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The Water Cooler
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How prosecutors came to dominate the criminal-justice system
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<blockquote data-quote="_CY_" data-source="post: 2912580" data-attributes="member: 7629"><p>it's about time! hopefully this law is only the beginning and will be used as a pattern across the USA</p><p></p><p>==============</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px">Prosecutors who withhold or tamper with evidence now face felony charges </span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><img src="https://www.okshooters.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/www_trbimg_com_img_57f300ce_turbine_la_1475543423_snap_photo_950_950x534_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"></span></p><p>The office of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas was removed from one of its most high-profile cases: the prosecution of mass murderer Scott Dekraai. The judge said prosecutors repeatedly violated Dekraai’s rights by failing to turn over evidence. </p><p></p><p>Amid an ongoing controversy in the Orange County courthouse involving accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, a new law will ratchet up penalties for California prosecutors who tamper with evidence or hide exculpatory material from the defense.</p><p></p><p>Under the law, which was introduced by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando) and signed by Gov. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/jerry-brown-PEPLT007547-topic.html" target="_blank">Jerry Brown</a> on Friday, a prosecutor can receive up to three years in prison for altering or intentionally withholding evidence that defendants might use to exonerate themselves. Previously, those acts were considered misdemeanors.</p><p></p><p>“I hear so many stories about innocent people across California, and across the country, who have been wrongfully convicted,” Lopez said. “I just hope that when people think the rules don’t apply to them, they will think twice before they abuse their power.”</p><p></p><p>Matthew Guerrero, president of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a legislative advocacy group that pushed for the law, said the Orange County scandal “really invigorated our organization to recognize that there’s a problem.”</p><p></p><p>“The prosecution in that situation seemed to be acting with impunity,” Guerrero said. “So we wanted to send a strong signal that the criminal justice system needs to do the right thing in the right way.”</p><p></p><p>The California District Attorneys Assn. initially had opposed the bill but took a neutral position on the final version.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-prosecutor-misconduct-20161003-snap-story.html" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-prosecutor-misconduct-20161003-snap-story.html</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="_CY_, post: 2912580, member: 7629"] it's about time! hopefully this law is only the beginning and will be used as a pattern across the USA ============== [SIZE=6]Prosecutors who withhold or tamper with evidence now face felony charges [/SIZE] [SIZE=6][IMG]https://www.okshooters.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/www_trbimg_com_img_57f300ce_turbine_la_1475543423_snap_photo_950_950x534_.jpg[/IMG] [/SIZE] The office of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas was removed from one of its most high-profile cases: the prosecution of mass murderer Scott Dekraai. The judge said prosecutors repeatedly violated Dekraai’s rights by failing to turn over evidence. Amid an ongoing controversy in the Orange County courthouse involving accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, a new law will ratchet up penalties for California prosecutors who tamper with evidence or hide exculpatory material from the defense. Under the law, which was introduced by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando) and signed by Gov. [URL='http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/jerry-brown-PEPLT007547-topic.html']Jerry Brown[/URL] on Friday, a prosecutor can receive up to three years in prison for altering or intentionally withholding evidence that defendants might use to exonerate themselves. Previously, those acts were considered misdemeanors. “I hear so many stories about innocent people across California, and across the country, who have been wrongfully convicted,” Lopez said. “I just hope that when people think the rules don’t apply to them, they will think twice before they abuse their power.” Matthew Guerrero, president of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a legislative advocacy group that pushed for the law, said the Orange County scandal “really invigorated our organization to recognize that there’s a problem.” “The prosecution in that situation seemed to be acting with impunity,” Guerrero said. “So we wanted to send a strong signal that the criminal justice system needs to do the right thing in the right way.” The California District Attorneys Assn. initially had opposed the bill but took a neutral position on the final version. [URL]http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-prosecutor-misconduct-20161003-snap-story.html[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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