What is Prosecutorial Misconduct?
Prosecutorial misconduct occurs when a prosecutor breaks a law or a code of professional ethics in the course of a prosecution. In Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78 (1935), Justice Sutherland explained prosecutorial misconduct meant “overstepp[ing] the bounds of that propriety and fairness which should characterize the conduct of such an officer in the prosecution of a criminal offense.”
Prosecutors are entrusted with determining who will be held accountable when a crime occurs. They hold a great deal of power. They work with the police as they gather evidence and build a case against a suspect and then they take that case to court and are charged with convincing a jury of the guilt of the suspect. First a foremost, it is the prosecutor’s job to seek justice and present the judge and jury with facts and legal arguments that result is the conviction of the guilty defendant.
Sometimes, prosecutors find evidence that would tend to exonerate the person they are trying to convict. Because Prosecutors are charged with presenting the truth, the prosecution is obligated to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defense. This can be difficult. Imagine that you are a prosecutor in the midst of a heated trial, fighting to get justice for a murder victim – a woman who you believe was murdered by her husband. You are absolutely convinced that this man beat his wife to death. In a police report, you find notes taken during an interview with the murder victim’s three year old child who witnessed the murder. The child told the police, “Daddy wasn’t home when mommy got hurt. A monster with a mustache hurt Mommy.”
A prosecutor in this position must turn over this evidence to the defense, even if it will torpedo the case against the defendant. Because the criminal justice system is adversarial – the prosecution and the defense battle against each other within the framework of the law – it is very difficult to hand the opponent the tools that could very well destroy your case. Nevertheless, it is the prosecutor’s duty to do so.
Prosecutorial misconduct occurs when a prosecutor breaks a law or a code of professional ethics in the course of a prosecution. In Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78 (1935), Justice Sutherland explained prosecutorial misconduct meant “overstepp[ing] the bounds of that propriety and fairness which should characterize the conduct of such an officer in the prosecution of a criminal offense.”
Prosecutors are entrusted with determining who will be held accountable when a crime occurs. They hold a great deal of power. They work with the police as they gather evidence and build a case against a suspect and then they take that case to court and are charged with convincing a jury of the guilt of the suspect. First a foremost, it is the prosecutor’s job to seek justice and present the judge and jury with facts and legal arguments that result is the conviction of the guilty defendant.
Sometimes, prosecutors find evidence that would tend to exonerate the person they are trying to convict. Because Prosecutors are charged with presenting the truth, the prosecution is obligated to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defense. This can be difficult. Imagine that you are a prosecutor in the midst of a heated trial, fighting to get justice for a murder victim – a woman who you believe was murdered by her husband. You are absolutely convinced that this man beat his wife to death. In a police report, you find notes taken during an interview with the murder victim’s three year old child who witnessed the murder. The child told the police, “Daddy wasn’t home when mommy got hurt. A monster with a mustache hurt Mommy.”
A prosecutor in this position must turn over this evidence to the defense, even if it will torpedo the case against the defendant. Because the criminal justice system is adversarial – the prosecution and the defense battle against each other within the framework of the law – it is very difficult to hand the opponent the tools that could very well destroy your case. Nevertheless, it is the prosecutor’s duty to do so.
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