Part 1: Prosecutor’s Duty to Report
Although the American criminal law is based on the adversarial system where the prosecutor, representing the state, and the defense, representing the accused, engage in openly confrontational activities in order to persuade a neutral decision-maker of the truth of their story; the Supreme Court has held that under some circumstance, and despite the adversarial nature of the relationship, the prosecution must assist the defense in the preparation of their case.
The underlying reason for this counter-intuitive element of the adversarial system, is the traditional belief that the substantial power of the state, as expressed through its law enforcement and ...