OFFICE OF THE PROCECUTING ATTORNEY 100 South Central Avenue - Second Floor Clayton, MO  6310555 (314) 615-2600 E-Mail: pa@stlouisco.com

     A recent study funded primarily by George Soros (the billionaire who funds most attempts to legalize all drugs) claims that prosecutorial misconduct is at epidemic proportions in this country. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The term prosecutorial misconduct itself conjures up images of a sinister prosecutor manufacturing incriminating and destroying exculpatory evidence against an innocent man.  The Courts use the term in criminal appeals to describe alleged mistakes by a prosecutor. Mistakes by a judge are described benignly as "trial court error."  The mistakes by a defense attorney are described innocuously as "ineffective assistance of counsel."

     Prosecutors are, and must be, held to the highest standards of all those involved in the criminal justice system.  We are the gatekeepers.  The 30,000-plus prosecutors in this country face the daunting task of determining which, if any, criminal charges are pursued against an individual.  It is not a task we take lightly.  The decision is made not in a vacuum nor on the whim of an individual prosecutor but within an elaborate system of checks and balances designed to protect the guilty, the innocent and the public in general.  Have mistakes been made in the past?  Yes.  Will mistakes occur in the future?  Of course, and prosecutors and courts will be there to correct them.

     The study shamelessly exaggerates the problem.  My state, Missouri, is typical.  The study implies that 20% of the appellate cases were reversed for prosecutorial misconduct.  The truth is that from 1970 to 2003 (the study years) Missouri appellate courts decided more than 20,000 criminal cases.  In 376 of those cases a convicted felon alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Only 77 of the cases were reversed because of the action of the prosecutor and most of those cases have been re-tried and the criminal is back in prison. During the same period, 3077 convicted felons alleged defense attorney error (ineffective assistance).  It is yet to be determined how many of those cases were reversed.

     Our responsibility as prosecutors is to protect the public from those who commit crimes and to protect those who do not commit crimes from unwarranted prosecution.  Because of our critical role, we are subjected to a closer scrutiny than any others. The courts, bar associations, media, and most importantly, the public we serve all review our actions.  In those incredibly rare cases in which a prosecutor truly does engage in intentional misconduct, they receive the appropriate punishment, up to and including disbarment and imprisonment.

     Unlike the Soros people, our sole allegiance is to the truth.  Our obligation to the public is to see that justice is served in every case.  We will continue to do that job.



Robert P. McCulloch
Prosecution Attorney
St. Louis County, Missouri &
President-Elect, National
District Attorneys Association