Prosecution complex : America's race to convict and its impact on the innocent / Daniel S. Medwed.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Medwed, Daniel S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prosecutorial misconduct--United States.

Prosecutorial misconduct.

Judicial error--United States.

Judicial error.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

American prosecutors are asked to play two roles within the criminal justice system: they are supposed to be ministers of justice whose only goals are to ensure fair trials, whatever the outcomes of those trials might be—and they are also advocates of the government whose success rates are measured by how many convictions they get. Because of this second role, sometimes prosecutors suppress evidence in order to establish a defendant’s guilt and safeguard that conviction over time.Daniel S. Medwed, a nationally-recognized authority on wrongful convictions, has wrestled with these issues for nearly fifteen years, ever since he accepted a job as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society of New York City. Combining his hands-on experience in the courtroom and his role as a teacher and scholar in the classroom, Medwed shows how prosecutors are told to lock up criminals and protect the rights of defendants. This double role creates an institutional “prosecution complex” that animates how district attorneys’ offices treat potentially innocent defendants at all stages of the process—and that can cause prosecutors to aid in the conviction of the innocent. Ultimately, Prosecution Complex is not intended to portray prosecutors as rogue officials indifferent to the conviction of the innocent, but rather to explain why, while most prosecutors aim to do justice, only some hit that target consistently.

Contents:

Charging ahead

In the interest of full disclosure : discovery in criminal cases

Plea bargaining pitfalls

Preparation and examination of witnesses

Test tubes on trial : prosecutors and forensic evidence

Closing the door on innocence : improper summations by prosecutors

Prosecutorial resistance to post-conviction claims of innocence

A closer look : prosecutors and post-conviction DNA testing

In denial : the refusal of prosecutors to accept proof of an inmate's innocence.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780814796252

0814796257

9780814764350

0814764355

OCLC:

778459185