Lawyers in NC Try to Hold Former Prosecutors Responsible For Misconduct
by TChris
Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer should have been disbarred. Some argue that they should be in prison.
The N.C. State Bar accused both of prosecutorial misconduct, but they narrowly escaped possible disbarment on technicalities.
The two committed felonies that put a man on death row in a 1996 murder case in Union County, according to the State Bar. Honeycutt and Brewer hid evidence, and encouraged a witness to commit perjury during the murder trial of Jonathan Hoffman, the bar said. Hoffman was convicted, and sentenced to death.
Hoffman was released after spending seven years on death row. Honeycutt and Brewer weren't disbarred because their wrongdoing wasn't revealed until after the time for making disciplinary complaints against them had expired. Shockingly, Brewer went on to become a judge.
The N.C. Bar's counsel, at the request of the state attorney general, sent evidence to Union County District Attorney Michael Parker that Honeycutt and Brewer used false evidence, concealed real evidence, and suborned perjury to obtain Hoffman's conviction, then lied to a court about their misconduct. They want Parker to consider prosecuting Honeycutt and Brewer, but the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers has asked Parker to step aside, citing his close relationship with Honeycutt and Brewer.
"You served as an assistant to Mr. Honeycutt in the district attorney's office," [Academy CEO Dick] Taylor wrote. "He recommended you for your current post ... you and your staff appear regularly in front of Judge Brewer ... you are responsible for the disposition of the case in which the alleged wrongdoing and illegal conduct by prosecutors took place."
It doesn't look right for a decision about prosecuting charges of felonious misconduct -- lying to a judge and hiding evidence in a death penalty case that put a man on death row for seven years -- to be in the hands of an old friend of the accused, Taylor says in the letter.
Taylor asked Parker to refer the case "to a special prosecutor or other person with whom there would be no appearance of conflict."
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