This editorial was published as part of our 12/29/06 "Mini-Bulletin." The entire bulletin can be read online here.
One of the news items today -- not in drug policy -- was the filing of an ethics complaint by the North Carolina Bar Association against Mike Nifong, the now high-profile prosecutor in the case involving three Duke University lacrosse players who originally faced rape charges and are still charged with kidnapping and sexual assault. The complaint comes on the heels of a letter sent by a member of Congress from the state, asking the US Attorney General to investigate Nifong.
No, I'm not about to express a wish related to this case. I'm not familiar enough with it to express what I would consider an informed opinion, and I wouldn't post such an opinion here in this drug policy newsletter if I did. But I do know something about prosecutorial misconduct in general. For example, that a 2003 report by the Center for Public Integrity, "Harmful Error," found that it is widespread but almost never punished.
According to CPI, prosecutorial misconduct falls mainly in several categories:
- courtroom misconduct;
- mishandling of physical evidence;
- failing to disclose exculpatory evidence;
- threatening, badgering or tampering with witnesses;
- using false or misleading evidence;
- harassing, displaying bias toward, or having a vendetta against the defendant or defendant's counsel;
- improper behavior during grand jury proceedings.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
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