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Court Wins Advocates Promote Prosecution Highlighting Misconduct


A group of law professors have publish new complaints against 17 New York prosecutors, highlighting conduct that in many cases has sent innocent people to jail, the latest case to push for accountability last month was brought to the attention of a federal court by a federal court. new life.

A prosecutor was found by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office to have hidden important evidence during a trial, sending an innocent man to prison for more than 24 years. Again refused to tell the jury about the leniency arrangements a key witness received in exchange for testimony, which sent the two men to prison for nearly 17 years. One third allow a witness to lie; The defendant in that case spent nearly six years in prison.

Some of the more recent complaints filed by law professors relate to cases dating back to the early 1990s when crime increased and there was political pressure to be convicted. The professors, who mainly teach at New York schools, aim to draw public attention to procedural misconduct and promote the state’s disciplinary process.

In each complaint, the judge or district attorney’s office previously acknowledged wrongdoing. But there is no public record of discipline for any of the prosecutors, many of whom are still employed in the city’s justice system. One taught a course in legal ethics.

Daniel Medwed, one of a group of six law professors who, along with posting complaints online, has filed complaints with state commissions responsible for disciplining attorneys, said: “It’s relatively easy. to land on your feet and go somewhere else. Grievances, reviewed by committees consisting of attorneys and non-attorneys, can lead to public recommendation, suspension and even disqualification. But experts say that’s rarely the case, and complaints are usually kept private.

“Most prosecutors are not sanctioned and most lawyers are not sanctioned,” said Bruce Green, who directs a center for legal ethics at Fordham University. Mr. Green was not among the law professors who filed the complaint.

It is not possible for professors to post their complaints publicly. After filing the first complaint last year, they were warned by the city’s top attorney, James Johnson, that making the records public was violates state law keeping attorneys’ disciplinary records confidential.

The law professors, in partnership with the Civil Rights Corps, a nonprofit that fights for criminal justice reform, filed a lawsuit against Mr Johnson’s successor, Georgia Pestana, as well as a Queens district attorney and a lawyer. number of complaints committee officials. In June, a federal judge, Victor Marrero, rule in their favor, saying that the First Amendment prohibits the state from blocking the actions of professors. Some parts of the decision are being appealed but in the meantime, the professors have posted a new round of appeals.

The complaints come at a time of uncertainty for the future of prosecution. While prosecutors seek to reform the criminal justice system went on to win elections, increased gun crime, and a change in perception of crime in general have disrupted the momentum of the progressive prosecutors movement. Those contradictions contributed to the high-profile recall of San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin.

Law professors say the current situation makes it all the more important to shed light on misconduct by the prosecution. Medwed, a faculty member at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, cited Boudin’s recall and objections from Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon, who is also facing a recall attempt. Mr Medwed said “more conservative elements of crime control are emerging”, which could lead to renewed pressure on prosecutors to win convictions.

“It’s all about greater transparency and accountability,” said Mr. Medwed.

One of the cases highlighted by the professors was in the winter of 1991, when a man named Andre Hatchett was arrested by police a week after discovering a murdered woman.

Only one witness – Jerry Williams, who was arrested in an unrelated burglary – identified Mr Hatchett as the culprit, after initially identifying him as another man.

The prosecutor, Nicholas Fengos, did not notify Mr. Hatchett’s attorney of the conflicting identities. Mr. Fengos also did not question the inconsistency between what Mr. Williams told investigators – that he used crack cocaine on the day of the murder – and what he told the jury, that Mr. never used drugs. Despite those and other uncertainties in Williams’ account of the murder, Mr. Fengos continued to prosecute and win a conviction.

Mr. Hatchett spent nearly 25 years in prison before the King County District Attorney’s office, after reviewing his case, recommended a court sentence. Mr. Hatchett later won the wrongful conviction lawsuit for $12 million.

Professors are calling for Mr. Fengos, who works for the state prison system and remains a licensed attorney, to be suspended or fired. Mr. Fengos did not respond to voice messages seeking comment.

When asked why her team is so focused on cases that have been handled decades ago, often by enthusiastic public servants, Cynthia Godsoe, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, said that the firms prosecutors should not work enthusiastically.

“It is their duty to act in the interest of justice,” she said. “If people don’t want to do that, and are more careful to follow the rules – that’s what they’re supposed to do – then they shouldn’t be prosecutors.”

The professors hope that public pressure will force complaints-handling committees to take a closer look at their complaints. The law protects prosecutors from civil pressure, and the committees allow lawyers to discipline each other, in a system where there is little oversight.

Late last year, New York’s chief justice appointed three members to a newly created state prosecutorial conduct commission. But the committee has little independent disciplinary power; The law requires it to submit its findings to appeals committees – at which point the committees will again be held accountable for any consequences.

The commission has yet to take any public action. One of the appointees, Michael A. Simons, dean of St. John, did not respond to a request for comment. And so the professors, fresh from their lawsuit, still see room for their work.

“We are trying to make a systemic change, to make the complaints committee or more broadly the government do their job,” Ms. Godsoe said. “We wanted to highlight: What are they really doing? Everyone has the right to know.”



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