The Prosecutor's Duty to Truth
46 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2001
Abstract
Curiously, despite extensive documentation of erroneous convictions, widespread prosecutorial abuses that contribute to wrongful convictions, and a plethora of academic literature on the ethical responsibilities of prosecutor, there has been little discussion of the prosecutor's legal and ethical duty to truth. As I hope to demonstrate, the prosecutor has a legal and ethical duty to promote truth and to refrain from conduct that impedes truth. The courts have explicitly recognized the existence of this duty, and have implicitly recognized this duty by reversing convictions when a prosecutor engages in conduct that undermines the search for truth.
Keywords: prosecutors
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