FEDERAL PROSECUTORS BREAK LAW TO GET CONVICTIONS, PAPER SAYS

PITTSBURGH - 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 as the result
of a two-year investigation.

The newspaper, in a 10-part series that begins today, said it found
examples of prosecutors lying, hiding evidence, distorting the facts,
engaging in cover-ups, paying for perjury and setting up innocent
people to win indictments, guilty pleas and convictions.

Federal officials rarely were punished for their misconduct, despite
the fact that they caused some victims to lose their jobs, assets and
even families, the newspaper said. It also reported that some victims
went to prison because prosecutors withheld favorable evidence or
allowed fabricated testimony, while some criminals walked free as a
reward 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 Post-Gazette.

Justice denies accusations

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

"Our prosecutors live by strict, comprehensive and effective ethics
rules," Myron Marlin, a department spokesman in Washington, said.
"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 it posed in writing, nor would it return phone
calls requesting comment.

No checks, balances

The Post-Gazette said the problems have worsened as Congress has
eliminated many of the checks and balances designed to prevent the
abuse 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."

The Post-Gazette also said it found hundreds of examples of abuse in
discovery, which requires that federal prosecutors 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.

In Richardson's office, defense lawyers were permitted to come in and
look at anything prosecutors had collected on a particular case.

Now that "open file" discovery policy simply doesn't exist, said
Richardson, now a defense attorney in Oklahoma City.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., tried to rein in federal prosecutors with
legislation called the Citizens Protection Act, which would have
established an independent oversight board to monitor federal
prosecutors and require them to abide by state ethics laws.

The House of Representative 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