Posts tagged Prosecutorial Accountability Project
NV: Prosecutors Should Not Induce Defense Attorneys to Break Ethical Rules

"There is a sensible alternative that would help alleviate all of the landmines that litter this playing field: judicial supervision of any communications between trial lawyers and prosecutors in post-conviction. It is not only in the client’s interest, the post-conviction lawyer’s interest (by ensuring that the trial lawyer does not over-disclose), and the trial lawyer’s interest (by ensuring again that she does not break the rules), but also the prosecutor’s interest because the rules implicate every lawyer involved."

The Open File

July 25, 2018

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ProsecutorsAnthony BradleyThe Open File, Prosecutorial Accountability Project, Nevada, Ethics, Misconduct
TX: Discovery Better Late than Never? The Fifth Circuit Apparently Thinks So

"One major hurdle in these delayed-disclosure cases is that courts put the burden on the defense to prove that the delay prejudiced them. It then discounts any argument made on the basis that it is speculative. Why should the defense bear the burden when the Government has either intentionally gamed the system or unintentionally failed to meet its obligations?"

The Open File

July 18, 2018

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Prosecutors, Mass IncarcerationAnthony BradleyThe Open File, Prosecutorial Accountability Project, Texas, Discovery, Brady Violations
TX: In Harris County Capital Cases, Prosecutors Get to Be the Judges

"While it is not unusual for judges to ask parties to submit proposed findings before they make a ruling, it should be unusual for them to simply adopt one party’s document without reading it, without editing it, without considering it. The fact-finding process is meant to be adversarial, even more so in high-stakes capital cases. When courts just adopt the State’s documents verbatim, due process is rendered meaningless; judges have ceded whatever authority they have, handing it over to the State."

Prosecutorial Accountability Project

June 19, 2018

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Prosecutors, Death PenaltyAnthony BradleyProsecutorial Accountability Project, The Open File, Texas, Harris County, Death Penalty