'Prosecutors hell-bent on victory'

"Prosecutorial bias permeates the American judicial system. Prosecutors hell-bent on victory often directly or indirectly prod investigators and experts to get the results they want. It’s refreshing to see a judge recognize this in a well-reasoned, groundbreaking decision," notes Martin Yant commenting at the Wrongful Conviction blog.

The convictions-at-any-costs dynamic in American criminal justice has put away 1,000s of innocents across the country as character assassination becomes one element of the MO of prosecutors. The case Yant comments on is Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. George D. Perrot. See also the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism.

For example, in Brummer v. Wisconsin, the (late) and disgraced assistant D.A. Judy Schwaemle said of the accused, Penny Brummer, at trial, "You are not judging a human being."

Such dehumanization is necessary for cases devoid of evidence. If you wish to sign a petition calling for a new trial for Penny Brummer in the name of justice, sign the petition here.

Brummer was arrested and convicted for one reason, she is an out lesbian, and Madison was not a safe place in the early 1990s for out lesbians, and in former DA Brian Blanchard's office, victory and conviction was the only consideration of the office's operation.

With respect to Mr. George Perrot, he spent 30 years in prison for a crime of which he is innocent. He remains in prison, pending the Hampton County (Mass) District Attorney's decision to appeal

No Massachusetts prosecutor stepped up to say the Perrot case is unjust and indecent. To do so would damage careers which is precisely what is occurring now in the fall-out of the Perrot exoneration and the outing of a rogue prosecutor, Francis W. Bloom formerly of the Hampton County (Mass) District Attorney's office.

Notes Yvonne Abraham of the Boston Globe, Perrot's advocates never quit:

Over the years, Perrot and his attorneys have tried many times to have his conviction overturned. Most recently, his case has been taken on by Kirsten Mayer and other attorneys from Ropes and Gray (LLP); The Innocence Project; and The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University. Until now, none of the egregious and appalling irregularities in this case has proved enough.

For Wisconsin's Penny Brummer and other innocents like George Perrot, never give up.