Legal Commentary

Prosecutor Withholds Evidence, Murder Defendant Goes Free

By Jeralyn

Via the AP: Proseuctors withhled evidence in a Delaware murder case and as a result, the defendant goes free. How did it happen?

The murder case against a man charged in a shooting two years ago at Delaware State University that left one student dead and another injured will be dismissed because prosecutors withheld key evidence, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Loyer Braden, 20, of East Orange, N.J., had been charged with second-degree murder, assault and other crimes after a September 2007 campus shooting that killed 17-year-old Shalita Middleton of Washington, D.C. Braden's mother says her son works for a water quality testing company and is taking real estate classes.

James Liguori, a pal of TalkLeft, is Braden's attorney. [More....]

Defense attorney James Liguori said a witness walking with Middleton when gunfire erupted told authorities the day after Braden was arrested that he was not the gunman. But he said prosecutors did not disclose that information until last month.

''We had all along been asking them for everything they had,'' said Liguori, adding the judge made the right decision.

''The judge was not happy ... but to ensure the integrity of the criminal justice system, we all have to do what is fair.''

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).