Fantasy and Reality
It’s fun to take a law class after having spent a summer working in that particular area. This past summer I did criminal defense work, and watched as prosecutors turned over discovery at the very last moment, charged defendants with crimes they knew, or should have known, they could not prove, and used bail as a tool to keep defendants in jail in order to extract pleas.
Now I’m taking Criminal Procedure, which looks at how, in theory, such practices should work. The textbook is almost too precious for words. For instance, it refers to a prosecutor’s obligation not to charge defendants with crimes they can’t prove. It refers to the use of bail in terms of ensuring defendants show up for trial or to keep dangerous defendants off the streets.
In other words, this is fantasy land.
In the real world, not 20 miles from where I sit, I know of defendants sitting in jail who have been charged with crimes they probably did not commit. I know of prosecutors who use bail to keep people in jail so they will eventually agree to a plea. And I know of prosecutors who have withheld discovery material that they were required to turn over to the defense well in advance of trial.