A new motion has accused the elected prosecutor in Elkhart, Indiana, of misconduct, alleging she presented contradictory versions of the truth against two men in connection with a shooting that occurred more than 20 years ago.

The case stems from the drive-by shooting death of a woman on Aug. 13, 2003. Prosecutors have always maintained the shooter was Ignacio Bahena. But as to who gave Bahena the gun, the prosecution offered two different versions, pinning the act on one man, then pinning it on another, according to a motion filed by one of the men’s lawyers. Both men went to prison, and one of them is still serving time for the crime and challenging his 55-year sentence.

The Elkhart case is another in a line of instances across the country in which prosecutors have been accused of presenting contradictory accounts in court, depending on the defendant they’re trying. At least 29 men have been sentenced to death in the U.S. since the 1970s in cases where prosecutors were accused of presenting opposing versions of the truth, according to a search of legal cases.

ProPublica wrote in February about a case in Baltimore in which federal prosecutors offered opposing versions of the truth while securing a conviction on a gun charge against a man named Keyon Paylor. Two days after that story was published, the Department of Justice reversed course and agreed Paylor’s conviction should be thrown out, writing, in a court filing, that “public confidence cannot sustain irreconcilable versions of one event.”

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    How can a person with any sort of conscience (not conscious) convict two men of the same crime, when that crime can only be done by a single person? Either admit you made a mistake with the first conviction and let that person go free, or admit you don’t know who actually did it and don’t send possibly innocent people to prison for 55 years.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Prosecutors are generally in it for their own ego and racking up wins. It’s not about justice. Those prosecutors who are ethical get voted out by hateful people for not being tough on crime.