wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] Katie from Forest Hills June 23, 2008 - 10:21AM

  See, sometimes people are innocent and there is corruption in the system!!

  
  
• [2] CTR June 23, 2008 - 10:26AM

  I'm an attorney. The ethical point turns on whether the prosecutor zealously represented his client -- "the people," not Morgenthau. You're assuming that by not listening to his employer -- elected or not -- he was betraying his client. If Morgenthau's motives were political, an argument can be made that the attorney acted in accordance with his ethical duties in ignoring him.

  
  
• [3] Naseem from Brooklyn June 23, 2008 - 10:27AM

  Brian, I just graduated from law school, so I'm no expert, but my understanding is that prosecutors have a duty to uphold justice -- not to get convictions. They also have a higher duty of disclosure than defense attorneys, and they can never withhold exculpatory evidence. So I think this prosecutor did the right thing by trying to uphold justice -- even if his boss didn't have the ethical chops that he did.

  
  
• [4] Alex from Park Slope June 23, 2008 - 10:27AM

  Let's not forget the ethics of Morgenthau. If he knowingly sought to uphold convictions he knew were likely unjust, then the greatest ethical wrongdoing is Morgenthau's.

  For this, Morgenthau should go to prison.

  
  
• [5] Katie from Forest Hills June 23, 2008 - 10:28AM

  If the prosecutor's role is to seek justice, he blew is on this one.

  But, of course, what do I know, justice is subjective.

  
  
• [6] Katie from Forest Hills June 23, 2008 - 10:29AM

  #4 is prison the right remedy for this though?

  Perhaps discipline including and at least up to disbarment?

  Why did it take 10 years to bring in new evidence?

  
  
• [7] Tiffany from Bushwick June 23, 2008 - 10:33AM

  This is all reminding me of a little case in Philadelphia.....these things tend to get sticky

  
  
• [8] Katie from Forest Hills June 23, 2008 - 10:33AM

  This is a violation of ethics by the bar association not a law violation.

  
  
• [9] Peter from New York June 23, 2008 - 10:34AM

  I am not a lawyer, but as a resident of New York, I feel that the ADA served us well. His actions were entirely within the spirit of his oath of office, given the constraints of the system and his position within it.

  
  
• [10] KD from Manhattan June 23, 2008 - 10:35AM

  Brian, as a former Brooklyn ADA I'm concerned that too much focus on this will help to perpetuate the stereotype that too many members of the public hold that prosecutors railroad "innocent" defendants (see some earlier postings along those lines). The prosecutors I worked with were always concerned with whether the evidence showed that the defendant did in fact commit the crime. I think you will find that instances like the one under discussion are not the norm.

  
  
• [11] Katie from Brooklyn June 23, 2008 - 10:43AM

  Mistaken eyewitness ID is the most serious issue in the criminal justice system. I applaud the ADA's act of civil disobedience, and I hope that it is one additional step toward diminishing the impact of this type of evidence.