Other U.S. prosecutors under fire

On the same day this week that a judge dismissed the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, lawyers in another Washington courtroom sought a similar dismissal of the case against their client, Farzad Darui.

As in the Stevens case, the attorneys accused federal prosecutors of manipulating documents and withholding evidence in the case of Mr. Darui, who is accused of embezzling $435,000 from the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.

The prosecutors have denied any wrongdoing and a judge has not ruled on the defense's charges. But the two are part of a recent rash of cases that has led many defense lawyers and the nation's attorney general to question whether some prosecutors are out of control and driven by the urge to win, even at the expense of justice.

“I expect them to play hard, but I expect them to play fair,” said John Wesley Hall, an Arkansas lawyer who is president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “But some of them seem to think they are above the rules and can do what ever they want.”

The charges of prosecutorial abuse range far and wide: from an otherwise nondescript gun-possession case in Boston to such headline-grabbing cases as the Duke lacrosse rape investigation and the perjury trap set for baseball star Barry Bonds.

One defense lawyer said the first thing a visitor sees in the offices of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section are headlines from the cases the unit has won tacked to a bulletin board.

But in a speech Wednesday to newly sworn-in U.S. assistant attorneys, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told them victory should not be their goal.

“Your job is not to win cases. Your job is to do justice. Your job is in every case, every decision that you make, to do the right thing,” he said, according to an Associated Press account of the unannounced appearance. “Anybody who asks you to do something other than that is to be ignored. Any policy that is at tension with that is to be questioned and brought to my attention. And I mean that.”

Nor is the attorney general the only overseer who thinks prosecutors have tended to cut corners in pursuit of courtroom victory.

Federal District Judge Mark L. Wolf, who has been on the bench for more than 20 years, said in a recent filing that he has seen “repeated failure to disclose information” in cases he has handled.

Judge Wolf included nine other examples of prosecutors withholding evidence in cases in his courtroom.

The order was filed as part of a gun-possession case against Darwin E. Jones, in which prosecutors did not reveal to defense attorneys statements that a police officer had made that were contradicted by testimony the officer later gave. Although Judge Wolf, a Reagan appointee, berated the prosecutors, he decided not to toss that officer's evidence, which essentially would have killed the government's case.

Jones has since pleaded guilty.

In the Stevens case, questionable moves by the prosecution began to emerge during a trial that ended with a conviction of failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations. Mr. Stevens, who had served as a Republican senator longer than anyone else in the chamber's history, lost a tight re-election battle just days after the jury verdict.

More evidence uncovered after trial showed prosecutors consistently failed to reveal evidence that could have helped Mr. Stevens' defense and may have even allowed the key witness to testify falsely.

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