I suppose I may sound like a militant public defender, but the police and the prosecutors simply cannot be relied upon to preserve Brady material. Just last week the attorney I was working with [J] had a case set for trial that was really bad for the state (this case did not involve a C.I.) The elected prosecutor was out of town, and I guess one of his assistant's finally had his conscience get the best of him and told J that the State's star witness admitted to him that she had perjured herself regarding a material fact in this case. The PA became aware of this months ago, and there was no disclosure. Of course, once J got a hold of this the case went away, however, when the elected PA learned of this he tried to get this kid's bond revoked and offered misdemeanor probation, so the defendant would be able to get out if he pled. Thankfully, the kid was able to stay out of jail, and J kept pushing. Where we are the PA's are elected in a rather rural county. The police are able to arrange the biggest block of voters. You can see where this is going. Thus, the elected PA's and elected trial judges have political debts to law enforcement when they take office. I am two years out of law school, and I constantly run into police and PA malfeasance. I have no respect for them. The idea that we are trusting Prosecuting Attorneys to keep Brady material is laughable to anyone who has to actually deal with these people.

I live and practice criminal defense law in Louisiana. I was a prosecutor for 20 years and I was naive to the corruption that occurs. Now that I am in private practice i have more cases than I can count that I picked up as appellate attorney; much to my horror to learn that the accused were often convicted based soley on the evidence of one "snitch" who had far more years hanging over his head, later recanted ----and trial judges won't even give the convicted a hearing on a motion for a new trial. The government has a smooth way of letting the snitch tell the jury that he "received nothing for his cooperation". Their(snitch) case obviously goes or is set to go to trial only AFTER snitch comes through for state & the Judges allow this misrepresentation by the DA to the defense bar. I am at a loss. There has to be some federal intervention in our rural parishes. I keep hearing that the investigation is under way, but the song remains the same. The good ole boys put whatever black man they want in Angola for the rest of his life and I see no reprecutions so far. I will not give up this fight ; for the civil rights of those violated in Louisiana. (comment)

In 1987 jailhouse informants, Calvin Hedges, Ft.Wayne, IN., & Larry Campbell (deceased) won their freedom from prison by fabricating testimony against other prisoners. US attorney got fired for using. They were the only witnesses and eveidence against me which got me convicted in a trial for Mail fraud in 1987, for which I recieved a 20 year sentence, which I am STILL serving, http://criminaljustice.change.org/actions/view/end_this_sentence Both were paid for their testimony, the US attorney was fired due to presentation of their testimony. Both testified to events and occurances which they themselves did, one was serving a life sentence for multiple murders and got out of prison based upon his testimony.

My name is Gary Jacques and November 19, 2008 I was indicted on some very serious alleged drug conspiracies as well as mortgaged fraud. I am currently on 1.5 million dollars bond and on home surveillance awaiting trial. I would like indicate that I've been offered a 25 year plea bargain for non violent charges because I refused to cooperate against family and friends. I personally am aware of three cooperating witnesses that have been given something of value and at least one that has been paid by the Justice Department to testify against me with no corroborating evidence to support whatever testimony that they will give. I am an American, born and raised in the United States of America, the best country in the world. All I ask, is that congress take a look at what's going on because that is the only way Americans can get a fair trial! : The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, in part, "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law ..." Thank you, Gary Jacques

My brother John had a substance abuse problem and he got caught selling stolen goods. He started helping the government so he wouldn't have to go to prison. He helped them get a lot of people but then he went back to using drugs and got in trouble again and so now he's in prison. Now he's in danger because they keep calling him a snitch and threatening him. He asked to be in protective custody but there's no room so he's in the general population and I'm really worried about him. I wrote to the police and prosecutor that he used to work for but they say there's nothing they can do. I feel like they should protect him since he's in danger because of what they asked him to do [this is a sample only].

My son Jack was selling some marijuana in high school when he got caught. The police told us that he could avoid prison if he became an informant so he did. The police had him going after very serious criminals which I thought was too dangerous so I complained and Jack said he wouldn't do it any more. The police said if Jack stopped working for them that they would charge him with all the drugs he had sold in high school and also the drugs they told him to sell while he was working for them. I thought this was unfair but our lawyer told us that Jack would be better off pleading guilty, since he could be facing more than ten years. Jack pled guilty and got three years. I don't think this was fair--my son was only 17 and now his life is ruined. I also don't think our lawyer was very good. [this is a sample only]