Law & Order? I don’t think so – Prosecutorial Misconduct in California

My last post criticized the LA Times – this post is going to praise them.  An article about prosecutorial misconduct! As criminal defense trial lawyers, we know it happens – we hear about it when it happens to our friends and colleagues, and we see it for ourselves.  I have often been asked  how I can live with myself doing the job that I do –  Well this article highlights one of the most important reasons I am a criminal defense attorney:  to defend the public against people like this.  

Now don’t get me wrong – I have had the pleasure of going up against many fine and ethical prosecutors.  In my personal experience, most prosecutors have an excellent standard of ethics.  It’s the ones who you know are playing hide the ball – that are pushing you and your client towards trial with the knowledge that they can’t prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, when really, they should either be dismissing or offering you a really REALLY good deal.  Now I know that behavior may not be defined as prosecutorial misconduct by an appellate court, but I happen to think that it’s shady.  Sometimes our opinions may differ – I may think they have a weak case, they may look at it differently – but that’s not the situation I’m talking about.  It the situations where they KNOW they haven’t been able to speak to a key witness, or where they spring a suggestive six pack color lineup on you during trial where identification is the defense (that happened to me in my first trial EVER) – those are the situations I’m talking about.

What was most disturbing to me about the article, wasn’t that it happens- but that reprimand by the State Bar is so infrequent.  6 out of the 707 cases of prosecutorial misconduct over the past 12 years have been disciplined.  Only 6.  Keep in mind that these are just the cases that are reported – if a court finds the misconduct to be harmless, they are not required to forward this finding to the State Bar.  They should be.

After reading this article, I hope the general public starts to understand how important a criminal defense attorneys job is.  I feel like I’m always whining about how under appreciated we are, but maybe there’s a good reason for it.  I had a prosecutor friend say to me the other day, “You should come over to the side of Law & Order.”  And my response was, “I already am!”