[Axhandle]

I'm not a lawyer and I don't know anything about legal ramifications, but I am an adult. And part of being an adult is to fulfill your obligations and act truthfully. A lawyer in this case broke the rules - rules that were known and understood before the violation occured. That lawyer acted irresponsibly and deceitfully and deserves our scorn. Yet most people will dismiss that lawyer's flagrant transgression and say that the legal system is broken because a murderer may get life instead of death because of a "technicality". In reality, the legal system is not the culprit - a dishonest lawyer is.

[FreeInWV]

I agree entirely. Had the perp's lawyer done something similar, they would have been screaming for dozens of additional charges for witness tampering.

I believe in due process, regardless of the crime. Bad precedents will apply to everyone.

[dpa5923]

Dead-on analyst. I agree completely.

[kingu]

In reality, the legal system is not the culprit - a dishonest lawyer is.

Is that lawyer in jail? How long of a sentence will she be serving? If this is not the likely result, then indeed, the legal system is the culprit. If this error isn't serious enough to send a person who is under court order to act in a particular manner to jail, then it can't be serious enough to dismiss the case.

That, I think, is why the common person thinks that the court system is broken. It is a system that demands perfection from imperfect people, and when that goal isn't met, it is the common person who has their justice denied.

[catpuppy]

In reality, the legal system is not the culprit - a dishonest lawyer is.

If that is the case punish the lawyer. But the lawyer's conduct should have no bearing whatsoever on the guilt or innocence or on the decision to execute the perp or to sentence him to life in prison.

It's time that criminal behavior was judged on its own and not discounted or excused because a police officer or attorney did something wrong.

[LK44-40]

That lawyer acted irresponsibly and deceitfully and deserves our scorn. Yet most people will dismiss that lawyer's flagrant transgression and say that the legal system is broken because a murderer may get life instead of death because of a "technicality". In reality, the legal system is not the culprit - a dishonest lawyer is.

What ~you~ said, Ax!

Rogue lawyers should be punished. They can be held in contempt or have their professional credentials challenged.

But punishing the public interest to discipline lawyers is I-N-S-A-N-E !

This is right up there with punitive damages coming out of the hide of taxpayers when some government employee has done a wrong.

This is part of the war on bourgeois America (~MY~ America), its religlion, its institution, and its values.

[Wolfstar]

That lawyer acted irresponsibly and deceitfully and deserves our scorn.

I agree. One wonders, however, if the lawyer did this deliberately to sabotage the death penalty case.