Nicholas Marsh, a Justice Department prosecutor who was under investigation for his role in the botched prosecution of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), has committed suicide. It is a sad end to a promising career for Marsh who was removed by the Public Integrity Section after the investigation was commenced at Justice.
The prosecution of Stevens unraveled when it was discovered that the prosecutors had withheld critical evidence and were accused of allowing false or misleading evidence to be presented to the Court. This includes withholding an interview with key witness Bill Allen that contained exculpatory evidence. The Justice Department filed a motion to set aside the conviction and sentence of Stevens on April 1, 2009. The prosecutorial team was held in contempt by the Court for their misconduct.
Still under investigation are former Public Integrity Section Chief William Welch II; Brenda Morris, a former section supervisor; Alaska-based assistant U.S. attorneys James Goecke and Joseph Bottini; and former Public Integrity trial attorney Edward Sullivan.
Regardless of the merits of the investigation, this is a tragedy for the Marsh family and the Public Integrity Section.
Source: Legal Times
Kudos: Kay S.
Jonathan Turley
I feel terrible about this man’s death. Can someone tell me why federal prosecutors would withhold evidence? Aside from the morality of it, isn’t it sort of self defeating? I mean, here not only is the whole case thrown out but they are facing sanctions and possibly disbarment. Am I missing something? This is not a risk I would be willing to take.
Dear Carlyle
Friends of Justice looks like a good organization.
Have you looked at the Justice For All Act of 2004? On USDOJ.gov there is also a report about implementation of the Victims Rights Act.
You ask “when are the people going to demand equal justice for all who violate the law”?
When we lived in Steamboat Springs I made a sign with “Same Laws for All”. I cut out the letters in bright colors and put them on foam core with a stick and took it to a city council meeting. And I distributed thousands of flyers starting “The City of Steamboat is Corrupt and Dishonest”.
I don’t know about your “elite white men” theory though. What I think is that a lot of bar associations function to basically sell justice but that many people can get in on the game and the person who gets the cases fixed is not necessarily the richest person.
My theory is that Steamboat Springs CO is an area with a lot of judicial corruption because 1.) no strong independent media 2.) voter apathy and resident turnover 3.) extreme opportunities for real estate speculation 4.) hight use area for recreational drugs generating opportunity for drug related corruption. One thing I noticed there is that the same men hold the same or related positions for year after year. So they have a history together. Something like going to a brothel together 20 years ago could be affecting current litigation.
What I want is for court processes to be made as transparent as possible through computer systems.