Are DAs ever actually charged with prosecutorial misconduct? I hear threats about it all the time, but it does not seem like it happens very often. Seems to me that, like judges, they can pretty much do whatever they want and there are no consequences.
Google "Rolando Cruz" and DuPage County. I think several assist DA's took some heat, and that was less questionable than this case.
Never mind googling, here is an FR story about the Cruz case from last year (and it seems that the alleged misconduct was equally bad, though no one was ultimately held responsible except the taxpayers).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1531698/posts
Excerpt of the timeline from the article:
Sept. 21, 1995: DNA results exclude Cruz as the source of semen found in Jeanine's body, and implicate Dugan in the girl's rape.
Nov. 3, 1995: Judge Ronald Mehling acquits Cruz at his third trial.
Dec. 8, 1995: DuPage Circuit Judge Thomas Callum dismisses all charges against Hernandez.
Dec. 12, 1996: Prosecutor William J. Kunkle Jr. announces the indictments of the DuPage Seven, seven law officers and lawyers accused of conspiring to deny Cruz a fair trial.
May 13, 1999: Circuit Judge William Kelly acquits two of the DuPage Seven defendants.
June 4, 1999: Judge Kelly and a jury acquit the remaining five DuPage Seven defendants.
Sept. 26, 2000: DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett agrees to settle wrongful conviction lawsuits filed by Buckley Cruz and Hernandez for $3.5 million.
Nov. 29, 2005: A DuPage County grand jury indicts Brian Dugan for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico.