Trouble with assistant DAs raises concerns
July’s firing/resignations of former assistant district attorneys Hugo Holland and Lea Hall calls into question some of their other conduct.
The state inspector general office reported that the application used to acquire eight M16 rifles for the Caddo district attorney’s office contained false information. Whereas inspector general office cleared DA Charles Scott and his office of state violations, they was critical of the fact that Hall and Holland falsified a federal/state application.
Holland and Hall point to their successful records as prosecutors of the state’s most high-profile cases to excuse their actions of misrepresentation on the application.
Somehow they believed that their victories mean that we should have excused their inaccuracies in this instance. But on more than one occasion they have compromised their ethical obligations to obtain a desired outcome. Such behavior is a serious threat to having a just and fair criminal process.
Cutting corners for efficiency’s sake is dangerous conduct, especially coming from our state’s most experienced prosecutors, inside or outside the courtroom. Their successes in high-stakes cases do nothing to assuage my fears that they have failed to adhere to their ethical obligations. Indeed, that only makes their side-stepping more troubling.
09/04/2012 at 5:05 am |
The lawyers are above the law….duh!
09/15/2012 at 9:31 am |
[...] relating to traffic offenses. Meanwhile, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office recently fired assistant district attorneys Hugo Holland and Lea Hall for falsifying a federal/state application [...]