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To: IronJack
It is not the prosecutor’s job to build the defense’s case. In Discovery, the parties are supposed to disclose all relevant information concerning the case. The operative word there being “relevant.”. If a DA thought the evidence was sufficiently exculpatory to jeopardize his case, then he probably shouldn’t have prosecuted it to begin with. To withhold it violates the Canon, and can result in mistrial, loss on appeal, and censure.

The defense should have destroyed this girl’s testimony, which shouldn’t have been hard to do in view of her history.

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I'm sorry to have to strongly disagree with you but, in this country the prosecution has to share ALL evidence found during an investigation, it is the law. The prosecutor broke the law and because of it an innocent man spent a quarter century in prison.

The stated purpose of prosecutors is to find the truth, not put people in jail. If the truth finds someone guilty of crime then the prosecutors job is to present the evidence to a judge or jury and then punish the criminal. If the evidence points to innocence of the accused the prosecutor has an obligation under law to work to free the accused.

Unfortunately our justice system has evolved into whoever puts the most people in prison has the most respect from his peers.

Our system of prosecution is better than most of the world but has many problems and flaws.

15 posted on 03/07/2016 7:03:49 AM PST by JAKraig (my religion is at least as good as yours)
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To: JAKraig
the prosecutor has an obligation under law to work to free the accused.

In the adversarial model of American jurisprudence, the prosecutor's job is to make the most rigorous case he can to convict, just as it is the defense's job to defend with all the rigor at his disposal. The presumption is that, by creating such an atmosphere, the truth will eventually out.

I agree that it is not the best model in the world. It is only better than anything else so far practiced.

Yes, the prosecution is obligated to reveal all RELEVANT evidence. But if he deems the evidence irrelevant or of dubious credibility, he may opt to not reveal it at all. That is his prerogative, and a sharp defense attorney will pursue ALL the evidence, regardless of whether the prosecution considers it relevant or not.

What this prosecutor did was a breach of the Canon, but does not rise to the level of a crime. In my opinion ...

16 posted on 03/07/2016 8:04:27 AM PST by IronJack
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