Title: Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process
Headings: Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process
SCM NEWS & OPINIONS
Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process

Content: Afraid of bringing discredit to the government? In my experience most prosecutors uphold their duties. Unfortunately, not all. Prosecutors should be held to account when they do not, in the form of sanctions for contempt. Or more serious, including formal action against their licenses to practice law. Indeed, if the consequence of a violation had some actual teeth, if judges actually referred to State bar associations the violations, and sanctioned them for such misconduct, withholding exculpatory evidence would become much rarer. Usually, a defendant never finds out the prosecution cheated. There is very little oversight. And in my experience, supervisors have the backs of line prosecutors when violations occur. Rule 3.8 of Rules of Professional Conduct (Utah’s, and these are based on uniform professional standards), provides that “The prosecutor in a criminal case shall . . . [