When Innocence Is Not Enough: Hidden Evidence and the Failed Promise of the Brady Rule

ISBN-10: 1620977788
ISBN-13: 9781620977781
Category: Law
Language: English
Published: 2023-01-17
Publisher: The New Press
Author: Thomas L. Dybdahl

Description

A gripping tale across time that exposes what’s at stake when prosecutors conceal evidence—and what we can do about it The Brady rule was meant to transform the justice system. In soaring language, the Supreme Court decreed in 1963 that prosecutors must share favorable evidence with criminal defendants. But reality intervened. The opinion faced many challenges, including being poorly reasoned, having shaky precedent, and, significantly, clashing with the foundations of the established system. When Innocence Is Not Enough chronicles the Brady rule’s sudden, unexpected birth and its slow, awful corruption. Alongside that legal history it tells the story of Catherine Fuller’s 1984 murder, which DC police called the city’s most violent crime ever. Eight young Black men went to jail for life after the prosecutor, afraid of losing the biggest case of his life, hid information that would have proven their innocence. After being heard in 2019, it remains the last Brady-related case the Supreme Court has considered. When Innocence Is Not Enough examines the various attempts at Brady law reform, and why they have—for the most part—failed. It ends with a discussion of the most likely path to success, including two promising pieces of legislation in North Carolina and Texas, and why reviving and enforcing the rule is so essential. Despite its flaws and failures, Brady is still the central criminal procedure rule that spells out a prosecutor’s duty to conduct trials fairly. Its breakdown has had an enormous, negative impact on the justice system.

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