Florida Fumble

The Rove Republican Racket has stretched the law, used the dishonest "honest services" law, and bent situations to put decent people behind bars, usually Democrats.

An interesting case in Florida that highlights how government prosecutors lie and manipulate the system made the headlines yesterday. Although the victim of prosecutorial misconduct is a convicted cop killer, the point of the story is how many prosecutors arrogantly believe they are above the law.

From the Palm Beach Post:

The Florida Supreme Court today threw out the death sentence of convicted cop killer Paul Beasley Johnson because “the record here is so rife with evidence of previously undisclosed prosecutorial misconduct that we have no choice but to grant relief.”

In October, Gov. Charlie Crist ordered Johnson to be put to death by lethal injection in November.

The high court stayed the execution and heard oral arguments on the case in which Johnson was convicted of going on a drug-induced killing spree in Polk County in 1981. Johnson was convicted of murdering three men, including a Polk County Sheriff’s deputy.

In its ruling today, the court found that prosecutors intentionally got a jailhouse informer to get information from Johnson, take notes and give the notes to investigators. Prosecutors then lied about their role in soliciting the information at Johnson’s trial in 1981.

At a later trial in 1988, a different prosecutor used the same testimony that helped persuade the jury to hand down a 7-5 vote in favor of the death penalty, the court ruled today.

Political Favors in Rhode Island?

Gerard B. Sullivan, the embattled Assistant U.S. Attorney from Rhode Island who was pinched for allegedly drunk-driving on Thanksgiving morning is in the news again. From the smell of it, Sullivan, a loyal member of the Rove Republican Racket, is trying to strike a deal with his political friends in the court system.

Those tight political connections are what caused the controversy to begin with when Sullivan tried to cover-up the DUI. A local police chief had to come out a few days after the incident  and charge Sullivan with a DUI in the name of "fundamental fairness."

Now it looks like games are being played in the prosecution of the prosecutor.

The Providence Journal reported on Wednesday:

Federal prosecutor Gerard B. Sullivan on Tuesday sought dismissal in District Court of a criminal charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sullivan, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, had admitted a day earlier in state traffic court that he failed to take a chemical breath test when arrested early on Thanksgiving morning by the Warwick police.On Tuesday, Judge Frank J. Cenerini said the pre-trial conference has been continued until Monday at the request of both sides.

UPDATE: Silicon Valley Judge Rips Prosecutor

The San Jose Mercury News story from yesterday was updated this morning with this incredible quote from the judge:

About 14 prosecutors listened Wednesday morning in stunned silence as [Judge Andrea Y.] Bryan — a former prosecutor and San Jose deputy city attorney appointed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson — took the rare step of rebuking the District Attorney's Office and dismissing the charges. [Deputy District Attorney Troy] Benson did not attend the hearing. "Mr. Benson's numerous acts of misconduct, culminating in his false testimony in this proceeding, strikes at the foundation of our legal system and is so grossly shocking and outrageous that it offends the universal sense of justice to allow prosecution in this matter to proceed,'' Bryan said. "As such, defendant's motion to dismiss on due process grounds is granted.''

"Stunning Rebuke" in the Silicon Valley

Breaking News: In November, we wrote about prosecutorial misconduct in the Silicon Valley, California and how one prosecutor was grilled for his misconduct.

The consequences of this misconduct has now led to one man being sent free after four years in jail. The San Jose Mercury News just posted this story in the last hour:

In a stunning rebuke to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, a county judge on Wednesday ordered a man who had been sentenced to 38 years to life freed on the grounds the trial prosecutor in the child molestation case committed "numerous acts of misconduct,'' including giving false testimony.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Andrea Y. Bryan means Augustin Uribe, 66, will be released within several days after spending four years behind bars for a crime that even the alleged victim says he did not commit.

The decision casts a shadow over the career of Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson and further tarnishes the reputation of the District Attorney's Office, which has come under fire in recent years for alleged prosecutorial misconduct.

Uribe's conviction on charges he sexually assaulted a young relative was overturned by an appellate court in 2008, after a finding that the District Attorney's Office had improperly withheld a videotape of the purported victim's physical exam, which was turned over only after Uribe had been sentenced. A defense expert then reviewed the videotape and said it contradicted the prosecution witnesses' testimony that the child had been assaulted.

Prosecutors have since acknowledged the existence of about 3,300 of those videotapes dating back to 1991 that were never provided to trial attorneys, as required by law.

Iowa Immunity Case Evaporates

The case against two Iowa prosecutors who engaged in prosecutorial misconduct and faced a civil lawsuit by two innocent men who were framed and wrongly jailed for 25 years has ended.

The U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case early last November, agreed to dismiss the case yesterday after Pottawattamie County representatives and the plaintiffs settled the case for $12 million.

The case had enormous implications against prosecutors who held they had personal immunity from misconduct done before the criminal case was tried. It appeared by the line of questioning by members of the U.S. Supreme Court last November, prosecutors would have most likely lost that shield of immunity for misconduct done before a criminal trial began.

The $12 million ended the case, but the misconduct in question (framing innocent victims) can sadly still continue.

Reckless Prosecutorial Misconduct

In November, we told you about the distrurbing secret hearings the U.S. Department of Justice was having in regards to the Blackwater Massacre.

Back near Thanksgiving, issues surrounded the prosecutorial misconduct and re-prosecution of Nicholas Slatten, one of the five security guards accused of participating in the Iraqi massacre back in 2007. What caused even a bigger legal fuss was members of the Rove Republican Racket had conducted secret hearings on the topic of a new trial against Slatten.

Now, on New Year's Eve, the U.S. District Judge involved in the criminal cases threw out all charges against all five defendants because of reckless prosecutorial misconduct.

The Associated Press reports today:

Prosecutors who mishandled the investigation into a deadly 2007 Blackwater Worldwide shooting face a possible misconduct citation from a judge who says they withheld evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina admonished the Justice Department last week for its "reckless" handling of the investigation into a shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead. He threw out manslaughter and weapons charges against five security guards and, in a footnote, said he was also considering whether the repeated government missteps amounted to misconduct.

Such a ruling would be an embarrassing cap to a politically sensitive investigation and a black eye to a department that is still dealing with the fallout from last year's botched corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens. In that case, a judge wiped away the senator's conviction and appointed a lawyer to investigate prosecutors for withholding evidence from defense attorneys.

Happy New Year!

We wish all our readers a wonderful 2010.