Yet another case where federal prosecutors allegedly withheld exculpatory evidence from the defendant, and now the department is dismissing the charges:
Federal prosecutors cited problems with evidence Monday when they asked a judge to drop charges against a Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of importing large amounts of methamphetamines to the United States.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan lambasted prosecutors at a hearing on the request to dismiss the indictment against Zhenli Ye Gon, saying, “I’m not pleased at all with anything I’ve heard from the United States government.” …
The judge, who has ordered an investigation into prosecutorial missteps in the investigation of former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said there were apparently similar problems in handling evidence in the Ye Gon case.
“This is very serious. This man has essentially been in solitary confinement,” Sullivan said. “Someone in the Department of Justice better have a very good answer.”
The judge said the prosecutors knew about the witnesses’ backtracking months ago but only now decided to act on the information. He also said the government had apparently failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense in a timely fashion.
Presumably a drug smuggling case was not handled by the Public Integrity Section, which has been the focus of the attention for botched cases, suggesting the problem may be more broadly systemic.
