prosecutor Tag Archives — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Prosecutorial discretion or power

August 20, 2012 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

h/t to Prof. Berman TG.

The title of this post is the headline of this new New York Times segment of its series "Room for Debate." The NY Timesbrought together five leading lights to comment on this question (all of whom appear to supply variations on the answer "Yes"). Here is how the segment sets up the debate, followed by links to the must-read pieces that provide five different answers to the question:

A U.S. district judge in Denver recently rejected a plea bargain in a child pornography case because the defendant had agreed to waive his right to appeal. The judge said such a deal would undermine the purpose of appellate courts. (He later accepted a plea bargain without that stipulation.)

Prosecutorial misconduct

October 2, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

On 23 September 2010 USA Today published a front page piece about federal prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not merely score convictions. But a USA TODAY investigation found that prosecutors repeatedly have violated that duty in courtrooms across the nation. The abuses have put innocent people in prison, set guilty people free and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and sanctions.

USA Today has an opinion piece in today’s paper which is a rebuttal.

Up periscope WE 160510

May 16, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The Guardian, at guardian.co.uk reports that:

An Afghan prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for an American special forces commander over allegations that a police chief was murdered by a US-trained militia.

He accused American officials of refusing to hand over evidence or to permit his investigators to interview the special forces commander, known to Afghans only as "John or Johnny", who he alleges sanctioned the raid.