Prosecutorial Misconduct Research Paper

“Prosecutorial Misconduct”
Criminal Justice
Prof. Denise Duguay, MS
CJWB 155
January 17, 2015
Cassandra Pechi-Wilson
Email: [e-mail]
Cell Phone # [phone]

When you think of a prosecutor, you think of a person who is honorable. A person who is committed to helping maintain justice and upholding the law. A prosecutor is supposed to help protect the public by making sure that the “bad guys” go to jail and the innocent go free. However, prosecutorial misconduct and misdeeds happen, and it happens more frequently than you would think. The question is why does it happen but more importantly, how do we stop it? While researching the role of a prosecutor, I came across the American Bar Association website that listed
Lord Acton wrote 126 years ago, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Prosecutorial misconduct is one of the leading causes, or contributing causes, of wrongful convictions. (Joy, 2006, p. 399). In the PBS video “Prosecutorial Misconduct” Brendan Sullivan, Senator Ted Stevens’ attorney states that “When prosecutors get into the heat of battle, something takes over the competitive spirit—their reputational implications—and they want to win at all costs. They then begin to think if I lose this case it will be very bad for me professionally because I’ll be known as the lawyer, the prosecutor, who lost a case that may be very visible. It seems, that eagerness to win, can tempt a prosecutor to deliberately present false testimony in their mission to convict criminals.” Whatever the motivation or reason as to why a prosecutor chooses to ignore their legal and ethical obligations to gain a conviction, does not matter. It is wrong. Especially, if it results in an innocent person going to prison and the actual criminal remains free to commit future crimes. An investigative report by USA Today identified more than 200 cases thrown out by judges as a result of misconduct or ethical violations, but only one of those offending prosecutors was
(NY Times, 2004, p 25). Under federal law, prosecutors have absolute immunity from claims for conduct that is associated with the judicial phase of the case, such as initiating the prosecution and pursuing the prosecution in court. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 424 (1976). However, if federal law were to implement new policies that convey the importance of ethical conduct and were to enforce disciplinary action if those policies were violated, maybe it would be a start towards addressing the issue of prosecutorial misconduct. Without having these policies in place, there is no limit to the prosecutor’s authority. So far, giving prosecutors substantial power with no accountability for their actions is not