Friday, October 7, 2016

California: Prosecutors who withhold evidence can be charged with a felony

Long time readers of this blog know I often complain about the fact that courts do not seem to take prosecutorial misconduct too seriously.  Go here, here, and here, for a few examples; and you can go to the prosecutors tag and scroll down for lots of stories, and links on the topic.

Well, today, I am posting good news, for a change. Almost exactly one year ago, I posted (here) that California had adopted a new law to bolster a judge's ability to disqualify a prosecutor or an entire prosecuting attorney's office and to make it mandatory for judges to report violations to the state bar. 

Now, California has gone even further by making it a felony crime to withhold exculpatory evidence. Violators of the law could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.  The ABA Journal has more details here.

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