Report: Lawyers Fake Clemency Letters in Death Penalty Case

[OldDude]

WOW! If true, disbarment is too good for them.
Faking a juror's signature and putting lies in his pen
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/11/Calif.execution.ap/index.html
Prosecutors: Kenneth Starr, lawyer sent fake letters
Lawyers: Bogus letters sent to governor asking to spare client's life

Saturday, February 11, 2006; Posted: 3:18 p.m. EST (20:18 GMT)
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor to spare the man's life, prosecutors said Friday.

The jurors denied they thought Michael Morales deserved clemency because some of the testimony at his trial may have been fabricated, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Kenneth Starr is best known as the special prosecutor in the Monica Lewinsky affair during President Bill Clinton's administration.

"We showed each person the declaration on their behalf and they all said they didn't say that," Barankin said.

San Joaquin County prosecutor Charles Schultz also said the letters sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week were "untrue" and "pure fiction."

Starr was not immediately available for comment, said a spokeswoman for the Pepperdine School of Law, where Starr is the dean.

Morales' other clemency attorney, David Senior from Los Angeles, said he stood by the validity of the six sworn statements he and Starr sent to the governor. He suggested that the jurors might have gotten cold feet when they were contacted by prosecutors in the last two days.

"When the D.A. and A.G. [district attorney and attorney general] show up with badges and guns and say whatever, they can intimidate a lot of people and that's their game," Senior said.

On Friday, the San Joaquin District Attorney's office sent Schwarzenegger a new batch of sworn statements from five of those jurors saying they not only still supported capital punishment for Morales, but had never spoken with the defense investigator who claimed to have secured their signatures.

Kathleen Culhane, the San Francisco private investigator who Starr and Senior said had interviewed the jurors, declined to comment.

None of the five jurors involved in the legal tug-of-war, whose names were blacked out of the competing clemency documents to protect their privacy, could immediately be reached for comment.

Morales is scheduled to be executed February 21 for the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in San Joaquin County 25 years ago.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson declined to address the dispute, saying only that the governor, when deciding on clemency, will consider "all the information that is provided to him when making the decision."

[mikehunt]

hopefully they'll get prison time

[bhk]

Crooked lawyers! What is the world coming to?

[Myster X]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!! Another execution in 10 days. The Governator better not spare this scumbag.

[X]

Wow, we're really clearing out death row!

At this rate it will only be 80 years or so before it's Scott Peterson's turn.

[General Zod]

For those of us that listen.. This entire story was uncovered by John & Ken of KFI AM 640. They called one of the jurors to ask them why they sent this letter to the governor because the evidence shows this guy is totally guilty and the juror was amazed and said they never did such a thing. So they investigated and here ya go. :up: to them.

[Bandoman]

Wow. That's just incredible. The lawyers involved in this should certianly be disbarred. If Kenneth Starr was involved, it would be quite ironic.

[JasonF]

I'm strongly opposed to the death penalty, but this sort of behaviors by the lawyers is just shocking. They ought to be disbarred and they ought to do jail time themselves for fraud.

[Duran]

I'm strongly opposed to the death penalty, but this sort of behaviors by the lawyers is just shocking. They ought to be disbarred and they ought to do jail time themselves for fraud.

I'm not entirely sure it was intentional. It would seem highly possible to me that they hired this PI to obtain these letters from the jurors, and that she was the one that made them up. That said, I wouldn't think that is a defense for the lawyers, as they should have followed up.

[JasonF]

I'm not entirely sure it was intentional. It would seem highly possible to me that they hired this PI to obtain these letters from the jurors, and that she was the one that made them up. That said, I wouldn't think that is a defense for the lawyers, as they should have followed up.

I guess I didn't read the article carefully enough the first time, because I didn't realize there was a PI involved. In light of that, I tend to agree with your post. It's entirely possible these lawyers relied on the PI and were just as surprised as anyone else by the revelation that the letters were faked.

That said, I can't imagine submitting an affidavit from a witness that either I or one of my (attorney) colleagues had not interviewed; what's more, that affidavit would be checked and double-checked with the witness to make sure he was willing to stand by the statements in the affidavit. I would think a clemency letter would be the same.

[Duran]

I guess I didn't read the article carefully enough the first time, because I didn't realize there was a PI involved. In light of that, I tend to agree with your post. It's entirely possible these lawyers relied on the PI and were just as surprised as anyone else by the revelation that the letters were faked.

That said, I can't imagine submitting an affidavit from a witness that either I or one of my (attorney) colleagues had not interviewed; what's more, that affidavit would be checked and double-checked with the witness to make sure he was willing to stand by the statements in the affidavit. I would think a clemency letter would be the same.

Agreed. I think disbarring the lawyers involved would be in the realm of possibility. I probably wouldn't go so far as to suggest jail time, though.