Aries
02-14-2010, 08:47 AM
Goes line line with this thread 18-year-old acquitted of slaying (http://www.deshooters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192) but I had no idea that there was EIGHT Cases on the list :confused:
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
In the past year, charges against defendants in eight homicide cases were dropped, dismissed by a judge or jury or reduced to near misdemeanors in what some are calling an unprecedented string of apparent failures by the Delaware Attorney General's Office.
The most recent took place about two weeks ago, when a jury found an 18-year-old not guilty of first-degree murder in a Wilmington shooting -- he was convicted of conspiracy -- marking the third time in a year that a jury cleared a suspect of all homicide charges after a trial.
In November, prosecutors quietly dropped all charges against a 17-year-old who was days away from facing trial for a different Wilmington slaying. On the same day, the state also dropped all charges against one of two men in the 2008 fatal shooting of a Newark-area Dunkin' Donuts manager, even though they initially planned to seek the death penalty.
And in May, a judge tossed out all charges against Loyer Braden, the sole suspect in the fatal September 2007 shooting of Delaware State University student Shalita Middleton, days before that trial was to begin.
"This isn't something you've seen in the past 20 years," said longtime Wilmington defense attorney John S. Malik.
It also could shake public confidence in state prosecutors, according to Laurie Levenson, a national legal commentator, former prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"It may not be the bulk of the cases, but there are enough that they need to pay attention," Levenson said. "The problem is prosecutors could lose credibility," she added, if there is a perception that charges won't stick or make it to trial.
Levenson said police departments bear some responsibility. "But the ultimate responsibility lies with the prosecutor," she said. Retired veteran prosecutor Jim Rambo agreed, adding "The buck must stop on the prosecutor's desk unless things are hidden from them."
Attorney General Beau Biden, his supporters and some independent observers say this is the way of the legal world, with some cases succeeding and others unexpectedly falling apart.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100214/NEWS01/2140385/Dropped-cases-bring-Biden-scrutiny
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
In the past year, charges against defendants in eight homicide cases were dropped, dismissed by a judge or jury or reduced to near misdemeanors in what some are calling an unprecedented string of apparent failures by the Delaware Attorney General's Office.
The most recent took place about two weeks ago, when a jury found an 18-year-old not guilty of first-degree murder in a Wilmington shooting -- he was convicted of conspiracy -- marking the third time in a year that a jury cleared a suspect of all homicide charges after a trial.
In November, prosecutors quietly dropped all charges against a 17-year-old who was days away from facing trial for a different Wilmington slaying. On the same day, the state also dropped all charges against one of two men in the 2008 fatal shooting of a Newark-area Dunkin' Donuts manager, even though they initially planned to seek the death penalty.
And in May, a judge tossed out all charges against Loyer Braden, the sole suspect in the fatal September 2007 shooting of Delaware State University student Shalita Middleton, days before that trial was to begin.
"This isn't something you've seen in the past 20 years," said longtime Wilmington defense attorney John S. Malik.
It also could shake public confidence in state prosecutors, according to Laurie Levenson, a national legal commentator, former prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"It may not be the bulk of the cases, but there are enough that they need to pay attention," Levenson said. "The problem is prosecutors could lose credibility," she added, if there is a perception that charges won't stick or make it to trial.
Levenson said police departments bear some responsibility. "But the ultimate responsibility lies with the prosecutor," she said. Retired veteran prosecutor Jim Rambo agreed, adding "The buck must stop on the prosecutor's desk unless things are hidden from them."
Attorney General Beau Biden, his supporters and some independent observers say this is the way of the legal world, with some cases succeeding and others unexpectedly falling apart.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100214/NEWS01/2140385/Dropped-cases-bring-Biden-scrutiny