant, Segundo Marquez, had been held at Rikers Island for more than eight months awaiting trial on reduced misdemeanor rape charges stemming from a 2010 incident.

Teesdale, who has worked for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson since 2012, failed to inform the court that Marquez’s accuser, who testified at trial that she had been raped, initially told an NYPD sergeant that the sex was consensual.

The act of withholding evidence favorable to the defense is known as a Brady violation after a 1963 Supreme Court ruling.

The two week-long trial had reached closing arguments when one of Teesdale’s supervisors informed the judge about a note on the case file referring to the contradictory testimony.
Critics claim Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson's office fosters an atmosphere that rewards convictions, leading to misconduct by prosecutors.

“The excuse you offer, passing the file back and forth, no one looking and no one knowing what anything is, saddens me on one level and makes me sick on another,” Wilson said as he chastised Teesdale before the court. “You’re going to leave this room, and you’re never going to come back.”

Wilson, who worked as a prosecutor for Johnson’s office before becoming a judge, added that he had, “always been very proud of that association, until today.”

A Bronx District Attorney spokesman did not say whether Teesdale would be reprimanded for the misstep. Judge Wilson, however, does have the authority to bar Teesdale from entering his court or trying cases before him....
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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152505
05/27/2014 09:23 AM
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The Open File has details on...prosecutors sat on exculpatory evidence. Too long to post here, but follow the link for details.

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Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152506
07/26/2014 07:20 AM
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airforce  Online Content OP
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What's the penalty for sending an innocent man to prison for 25 years, when you know he's innocent? Three days in jail.

Ken Anderson will also be disbarred, spend 500 hours doing community service, and pay a $500 fine.

You're right, that ain't enough.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152507
07/26/2014 04:31 PM
07/26/2014 04:31 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 6,705
Western States
Breacher Offline
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The disbarred part is one thing, and I think that opens the door to a shitload of civil liability. He should not be collecting any fat retirement from an ill-earned career of privilege like that.


Life liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten them.

Trump: not the president America needs, but the president America deserves.
Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152508
11/17/2014 04:15 AM
11/17/2014 04:15 AM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,871
Tulsa
airforce Online content OP
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airforce  Online Content OP
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,871
Tulsa
Today is an historic day. Today, for the first time, a former prosecutor will go to jail for sending an innocent man to prison for 25 years .

Ken Anderson will spend 10 days in jail. Michael Morton, his victim, spent 25 years. There really isn't much more to say.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152509
03/27/2017 09:48 AM
03/27/2017 09:48 AM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,871
Tulsa
airforce Online content OP
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airforce  Online Content OP
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,871
Tulsa
It's been a while since I bothered to post in this topic, but today I found not one, but two things that managed to take my breath away.

The United States Attorney's Office in Kansas has been caught with hundreds of audio and video recording of defense attorney\'s and their clients .

And in Brooklyn, a prosecutor has been charged with forging the signatures of judges to set up unlawful wiretaps .

Quote
A supervising prosecutor from the Brooklyn district attorney's office forged judges' signatures in order to obtain illegal wiretaps and then used those wiretaps to illegally monitor cell phone calls and text messages, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment Monday.

Tara Lenich, 41, who was an assistant district attorney with the Kings County District Attorney's Office, allegedly created those fake judicial orders for more than a year -- from June 2015 to November 2016 -- in order to get the wiretaps.

She then, prosecutors allege, used equipment from the DA's office to "intercept, monitor and record the communications to and from the two cellular telephones."

Lenich will be arraigned Monday. Her attorney was not immediately available for comment.
What's wrong with our criminal justice system? A lot.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: The Prosecutor's Hall of Shame #152510
03/28/2017 05:47 AM
03/28/2017 05:47 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 6,705
Western States
Breacher Offline
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Breacher  Offline
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Western States
The next question then is in those cases, when and where were they prioritizing the difference between dropping a bad case vs scrubbing out defense witnesses or putting on alternative pressure in order to gain a guilty plea.


Life liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten them.

Trump: not the president America needs, but the president America deserves.
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