tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post117210514894568822..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: DAs are wrong: Crime labs lack 'integrity'Gritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1172160768684692882007-02-22T10:12:00.000-06:002007-02-22T10:12:00.000-06:00As a prosecutor, I feel the "squeeze" more than yo...As a prosecutor, I feel the "squeeze" more than you may realize. I am sworn, not to seek convictions, but to see justice done. That means one thing to the officer, another to the victim, another to the defendant, and sometimes another to the judge. Throwing the case to a jury is an easy answer - but is that fair to the person / entity paying the bill? If counsel is court appointed, the county taxpayer is stuck; if privately retained, the defendant now has an enormous bill.<BR/><BR/>After four years of doing the best I can with the intelligence, resources, and input I'm given, I have to answer the charges of an opponent that I'm "soft on crime" and that my conviction rate is unacceptable. Try convincing voters that "justice" does not always equal "conviction". Given that Catch-22, is it any wonder many of my colleagues have become cynical? (Yes, there is a reason that this is posted by A Nony Moose!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1172156096548384942007-02-22T08:54:00.000-06:002007-02-22T08:54:00.000-06:00I wouldn't go as far as to say all prosecutors don...I wouldn't go as far as to say all prosecutors don't care who they convict, but certainly some feel that way deep down. I think the bigger problem is that everyone in at the criminal courthouse - DAs particularly - have blinders on to everything but their case. They trust the lab, so why shouldn't you? To me it's symptomatic of a much bigger issue.Mike Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18111524970633256292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1172107106617072262007-02-21T19:18:00.000-06:002007-02-21T19:18:00.000-06:00Prosecutors don't care who they convict, guilty or...Prosecutors don't care who they convict, guilty or innocent, all they want is a plea bargain and another notch in their success score.<BR/>I sure hope the newspaper readers understand that a conviction is a score of who wins and who looses, and not much of an indicator of either guilt or innocenceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com