Fun_People Archive
12 Feb
Stupid Prosecution Tricks - Impostor As Witness

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 96 14:39:17 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Stupid Prosecution Tricks - Impostor As Witness

    State Put Impostor on Stand As Key Witness in Death Row Case

Obviously the O.J. Simpson trial wasn't the first case of the government using  
witnesses with tainted credibility, but the American Reporter news service has  
uncovered a rather extreme example.  Recently they learned that, in 1981,  
Harris County (Texas) prosecutor Brian Rains (now a judge) offered crucial  
testimony from an impostor in order to get a death penalty conviction.

See <http://www.newshare.com/Reporter/today.html> for details.  The article  
ends with the chilling observation from the convicted man's attorney, Randall  
Boe:
	"The federal courts, especially the Fifth Circuit, take a dim view
	of post-conviction proceedings.  Even when you have substantial
	proof of actual innocence it is difficult to set aside a death
	sentence," Boe said.

 Peter Langston - psl@acm.org - Seattle, WA - http://www.empire.net/~psl/
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