

The Prosecutor and the Snitch - danso
http://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/08/03/did-texas-execute-an-innocent-man-willingham/

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meowface
>“He says, ‘Your story doesn’t have to match exactly’,” Webb continued. “He
says, ‘I want you to just say he put fires in the corners. I need you to be
able to say that so we can convict him, otherwise we’re going to have a
murderer running our streets.’ ”

>“He [Jackson] had me believing 100 percent this dude was guilty — that’s why
I testified,” Webb said. “The perks — they was willing to do anything to help
me. No one has ever done that, so why wouldn’t I help them?”

Holy shit, this is disgusting. Could this kind of gross misconduct be
considered homicide?

~~~
ipsin
_Could this kind of gross misconduct be considered homicide?_

Here's the painful thing: no jury will determine that without the blessing of
a prosecutor.

Prosecutors have a lot of power, and few checks on that power, as I think this
story illustrates: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-
watch/wp/2014/03/07/j...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-
watch/wp/2014/03/07/judge-says-prosecutors-should-follow-the-law-prosecutors-
revolt/)

~~~
s_q_b
Here's the even worse part: Even direct violation of the law during the course
of a prosecutor's job is protected by near-absolute judicial immunity. Even if
you had absolutely airtight evidence to convict (difficult), an officer
willing to charge and seriously investigate the crime (unlikely), and a
zealous and competent DA to bring the charge before a grand jury (impossible),
the prosecutor could still argue he was acting as a judicial officer of the
court for presentation to a grand jury, and thus be immune from prosecution.

The reality is often less "gross misconduct" as in this case, and more "Hey,
are you sure you didn't mean the fire started in the corners?" or "I missed
that, you said he was 6'2, right?"

But even the worst offenders, such as Ex-DA Nifong in the Duke lacrosse case,
face reprimand rarely, true sanctions seldom, disbarment nearly never,
indictment infrequently, and conviction under no circumstances.

It's sad, because its the type of event where everyone involved can convince
themselves they're doing the right thing, and it's only in those very few
circumstances where evidence is brought forth where outside observers,
untainted by the culture, can see the naked abuse of power plain as day.

The question that I ponder often is the extent of Western-style law
enforcement corruption. Do most police officers and DAs skirt the law in this
manner, or is it a low but non-negligible percentage? More importantly, how do
we detect and measure it?

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Zarkonnen
It's OK, we can just un-execute the guy if we're not sure anymore. Right?
Right?

Flippancy aside, this is why the death penalty is such an awful idea.

