A veteran law professor and a civil liberties lawyer clashed sharply with several district attorneys Wednesday over the extent of prosecutorial misconduct in California and what, if anything, should be done about it.
"Prosecutorial misconduct occurs with some frequency in this state and prosecutors are rarely disciplined for their misconduct," Santa Clara University law professor Cookie Ridolfi said at a hearing at Loyola Law School.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday July 13, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
Prosecutors: A photo caption in Thursday's California section with an article about a debate over prosecutorial misconduct incorrectly identified Kate Flaherty, a deputy district attorney from San Diego, as Lael Rubin, an L.A. County deputy district attorney.
Both the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the California District Attorneys Assn., however, submitted statements saying the state's current rules of professional conduct are an adequate safeguard against prosecutorial excess.
The debate occurred at the latest hearing held by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, created by the state Senate in 2004 to study problems in the criminal justice system that have put innocent people in jail.
Ridolfi, who is the director of the Northern California Innocence Project, told the commission that judges had found prosecutorial misconduct in 443 of more than 2,100 California cases over the last 10 years. Ridolfi said that figure was just "the tip of the iceberg," because about 97% of criminal cases are resolved by plea bargains.
In addition, she said "at least four major studies in recent years have identified prosecutorial misconduct as a significant factor in the conviction of innocent people."
But Michael Schwartz, a deputy district attorney in Ventura County, countered that a close look at the available data shows that prosecutorial misconduct occurs in less than 1% of all cases. "I am not sensing that we have a crisis of prosecutorial misconduct," when it is found in only one of 800 appeals, Schwartz said. Consequently, he said, "it doesn't seem like we need new rules."
Natasha Minsker of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California countered: "The question for the commission is not whether misconduct is rampant or rare, but whether there are systemic problems and do we need systemic solutions. Our answer to both questions is yes."
Three bills are currently before the state Legislature based on the commission's work on other issues in wrongful convictions, including false confessions in custody, jailhouse informants and the use of lineups in witness identifications.
