by Bert | May 11, 2018 | Texas
It has been a lively week in Tarrant County. Two high-profile criminal cases are back in the news, and both demonstrate the influence that false claims and Brady can play when the State is intent on winning convictions. A trial court on Tuesday recommended to the...
by Bert | Apr 13, 2018 | Kansas
It is rare to see a court forcefully and thoroughly shame a prosecutor; even in instances of egregious misconduct, courts often avoid naming the lawyers responsible, silently observing an unspoken code that has long shielded prosecutors from meaningful scrutiny....
by Bert | Apr 3, 2018 | Michigan
In a recent ruling that has generated no press coverage, a Michigan court of appeals granted a new trial to Andrew Spagnola—who had been convicted of child abuse—because the prosecutor committed deliberate and egregious misconduct during the trial. Although the...
by Bert | Jan 25, 2018 | Indiana
Two weeks ago, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the death sentence of Frederick Michael Baer, who was found guilty of killing a young mother and her daughter in Madison County, Indiana. The court held that Madison County’s elected District Attorney,...
by Bert | Jan 10, 2018 | Washington
An appellate court in Washington reversed a murder conviction this week because a prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument through improper use of a PowerPoint presentation. If there is one jurisdiction in which prosecutors should know that they must be...
