The Quest for Justice 2008
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THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE 2008 Prosecutorial Ethics And Professionalism (Third Edition) THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE 2008 Prosecutorial Ethics And Professionalism (Third Edition) Jeffrey J. Jahns Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney District & Municipal Court Division Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office 614 Division Street, MS-35 Port Orchard, WA 98366 360.337.4982; [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PAMELA B. LOGINSKY. Mr. Jahns gratefully acknowledges Pamela B. Loginsky, staff attorney for the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, for her ongoing assistance in referring cases and items of particular merit for THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE. LORIEN BARRETT. A special thank you to Lorien Barrett, a second year student at Gonzaga University School of Law, for proofreading and cite checking this edition. A most difficult and less than exciting task. ABOUT THE AUTHOR JEFFREY J. JAHNS. Jeff is the recipient of the 2004 Washington State Bar Association Professionalism Award “in recognition of his impeccable professionalism and unwaver- ing dedication to improving the justice system in Kitsap County and throughout Wash- ington.” He also received the 1995 Professionalism Award given by the Kitsap County Bar Association “in recognition of sustained excellence in the practice of law.” Jeff was one of only four prosecutors named a Super Lawyer by Washington Law and Politics in 2007. He has previously been named a Super Lawyer several times. Jeff received his undergraduate degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1978 and his law degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1981. He was a partner in the law firm of Kindig & Jahns in Tacoma, Washington from 1982 to 1986. Jeff was an associate in the Port Orchard, Washington law firm of Ronald D. Ness & Associates from 1987 to 1994. Jeff joined the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on January 1, 1995, and is the supervising attorney of the District and Municipal Court Division. Jeff is a frequent presenter at seminars sponsored by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, having lectured to hundreds of Washington State prosecutors on topics including prosecutorial ethics, case law updates, plea negotiations, DUI, appeals and Freemen. He also spoke on the topic of prosecutorial ethics at the National District Attorneys Association’s Summer Conference in June 2000, at the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s Winter Conference in February 2002, at the Iowa County Attorneys Fall Training Conference in November 2002, and at the Seattle University School of Law in 2002 and 2003. Jeff has also lectured at the Washington Criminal Justice Institute in 1998 and 1999, the Washington Judicial Conference in 1999, the Washington State Bar Association Government Lawyers Conference (2000), and District and the Municipal Court Judges’ Association (2003 and 2006). Jeff is also the author of Chapter 18–Criminal Law Practice: Ethical Issues for Prosecutors in the WASHINGTON LEGAL ETHICS DESKBOOK published by the Washington State Bar Association. Any comments made herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office. THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE–2008 THIRD EDITION This QUEST FOR JUSTICE prosecutorial ethics manual began in 1996 when the author was asked to speak on the topic of prosecutorial ethics at the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorney’s spring seminar in Olympia. Given that the author had little knowledge on the issue, admittedly the 1996 effort was lacking in both substantive materials and in presentation. Despite the poor performance, WAPA mysteriously gave the author a second chance to improve. Over the next decade, the manual grew in size and sophistication, as did the presentation. As a former criminal defense attorney, the author had some knowledge about prosecutorial ethics through study of the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice. The QUEST FOR JUSTICE for over a decade analyzed these Standards, focusing on the prosecu- torial ethics discussion in chapter 3 of the ABA’s four volume 1986 second edition. Unbeknownst to the author until reading a new Washington appellate case in August 2004, in 1988 the ABA began the process of adopting a third edition of the ABA Standards which was completed in 1993. As noted in the Introduction to the ABA’s third edition, the Standards were revised in large part to “reflect the dramatic developments in the field of legal ethics” since the second edition Standards were published. Also important from a prosecutorial ethics perspective was the 1991 second edition of the National District Attorneys Association’s NATIONAL PROSECUTION STANDARDS, which was incorporated into the third edition of the ABA Standards. After the author’s shock dissipated over realization that the ABA Standards discussed in the QUEST FOR JUSTICE for over a decade were outdated, the time came to completely update the QUEST FOR JUSTICE by focusing on the third edition of the ABA Standards and more recent caselaw. Thus, the 2005 second edition of the QUEST FOR JUSTICE. The time has come again to update the QUEST FOR JUSTICE. During the author’s spring 2008 drafting of the prosecutorial ethics’ chapter for the WASINGTON LEGAL ETHICS DESKBOOK, the author took a critical look at the QUEST FOR JUSTICE’S formatting and decided to make the manual much shorter by eliminating lengthy quotes from cases and statutes. The 2005 version is simply too long at 375 pages, and is somewhat unmanageable as a convenient and quick resource. Also, the 8 and 10 point fonts used are simply becoming too small for the author to read! The focus in this new edition will be shifted from the ABA Standards to caselaw, statutes and other materials of interest. Thus, this 2008 third edition of the QUEST FOR JUSTICE is born. COPYRIGHT AND REPRODUCTION © 2008 Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce any portion herein is granted to prosecutors, courts and attorneys on the condition that the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is credited. SUMMARY CONTENTS Summary Contents.............................................................................................................. i Contents.............................................................................................................................iii Part I – Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 Part II – Judicial View Of The Prosecutor ..................................................................... 20 Part III – General Prosecution Standards...................................................................... 25 (1) The Function Of The ABA Standards.......................................................................... 25 (2) The Function Of The Prosecutor .................................................................................. 25 (3) Conflicts of Interest........................................................................................................ 30 (4) Public Statements ........................................................................................................... 37 (5) Duty To Respond To Misconduct ................................................................................. 39 Part IV – Organization of the Prosecution Function..................................................... 40 (1) Prosecution Authority To Be Vested In A Public Official .......................................... 40 (2) Interrelationship Of Prosecution Offices Within A State........................................... 41 (3) Assuring High Standards Of Professional Skill........................................................... 41 (4) Special Assistants, Investigative Resources, Experts .................................................. 42 (5) Prosecutor’s Handbook; Policy Guidelines And Procedures..................................... 42 (6) Training Programs......................................................................................................... 43 (7) Relations With Police ..................................................................................................... 43 (8) Relations With The Court And Defense Bar ............................................................... 46 (9) Prompt Disposition Of Criminal Charges.................................................................... 49 (10) Supercession And Substitution Of Prosecutor............................................................. 52 (11) Literary Or Media Agreements .................................................................................... 53 Part V – Investigation for Prosecution Decision............................................................ 54 (1) Investigative Function of Prosecutor............................................................................ 54 (2) Relations With Victims And Witnesses ........................................................................ 57 (3) Relations With Expert Witnesses.................................................................................. 67 (4) Decision To Charge ........................................................................................................ 67 (5) Grand Juries ................................................................................................................... 71 (6) Quality And Scope Of Evidence For Charging By Information ................................ 71 T HE Q UEST FOR J USTICE 2008 (3rd ed.) – i –