by Jane | Mar 20, 2019 | National, The Open File Blog
Prosecutors’ withholding of exculpatory information until the eve of trial in two recent cases in two different states serves as an important reminder that the tactic is commonplace. In both cases, the stakes couldn’t be higher, with defendants going to trial on...
by OpenFile | Aug 3, 2015 | The Open File Blog
Northjersey.com reports that a New Jersey appeals court has thrown out ex-Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa’s convictions for insurance fraud and official misconduct, citing misconduct on the part of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office at Zisa’sis...
by Sophie | Nov 10, 2014 | New Jersey, Oregon, The Open File Blog, Washington
Opening and closing statements and the use of PowerPoint slides got prosecutors into hot water in three different states in October, with appellate courts reversing convictions after finding that those prosecutors made improper arguments about defendants or their...
by David | Apr 20, 2014 | New Jersey, The Open File Blog
In the days before the advent of forensic DNA testing, exonerations were relatively rare. Few in America had a sense of how common wrongful convictions were. Even into the 1990s, it was rare to see the now-common media coverage of men being released after decades in...