That's the headline from an article in today's New York Law Journal (article here, subscription only). To translate: habeas grant based on a Brady violation and other types of prosecutorial misconduct and the district judge is considering the most severe sanction available -- barring the prosecution from retrying the petitioner. Pretty big deal. The case is called Collins v. Ercole, 08-cv-1359 (EDNY).
Here's the opening paragraph:
Citing evidence that prosecutors in a 1995 murder trial may have withheld evidence, misled jurors and coerced witnesses, Eastern District Judge Dora L. Irizarry has ordered a hearing to determine whether, in addition to granting a defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, to also bar the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office from retrying the case.
It's a doozy of an article. I wish it wasn't subscription only.
Fortunately, this particular petitioner is quite well-known, at least in the prisoner legal world. The New York Time ran a profile about him back in 2006 because he has become a highly-regarded jailhouse lawyer.
So, it's not surprising that the Times has coverage of it today. But due to the incendiary allegations, and the fact that it's a murder case, both the New York Post and the New York Daily News have run articles on the habeas grant. The local NBC affiliate also has an article about it. Many details can be found about the case in those articles.
Good news- although the article IS subscription only, it is viewable with the free limited access subscription!
Posted by: David Bernstein | May 26, 2010 at 07:40 AM