How Much Should You Tell The Prosecutor?
Blonde Justice has a recent post where she, in effect, asks the question “How much should I tell the Prosecutor about my case?”. Her answer: it depends on the Prosecutor. I agree with her. Read her post for her example, but here’s mine:
Let's say hypothetically speaking that I have a DWI case where the officer on scene is evaluating whether or not my client was intoxicated. At one point, before arresting my client, the officers says something that helps my client’s case immensely. Also, it's nothing so outrageous as "I'm not sure this guy is intoxicated"; it's just something that helps my case.
My dilemma is this: do I point out to the prosecutor what it is that the officer says, and explain how that helps my case? If I do that, and they refuse to dismiss the DWI, I have no doubt that they will bring up that portion of the videotape and show it the officer before he testifies.
If the officer knows beforehand what I’m going to ask him about his statement, I’m sure I’ll hear a different explanation than if I set him up correctly on cross examination, and bring it out for the first time in front of the jury.
If I felt confident that the prosecutor would fairly evaluate the entire videotape of my client on the scene, taking intop consideration the officer's statement, then I would have no hesitation in using that as a bargaining chip. As Blonde Justice said, it all depends on your relationship with that particluar prosecutor.
