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Criminal Justice

Scandals continue to mount for Orange County D.A.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, currently serving his fourth term as the elected prosecutor of the sixth most populous county in the United States, has vowed to seek reelection in 2018. Although he won reelection in 2014 with over 73% of the vote, the longtime prosecutor has been plagued by scandals that put his […]

Bexar County D.A. ducks accountability by shutting out newspaper

Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood is refusing to talk to the San Antonio Express-News and is blocking them from attending press conferences that he holds. The Express-News is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in the state of Texas in terms of circulation and a leading news source for South Texas. Bexar County is the seventh-most populous county […]

Prosecutorial misconduct in DE renders guilty plea unconstitutional

When a defendant pleads guilty, he must do so “knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily.” Whether those requirements are undermined when prosecutors withhold information concerning the credibility of a key witness was explored in a recent decision by Judge Richard Stokes of the Superior Court of Delaware. On February 19, 2016, Michael Coverdale came to court on heroin-related criminal […]

Misconduct results in reversal in 34-year-old case

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled this past Monday that Idaho County prosecutors committed misconduct during Mark Lankford’s 2008 murder retrial. As a result, Lankford will need to be released from prison or retried for a 1983 double-murder. The court originally overturned Lankford’s convictions last summer but prosecutors petitioned for a rehearing. The court’s 39-page opinion (again) found that prosecutors unconstitutionally withheld […]

Follow up: Gaston County D.A. accused of withholding evidence in murder case

On Monday, July 3, 2017, a Superior Court judge granted Mark Carver’s request for an evidentiary hearing, which will be held in September. Carver claims he was wrongly convicted of the 2008 death of Irina Yarmolenko, a UNC Charlotte student. As previously discussed here, Carver’s attorney, Chris Mumma of the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence, has alleged […]

Prosecutorial misconduct found in Massachusetts

The scandals marring Massachusetts’ state drug labs — and its criminal justice system — have taken a new turn. Former state chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan have both received their legal comeuppances for their misconduct. And at least one wrongfully convicted person, Leonardo Johnson, has been awarded $2 million as a result of being victimized by Dookhan’s lies. But last week, following months of […]

Under Criminal Investigation, California D.A. Resigns

In early June, District Attorney Mark Peterson was busy planning for his reelection campaign in Contra Costa County, California. But life comes at you fast, especially when you’ve admitted to embezzling $66,000 in campaign funds for hotel rooms, movie tickets, jewelry, and other frivolities. Peterson got an unusual taste of his own medicine when he was […]

Ohio prosecutor seeks to deny DNA testing for man facing execution

In criminal cases, prosecutors are supposed to turn over favorable evidence to the defense. But Portage County Prosecutor Vic Vigluicci has a different idea of what he actually needs to hand over, and it’s now up to the Ohio Supreme Court to decide whether he’s violating the rules of evidence.