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The 9th Reverses on Prosecutorial Misconduct

By Tom Lincoln

Today we have a good case for defendants from the 9th Circuit. Yes, I know that you are reluctant to cite those 9th Circuit cases to the judges in our district, but save this one anyway.  In United States v. Weatherspoon, No. 03-10551 (9th Cir. May 6, 2005) the 9th Circuit reverses a conviction due to prosecutorial vouching and urging the jury to cure society's ill by convicting defendant of a felon in possession charge. The prosecutor is a repeat offender and two previous convictions were thrown out by 9th Circuit panels for similar conduct.  The Court points to it in the following passage:In that respect we stress that the ethical bar is set higher for the prosecutor than for the criminal defense lawyer?a proposition that has been clear for at least seven decades (see Berger v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on May 06, 2005 (boomark / email).