Former Union County pros­e­cu­tor Scott Brewer, who is already under inves­ti­ga­tion for alleged­ly obstruct­ing jus­tice in the 1996 death penal­ty tri­al of John Gregory Hoffman, has been accused of with­hold­ing impor­tant evi­dence in a sec­ond cap­i­tal tri­al. Attorneys rep­re­sent­ing Darrell Strickland have asked the North Carolina State Bar to dis­ci­pline Brewer for improp­er­ly with­hold­ing three state­ments made by the vic­tims’ wife, Gail Brown, the only eye­wit­ness to the crime for which their client was sen­tenced to die. During Strickland’s 1996 tri­al, his defense attor­neys had asked Brewer for the state­ments and were told that none exist­ed. Lawyers who lat­er took up Strickland’s case found three such state­ments in Brewer’s file, includ­ing infor­ma­tion that con­tra­dicts Brown’s tri­al tes­ti­mo­ny that indi­cat­ed the mur­der was pre­med­i­tat­ed. Strickland’s attor­neys note that their client may have been spared the death penal­ty if the state­ments had been dis­closed. A judge recent­ly ruled that Brewer improp­er­ly kept infor­ma­tion from lawyers for Strickland, but the judge did not grant him a new tri­al.

In January 2006, the North Carolina State Bar issued a memo accus­ing Brewer and anoth­er attor­ney of not telling a tri­al judge or defense attor­neys about a key wit­ness’ tes­ti­mo­ny deal in the 1996 death penal­ty tri­al of Hoffman. The asso­ci­a­tion accused both attor­neys of com­mit­ting felony obstruc­tion of jus­tice and sub­or­na­tion of per­jury. Hoffman has since been removed from death row and grant­ed a new tri­al. Current Union County District Attorney Michael Parker is review­ing the bar’s find­ings in the Hoffman case and is yet to decide whether to charge Brewer.

(Associated Press, March 31, 2006). See Arbitrariness and Innocence.

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