Ohio Prosecutor Fired After Posing As Former Girlfriend Of Defendant To Change Testimony Of Alibi Witnesses

There is an extraordinary case of prosecutorial abuse out of Ohio where former Assistant County Prosecutor Aaron Brockler, 35, is mystified why he has been fired. Let’s see if you can spot the reason. Brockler was given a murder case in which he was told that the accused had two girlfriends as alibi witnesses. Brockler then proceeded to pose as a woman on Facebook and engage the women in chats about the accused. He told the women that he was the former girlfriend of the accused and had an child by him. After enraging the women, he then spoke to them in his real capacity as a prosecutor and they refused to serve as alibi witnesses at the trial. Brockler is astonished that he would be fired for such dishonesty and insists that he was wrongfully terminated.

Brockler was assigned the the aggravated murder case of Damon Dunn, 29, of Cleveland. Dunn was accused in the shooting death of Kenneth “Blue” Adams on May 18, 2012. When the defense counsel gave him his witness list, he spotted the two women who would serve as alibi witnesses. That is when he decided to go undercover as a former girlfriend to try to change the testimony for two witnesses in a murder trial.

What is astonishing is that the Brockler has continued to insist that “I think the public is better off for what I did.” So to recap, Brockler believes that he was perfectly ethical and professional in lying to witnesses to try to change their testimony in a murder case. While County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty fired him for “disgrac[ing]” his office and his professions, Brockler believes he was serving the public good. By the way, McGinty noted that he not only lied to witnesses, and created false evidence, but lied to other prosecutors.

Brockler’s gross misconduct was discovered by Assistant County Prosecutor Kevin Filiatraut, who had replaced Brockler on the Dunn case. To his credit, he reported Brockler dishonesty to his superiors.

The question will now be the response of the Ohio bar in the face of such misconduct not only as a prosecutor but as an attorney and officer of the court.

Source: Cleveland