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January 24, 2006
A Call for a Federal Investigation of Prosecutorial Misconduct in North Carolina
Because the prosecutors in question used to work in the very office that is now being asked to investigate them--indeed, one of the two accused prosecutors was the county prosecutor at the time of the alleged misconduct--I am not sanguine about a full and impartial investigation.
The allegations are that these two prosecutors knowingly and wilfully concealed a number of benefits that they had arranged for their star witness in exchange for his testimony, and then altered a document that they submitted to the trial judge in order to further conceal what they'd done. A man did seven and one-half years in jail because of the non-disclosure and concealment of this information.
It is admirable that the state's Attorney General has referred the case to a county prosecutor. But the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office should be looking into this matter as well. These are the sort of egregious allegations that sections 241 and 242 of the federal criminal code were made for. If the Union County prosecutor declines to pursue the matter--as I expect he will--the federal government should investigate the matter, and file federal criminal charges if they are warranted.
If the allegations against these two prosecutors are accurate, they should not go unremedied.
Posted by Eric at January 24, 2006 1:09 PM
Comments
This is genuinely scandalous. You are absolutely right, Eric. Mark Dorosin and I called for a federal investigation of possible criminal Civil Rights violations in the Gell case and got severely bitched out by the Orange/Chatham District Bar.
I don't hold out much hope about the situation, though. If the Orange/Chatham Bar doesn't take prosecutorial misconduct seriously, then who will?
This is a real embarassment for the North Carolina General Court of Justice. It calls the name into qestion, at the very least.
Posted by: Markl Chilton at January 24, 2006 4:33 PM
If Union County opts not to pursue this, I would expect Cooper to push for a Federal investigation himself.
Noisily.
Right as the primary campaign starts to get serious.
Not that NC AG's ever take advantage of their office like that...
Posted by: Simon Spero at January 25, 2006 2:07 PM
I must disagree with Mark's characterization of our local bar's sentiments and actions regarding the Gell case. Our local bar councillor, at the urging of his own conscience and of many in the local bar, almost single-handedly kept the issue alive, forcing the State Bar to hold further hearings, air it all out, and publish findings and recommendations. The local meeting about the Gell case was very well attended, only one person "severely bitched" Mark out, and no one stuck up for the guy who went off on him.
Most everyone in the local bar is on Mark's side on this; we just didn't support the resolution he offered at the meeting. If "tak[ing] prosecutorial misconduct seriously" means passing resolutions, we pretty much suck. If taking it "seriously" means working to insure that what happened to Alan Gell will be less likely to happen again, we do at least our share.
And regarding those guys in Monroe: If the AG can't investigate without a referral, why can't Parker send it back to Cooper in Raleigh? And, oh yeah, Johnathan Hoffman, I believe, is awaiting his new trial. Can Parker prosecute Hoffman and his former boss at the same time?
Posted by: Russ at January 25, 2006 8:25 PM
Normally I only weigh in to jerk your chain, Eric, but I'll depart from usual practice to give you kudos on keeping your eye on this story.
Posted by: lostingotham at January 25, 2006 9:06 PM
I have to disagree, Russ. It was me that no one stood up for at that meeting (although many thanks to those who called me about the matter later). Indeed the matter was brought to an end by a vote to adjourn rather than take division on the actual vote on the second resolution (a violation of Roberts Rules, but who care?) The vote to adjourn rather than take a stand speaks volumes.
I also have to disagree that the Orange Chatham Bar has been effective on this issue. I believe our bar councillor has done a great job in pushing this issue as far as he can go within the State Bar, but this is the whole issue: We already know that the State Bar has no intention of doing anything - their organizational ambivalence is gernuinely manifest. That is exactly why someone else would have to intervene in order for something to happen. But I haven't kept up with the latest news - what awful fate has befallen the wrongdoers in the Gell case? Last I heard the one guy is head of the N. C. Administrative Office of the Courts - no change in that situation despite our bar councillors efforts, I assume.
Posted by: Mark Chilton at February 21, 2006 11:22 PM