True Crime Ethics: The Alec Baldwin Dismissal and the Karen Read Acquittal

Within a one-year period, prosecutors lost two major cases on issues relating to ethics.             

First, we will examine the Karen Read case where the State charged Ms. Read with second-degree murder and manslaughter, claiming she murdered her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John J. O'Keefe, by intentionally running him over with her car.  Meanwhile, the defense alleged that the investigating officers were biased, that Karen was framed, and that O’Keefe was killed inside the home, not outside. The lead investigator, Trooper Michael Proctor, was fired based upon inappropriate text messages about Ms. Read. In this portion of the presentation, we will examine the State’s ethical obligation to disclose a police officer’s bias and prior bad conduct by keeping a Brady list of officer misconduct. Further, we will review cases of police officer misconduct to determine if the prosecutor is ethically required to disclose it.  

In the second portion of this presentation, we will examine the Alec Baldwin trial where the defense claimed that the State was hiding exculpatory evidence and the trial court dismissed the indictment for a Brady violation. We will review the Brady Rule and the ethical rules that the prosecutor must follow regarding discovery. We will watch film clips of the Baldwin trial and discuss whether this indictment was properly dismissed.  Additionally, we will review other cases where prosecutors withheld evidence and we will also review disciplinary cases where prosecutors were sanctioned for withholding evidence.