Judge Rules Boston Prosecutor Unintentionally Withheld Evidence

By David Boeri
Feb 19, 2010, 12:17 PM
2 Comments

BOSTON — A judge who has been sharply critical of federal prosecutors in Boston has decided not to punish Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan for withholding evidence from a defendant.

Federal prosecutor Sullivan failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to a Mattapan man arrested on a gun charge in July 2007.

But Judge Mark Wolf found Friday that the misconduct was unintentional — not deliberate — and that Sullivan isn’t likely to make the same mistake in the future.

Wolf did cite Sullivan’s error as evidence of a “dismal history” by the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston when it comes to turning over evidence to defendants.

Another assistant U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Auerhahn, faces possible disbarment in a separate legal proceeding involving exculpatory evidence. That matter is still proceeding.

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http://WBUR.ORG Eric Rowe

Dear Mr. Boeri,

Just a note on your choice of words in the Suzanne Sullivan story. You wrote that the judge found that “the mistake was unintentional–not deliberate….”

A mistake is BY DEFINITION unintentional. Anything that is done deliberately cannot be called a mistake in the true meaning of the word. A better choice of words would have been that the judge ruled that “what Atty. Sullivan did was unintentional–not deliberate….”

I realize I am fighting a losing battle against the media’s (and American culture’s) increasingly slipshod and often euphemistic use of the word “mistake”. Just yesterday Bernie Kerik, the man Bush wanted to head Homeland Security, described his felonies as “mistakes” before he went off to prison. And I’ve heard many other people describe their felonies–even murders–the same way. Most people these days refuse to take moral responsibility for their actions.
http://www.wbur.org David Boeri

Dear Mr. Rowe,

Thanks to your perceptive eye I noticed what was actually a typo and not the dreaded misuse of the word “mistake.”

As it turns out it was our “mistake” (though we accept our responsibility straightforwardly) to have typed “mistake” when we meant to type “misconduct.” The judge ruled that Ms. Sullivan committed “misconduct” by withholding exculpatory evidence, but that her misconduct was “unintentional” not “deliberate.”

As to your opinion whether misconduct can be unintentional, that’s a matter you’ll need to put before the court and the presiding judge.

Thanks again for picking up on our mistake.

On Monday, Feb. 22nd, we updated the story to make the necessary correction.

David Boeri