CJ 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 52: Harmless Error, Homicide, Reasonable Doubts
Case Management Policies‐
Prosecutors formulate various policies that dictate which types of crime to pursue, how much
evidence is necessary to file criminal charges, and when to plea bargain.
Three models of prosecution policy
Joan Jacoby, executive director of the Jefferson Institute for Justice Studies in
Washington, D.C., designed three models of how prosecutors manage their offices.
In the legal sufficiency model, the presence of the minimum legal elements of a crime
triggers the prosecution of a case. Under this model, a prosecutor's office accepts many
cases for prosecution but settles most through plea bargains.
Prosecutors using a system efficiency modelfocus on speeding up the processing of
cases, reducing court backlogs, and conserving prosecutorial and court resources. To
accomplish these goals, they screen out weak cases at intake and downgrade felonies
to misdemeanors in order to dispose of cases through plea bargaining.
In the trial sufficiency model, prosecutors file charges only in cases in which there is
enough evidence to ensure conviction and make only minimal use of plea bargaining.
Prosecutors adhering to this model require good police work and competent trial
lawyers in the prosecutor's office.
Priority prosecution
Many prosecutors establish special programs aimed at prosecuting certain kinds of
crimes and injustices. Some federal prosecutors, for instance, zero in on specific
crimes. During the early 1960s, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy focused the
resources of the Department of Justice on racial discrimination. Asked why he picked
racial discrimination, Kennedy replied, “There are racial injustices, and they are flagrant.
And I have the power and responsibility to do something about it. It's quite simple.”
From 1978 through the 1990s, federal prosecutors mounted a major effort to eliminate
the Mafia. Using RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act),
electronic surveillance, undercover government agents, and mob turncoats, U.S.
attorneys initiated a stream of investigations and produced a flow of Mafia prosecutions
throughout the United States. No other period in U.S. history comes close in terms of
the number of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of leaders of crime families.
Prosecutorial Misconduct
Prosecutors wield more power than any other actors in the criminal justice system. They have
unreviewable power to go forward with a case or dismiss charges, to cut a deal with a defendant
for a guilty plea or stand pat, and to recommend a severe sentence or plead for leniency.
Unchecked power is always subject to abuse, and prosecutors sometimes engage in misconduct.
Prosecutorial misconduct weakens the public's perception of the integrity of the legal system and
undermines the ability of the courts to achieve justice.
Politically motivated prosecutions
Given the breadth of criminal law, prosecutors can find reason to prosecute just about
anybody if they have the time, the money, and the motive. Critics of independent
counsel Kenneth Starr's prosecution of President Clinton allege that Starr's primary
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