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TN: Police detective pretending to be criminal defense lawyer in jail leads to dismissal of indictment

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Police officers engaged in an elaborate ruse to have a detective pretend to be a defense lawyer and secure information from the defendant in jail, assuring the defendant that he should not tell his appointed lawyer. The trial court denied a motion to dismiss, but the Tennessee Court of Appeals found it so “abhorrent” that they could find no other remedy. State v. Dawson, E2009-02469-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Crim. App. January 13, 2011): Although the Morrison Court, in a footnote, cautioned against the use of dismissal of the indictment as a means to deter the deliberate infringement of the right to counsel, particularly in the absence of a showing of specific prejudice, the conduct of the law enforcement officers in this case, and in particular Detective Henry, is so egregious that it simply cannot go unchecked...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on March 08, 2011 (boomark / email).