tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post9166014967002037302..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Brady violation may lead to next Dallas exonerationGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-13893582605534532912008-11-19T22:09:00.000-06:002008-11-19T22:09:00.000-06:00I once had a conversation with a DA who thought th...I once had a conversation with a DA who thought that Brady evidence was that testimony given by a witness named "Brady." The sad thing, is this is only partly sarcasm. In Dallas, there are many DA's who feel that evidence is not exculatory if they do not believe it or find it incredible. So, rather than turn it over, they hide behind their belief that no one else would believe it and therefore is not exculpatory. Egads!! The humanity!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-56151055811243783992008-11-19T10:28:00.000-06:002008-11-19T10:28:00.000-06:00Until someone or some governmental body passes law...Until someone or some governmental body passes laws that have teeth we will never see a straight DA's office. Yes 80% of the time, maybe even 90% of the time they play by the rules, but in this CSI world, DA's will always play that 5% or 10% game to get the big win. Elections are hard to rig anymore, so they have to get points somehow...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-2127694029565286592008-11-19T09:05:00.000-06:002008-11-19T09:05:00.000-06:00We are appealing a manslaughter conviction in Miss...We are appealing a manslaughter conviction in Mississippi where our client's defense was self-defense, and we found out after the trial that the prosecutor withheld a taped conversation that was made before the shooting wherein the victim stated he wanted a gun, although we filed five separate discovery motions including a request for CDs or tapes. I also think the prosecutor should be disbarred. We even had a hearing where the D.A. admitted under oath that he did, in fact, have the CD of the conversation and withheld it from the defense (us). And, that is only ONE exculpatory piece of evidence that was withheld. Our justice system is nowhere near just.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7719651340610284322008-11-18T21:43:00.000-06:002008-11-18T21:43:00.000-06:00As someone who used to work in the trenches there ...As someone who used to work in the trenches there in Dallas, it does not suprise me at all that Patricia Hogue apparently egregiously violated Brady.<BR/><BR/>Scott, you would not believe some of the conversations I had with prosecutors in Dallas about Brady when I was there. One ADA who was sent by Bill Hill to speak at a local criminal defense lawyers' group's ethics CLE was asked if the DA's office had a written policy on exculpatory evidence. The answer was "No."<BR/><BR/>I once had an argument with a prosecutor who was a felony chief about Brady where he insisted to me that, if he got an expert report that failed to inculpate the defendant, he had no duty to disclose that. His reasoning was that such a report would just be an expert's opinion and so it wasn't necessarily exculpatory. I probably argued with him for 10 minutes, and his mind was not changed. I kid you not.<BR/><BR/>This is the type of attitude that was fostered at the Dallas County District Attorney's Office when I was there. Sadly, even if you found out about suppressed evidence, the trial judge was likely to do absolutely nothing about it.<BR/><BR/>Remember this case? http://www.dallasobserver.com/2006-10-19/news/can-i-get-a-witness/123txpublicdefender123https://www.blogger.com/profile/16074278445586583355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-63868738118017968312008-11-18T16:23:00.000-06:002008-11-18T16:23:00.000-06:00It didn't surprise many people at the Dallas Court...It didn't surprise many people at the Dallas Courthouse that Ms. Hogue violated Brady. I think it surprised Ms. Hogue more that she was outed. Kudos to Jennifer Emily.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1040043807222059252008-11-18T11:23:00.000-06:002008-11-18T11:23:00.000-06:00I talked with Jennifer Emily (the reporter) yester...I talked with Jennifer Emily (the reporter) yesterday to find out who the prosecutor was. <BR/>She told me and then said that she had included the name of the prosecutor in the article, but that her editor had cut it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-11754094723345853202008-11-18T09:48:00.000-06:002008-11-18T09:48:00.000-06:00Thanks 7:55, I changed the error about Vance in th...Thanks 7:55, I changed the error about Vance in the text. For some reason I thought Vance left after two terms in '94, but I doublechecked and you're absolutely right.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-35205912894376483072008-11-17T19:55:00.000-06:002008-11-17T19:55:00.000-06:00If this is a 1995 prosecution, the elected Distric...If this is a 1995 prosecution, the elected District Attorney would have been John Vance and not Bill Hill.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32398820442763767442008-11-17T16:56:00.000-06:002008-11-17T16:56:00.000-06:00Modern courts and prosecutors can force anyone to ...Modern courts and prosecutors can force anyone to plead guilty to SOMETHING in exchange for just having the whole life-destroying process END. Judges in my county, (Smith) set excessively high bail. If you make it, they refuse to provide councel. If you don't make it, you sit in jail until your trial comes up, hopefully within a couple of years. Or so. The prosecutors come in and offer a deal for a plea to a lesser charge.<BR/><BR/> Works like a charm, nearly all of the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-78462680358305174592008-11-17T16:42:00.000-06:002008-11-17T16:42:00.000-06:00Are you correct when you stated that he pled to th...Are you correct when you stated that he pled to these charges despite what appears to be clear Brady violations? What about the defense attorney who convinced a supposedly innocent man then, to plead to the life sentence?Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076420833939935389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-25171891380795127402008-11-17T11:40:00.000-06:002008-11-17T11:40:00.000-06:00Funny how things that are "against the law" for th...Funny how things that are "against the law" for the taxpayers all have grievous penalties but offenses "against the law" for government employees seem to have none.<BR/><BR/> This prosecutor should resign from the bar. Failing that, she should be sued in civil court. In Justice, she would serve the exact time she stole from this defendant.<BR/><BR/> The bar is burning its legitimacy with actions like this. Not good for the country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-22576847945067566872008-11-17T08:59:00.000-06:002008-11-17T08:59:00.000-06:00Yet another case of heavy-handed prosecutors looki...Yet another case of heavy-handed prosecutors looking for the 'win'. I wish there was some way to know an exact number on cases like this. It would probably blow us all away...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com