NEWSPAPER ALLEGES PROSECUTOR ABUSES

Report: Attorneys Lie, Break Law To Convict

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Federal agents and prosecutors around the country
have repeatedly broken the law over the past decade in pursuit of
convictions, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it found in a two-year
investigation.

The newspaper reported examples of prosecutors lying, hiding evidence,
distorting the facts, engaging in coverups, paying for perjury and
setting up innocent people in the pursuit of indictments, guilty pleas
and convictions.

Federal officials rarely were punished for the misconduct, although
some of it caused their targets to lose jobs, assets and even
families, the newspaper said. It also reported that some people went
to prison because prosecutors withheld favorable evidence or allowed
fabricated testimony, while some criminals walked free for conspiring
with the government.

``It's a result-oriented process today, fairness be damned,'' said
Robert Merkle, who served as a U.S. attorney in Florida from 1982 to
1988 and is now a defense lawyer in Tampa.

``The philosophy of the past 10 to 15 years (is) that whatever works
is what's right,'' he told the paper.

Allegation denied

The U.S. Justice Department, which oversees federal prosecutors,
denied the allegations.

``Our prosecutors live by strict, comprehensive and effective ethics
rules,'' Myron Marlin, a department official in Washington, told the
Associated Press. ``They are governed by the rules in the states where
they are licensed, the courts where the case is tried and by federal
regulation as well.

``Our office that oversees prosecutorial conduct (Office of
Professional Responsibility) reviews every complaint and vigorously
pursues prosecutors who cross the line.''

During the newspaper's investigation, the Justice Department did not
respond to questions posed in writing, nor would it return phone calls
requesting comment.

The paper reported that problems have worsened as Congress eliminated
many of the checks and balances designed to prevent abuses of power.

``The courts used to be a buffer between prosecutors and the rights of
defendants,'' said Bennett Gershman, a former New York state
prosecutor who teaches law at Pace University. ``They are now simply a
rubber stamp.''

No matter what offense a federal prosecutor may commit in pursuing an
investigation, a criminal defendant is practically powerless to sue
for damages, the newspaper found.

Concealing facts

The Post-Gazette also said it found hundreds of examples of abuse
through the use of a court process called discovery, which requires
prosecutors to turn over to criminal defendants any evidence that
might help prove the defendants' innocence or show lack of credibility
on the part of prosecution witnesses.

``My attitude was that if you can't take the truth and win, then you
weren't supposed to win,'' said Gary Richardson, who had an ``open
file'' discovery policy during his tenure as a U.S. attorney in
Oklahoma, which ended in 1984.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., tried to rein in federal prosecutors with
legislation that would have established an independent oversight board
to monitor federal prosecutors and require them to abide by state
ethics laws. It also provided sanctions against prosecutors who
knowingly committed misconduct.

The House of Representatives approved the legislation in August by a
vote of 345-82. But the bill became part of the federal appropriations
package that Congress passed in October, and the Justice Department
managed to have all but one provision killed in the conference
committee that crafted the budget bill.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry