Litigation

Federal Judge Saves Defendant from Prosecutorial Misconduct

By Francis G.X. Pileggi

The independence of our judiciary from the other two branches of government is an important part of the master plan by those who founded our country and established the form of government we enjoy based on the U.S. Constitution. A friend recently forwarded me a transcript here, that involves a federal judge explaining the frightening prosecutorial misconduct that was so egregious that it resulted in the judge dismissing criminal securities fraud claims against an executive in the Broadcom case due to, among other things, the prosecutor intimidating witnesses with threats of criminal prosecution for charges that were without any good faith factual or legal basis. The people involved were well-paid executives who had the necessary assets that allowed them to afford the type of lawyers who were able to amply address the misdeeds of the government. Most people could not afford to mount such a defense. Which leads me to believe that when prosecutorial misconduct is visited upon the "average Joe", and the judge may not be as attentive or courageous as the one in this case, the results are not as pretty.

Full post as published by Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog on December 19, 2009 (boomark / email).