9th Circuit Chief Judge Sees Widespread Prosecutorial Misconduct

Alex Kozinski calls it an epidemic

The dissent in U.S. v. Olsen from Alex Kozinski, the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, starts off with a bang:

There is an epidemic of Brady violations abroad in the land. Only judges can put a stop to it.

Brady of course is shorthand for the Supreme Court decision that requires prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys. In Olsen, a decision released this week, the 9th Circuit court found extensive prosecutor misconduct on the part of Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks, who works for the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. (Kozinski's opinion doesn't name Hicks, nor do most press accounts of the decision, but I will. These prosecutors need to be identified by name.)