Currently, prosecutors in both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems have too much discretion in pressing charges, determining what sentences are sought, and negotiating plea deals. Trial by jury is a key tenant of the American criminal justice system, but heightened prosecutorial power significantly reduces the power and frequency of a trial by peers. Attempts at sentencing reform must address largely unchecked prosecutorial discretion.
“The critical information we highlight here is the sentencing outcome of a trial if the jury finds the defendant guilty of a crime. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, jurors are not permitted to know what sentence a criminal defendant will face if convicted.”
The Open File
April 11, 2019
Read More“Katherine Kealoha has been indicted by the Justice Department on more than fifty charges ranging from drug dealing to public corruption stemming from her time as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Kaneshiro’s office. Among the most egregious allegations, Kealoha is said to have worked with her husband – the former Police Chief of Honolulu – to falsify charges against a relative with whom she was having a financial dispute, and to thwart the prosecution of her brother – a local doctor – for illegally prescribing opioids for profit. The indictments have come in waves over the past two years, and Kealoha is now facing three separate trials. The latest indictment is the first to implicate Kaneshiro, though it has been known for some weeks that the FBI recently sent him a “target letter” – that is, a letter notifying him that he was under investigation.“
The Open File
February 21, 2019
Read More“A bit of good news on the accountability front emerged late last month out of Indiana. The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission recently handed down an order suspending former Porter County deputy prosecutor Trista Hudson from the state bar following allegations that she withheld key exculpatory evidence in the trial of a man accused of child molestation. The former prosecutor’s suspension is the culmination of a story that has features both all-too-common and all-too-rare.“
The Open File
September 27, 2018
Read More"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
Read More"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
Read More"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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