FEDERAL PROSECUTORS ROUTINELY BREAK LAW, PAPER FINDS

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

The newspaper, in a 10-part series that begins today, said it
uncovered 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.

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, 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 [the Office of
Professional Responsibility] reviews every complaint and vigorously
pursues prosecutors who cross the line."

The newspaper said that during its investigation, the Justice
Department did not respond to questions it posed in writing, nor would
the department return phone calls requesting comment. 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."

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.

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.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry