Behind Our Backs

This paper was last updated on Monday, 21 July 2003

It is my opinion (see A False Allegation of Rape) that the 1991 Solano County Grand Jury were toadies of the district attorney, Mike Nail. The foreman's letter, by James H. Mortensen, totally ignored the witnesses, coercion, withholding of exculpatory evidence, and perjury.  The letter sustained the lies of a female police officer, the probation department, and the prosecutor. Mr. Nail's supporters later solicited money from me to support his reelection. I refused.

Mike Nail is now a superior court judge and David Paulson succeeded him as the District Attorney for Solano County.  Last Monday, September 3, 2001, the Vallejo Times Herald said that Nail and Paulson face disqualification in an ongoing three-year matter. Reportedly, the trial in that matter is now beginning this month (July 2003). Propriety stays me from revealing public details reported to me.

Mr. Scheck, Neufeld, and Dwyer devoted an entire chapter about the doubtful reliability of snitches in their book, Actual Innocence. Snitches are informants who trade false information for reduced criminal sentences or other favors. This occurs often and someone discovered that Nail had voided a conviction after a non judicial meeting. Mr. Nail reportedly said that throwing out convictions at the request of police was rare for him and he could not specifically remember voiding the conviction. That is his admission of his guilt yet no prosecuted him for this crime.

Prosecutors convict innocent people for self-gratification, higher social status, and money. Of course they are not alone. They have the help of dishonest cops, jailhouse snitches, and crooked crime lab workers such as Fred Zain, Pamela Fish, and Joyce Gilchrist.  These three crime lab technicians received glowing recommendations and other career boosts.

Admission of, or reporting wrongdoing can hurt a person's career. Last Thursday, August 30, 2001, the Vallejo Times-Herald published an account revealing that falsification by forensic chemist Joyce Gilchrist lead to the wrongful conviction and execution of a man.  Another chemist, Laura Schile, discovered the fabrication.  Ms. Schile recently resigned from the Oklahoma City forensic lab citing a hostile work environment.

I have contacted state and local agencies about these matters and they are more interested in ignoring the corruption of public officials than in protecting the public from that corruption. The current way of dealing with malicious attorneys and judges is grossly inadequate and we need better safeguards. I believe that we should sharply limit immunity so that it protects all persons against malicious prosecution and vexatious litigation.

We need a public advocate agency that investigates and disciplines attorneys and judges. The duty of this agency is to protect the public from all misconduct by government officers, employees, and contractors. Therefore, no employee or member of the agency's staff will have even the remotest relationship with those whom the agency oversees.

This public advocate agency will randomly audit civil and criminal cases. This agency would have the power of public censure and the power to permanently remove malicious lawyers, prosecutors, and judges from office. The agency will maintain a registry of verified complaints.

Gross misconduct includes discrimination based on gender, race, creed, or national origin. It is the filing a criminal or civil complaint and then dropping it.  It includes perjury, obstruction of justice, or the destruction of, or the concealment of, evidence of guilt or innocence. Theft, destruction, or material alteration of transcripts and court records. We have documented cases in California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia of alterations of court records and hearing transcripts (paper, audio, and audiovisual). This agency will apply the same penalties to those government officers, employees, and contractors who knew or should have known about the gross misconduct (see Junk Justice). 

Most citizens cannot afford the legal fees, court costs, loss of employment, loss of property, and intangible losses that are common in civil or criminal litigation. Their losses affect them for the rest of their lives. We should require lawyers and judges to post a bond of some substantial amount ($10 million).  When the litigation is malicious or unwarranted then this public agency will award part or all of the bond to the victim.

I would regulate the use of pretrial questionnaires because it allows each side to influence the jury pool. Each person summoned for jury duty in the O.J. Simpson trial had to complete an eighty-page questionnaire covering more than 260 items. Four years ago (1997), I received a summons for jury duty.  The jury room was packed and spilled out into the hallways. Part of the selection process was that the prospective jurors had to complete a lengthy questionnaire on the spot. I did not expect this and I told the clerk that I was not well for I had panic attacks and a heart disorder (WPW). The jury summons should have included the questionnaire so that perspective jurors could complete it thoughtfully in a more relaxed setting.

Judges and attorneys should treat jurors and prospective jurors with civility and respect.  Too many judges and attorneys arrogantly patronize the public.  The jurors in the Simpson criminal trial became virtual prisoners of Judge Lance Ito and the prosecution.  During the trial Ito's court sequestered the jurors for 266 days and their rooms and personal effects were subject to search-and-seizure.  When Lance Ito entertained celebrities, the trial came to a halt.  Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor, often arrived late and unprepared while the jurors had to awaken at 5:30 in the morning.  Clark's flirting, pouting, and coarse language did not help the State's case.  She treated the jury as a collection of boorish morons.  Not unexpectedly,  Clark blamed the jury and everyone else for the trial's outcome.

Judges and attorneys should treat litigants with civility and respect.  Trials are supposed to reveal the truth but many lawyers seek to hide the truth through theatrics, finger pointing, shouting, brow beating, berating, deception, and manipulation. Withholding evidence is a fact.  Falsifying records by judges and attorneys is a fact. Falsifying hearing tapes is a fact.  We should require that courts use tamper proof technology to courtroom testimony.  Manufacturers can do this with current encryption and compression technology. 

Edward S. Nunes

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