Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, "Capital case goes forward -- with new prosecution team." It's by Bill Rankin.
Federal prosecutors this week began presenting to jurors their death penalty case against an inmate who killed his cellmate because he was a child molester.
But recent court filings disclose that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating prosecutors who initially handled the case. This includes one prosecutor who jokingly suggested to an inmate that he would be rewarded if he were to stab one of the defendant's lawyers, a court filing said.
This excerpt refers to defendant Brian Richardson:
Last month, Richardson's defense team sought to bar the death penalty from being a sentencing option in the case because of alleged misconduct by two prosecutors who once worked on the case -- Todd Alley and Matthew Jackson, both of whom no longer work in the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta.
Jackson's alleged misconduct occurred in 2010 during a recorded phone conversation he had with an inmate expected to testify for the prosecution against Richardson. During the call, Jackson jokingly suggested to the witness that he should try to stab a member of Richardson's defense team and said he would reward the inmate for killing the defense attorney, the motion said.
"Even if said in jest," the defense motion said, "it was unethical and unprofessional and revealed a lack of judgment that no doubt infected Mr. Jackson's dealings with other inmate witnesses seeking to strike a bargain with the government."
Jackson, now a federal prosecutor in Florida, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Alley's alleged misconduct occurred after U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper disqualified him after finding Alley had or appeared to have a personal interest in the case because an inmate was alleging that Richardson had made threats to kill Alley. In his disqualification order, Cooper forbid Alley from participating "in any prosecutorial decision-making or strategizing in this matter."
Alley violated the order by having phone conversations with Jack Morris, who was expected to testify about Richardson's threats against Alley, the defense motion said. This included Alley giving Morris a cover story to keep other inmates from thinking Morris was cooperating with prosecutors, the motion said.
Related posts are in the prosecutorial misconduct index.
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