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Study: California Federal Prosecutors Committed Misconduct in 22 Cases Over Past Decade

By Main Justice staff

A recent study by the University of Santa Clara School of Law found 22 instances of prosecutorial misconduct in California federal courts during the past 12 years.

In a study released Monday, the Northern California Innocence Project — an initiative by the Northern California university — documented 707 state and federal cases from 1997 to 2009 where the courts determined that prosecutors had committed misconduct. Of those cases, 22 involved harmful error by federal prosecutors — 13 cases in the Southern District based in San Diego; four in the Central District based in Los Angeles; three cases in the Northern District in San Francisco; and two in the Eastern District based in Sacramento. (Read about the individual cases here.)

The study also found that the California State Bar rarely disciplines prosecutors for misconduct. Although the bar found 700 cases of misconducts, prosecutors only faced sanctions in six of those.

?While the majority of prosecutors uphold the law and serve the public admirably and with integrity, those who choose the blind pursuit of conviction over the pursuit of justice can do so with little regard for the consequences,? said Kathleen Ridolfi, the study’s co-author and Executive Director of the NCIP.

In a similar study focused on federal prosecutions, USA Today found 201 cases where prosecutors violated laws or ethics rules since 1998.

Read more about the NCIP study here.

Full post as published by Main Justice on October 04, 2010 (boomark / email).