From Dropsy to Testilying: Prosecutorial Apathy, Ennui, or Complicity?

Most criminal law practitioners and scholars agree that police perjury is persistent and pervasive, yet there has been scant attention to the prosecutor’s role in permitting, encouraging, let alone addressing, this ongoing reality. This essay attempts to identify the causes for prosecutorial apathy, ennui or complicity and to suggest potential solutions. More specifically, the essay argues that prosecutors must eschew the extant hand-in-glove relationships most prosecutor offices have with their local police departments and take a deliberately confrontational stance toward police officer witnesses. In the climate of the current “progressive prosecutor” movement, greater consideration over charging decisions should be given to community groups and others outside of and independent from the prosecutor’s office.