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6th April 2006

Royal Furgeson on Ethics and the law

posted in ethics, leadership, workshops |

These are my notes from a presentation at TTU Ethics Day on 6 April 2006. Royal Furgeson is a US District Judge for the Western District of Texas.

For all of human history, we have hungered for justice. In the US, we have centered our ideas of justice in the Bill of Rights, esp amendments 4, 5, 6, and 8th amendments.

Going to tell you some stories today, starting with a story about Tulia, Texas recorded in a book titled, “Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town” by Nate Blakeslee.

On Jan 23, 1999 in Tulia, Joe Moore was just getting up when someone banged on his door and told him they were arresting all the black people in the community. In all, 44 residents of Tulia were rounded up and jailed on charges leveled by 1 undercover narcotics officer who ended up lying. Innocent people went to prison.

This happened because lawyers and judges failed to uphold their ethical obligations: they failed to do their jobs. Sometimes the best examples are the worst examples.

Let’s talk about legal obligations of lawyers and judges by looking at some stories of our legal system at its worst.

The undercover narcotics officer should never have been hired in the first place, he had a bad record, and he agreed to work cheaply for the sheriff’s office. The sheriff was apparently

Tulia paper ran a headline, “Streets of Tulia cleaned of garbage.” No one told the editor of the paper we have something called “due process” in the United States.

Another case: the Ernest Willis case. Was charged in Ira Ann Texas of arson. Only problem with the trial: district attorney withheld evidence that would have convinced the jury to acquit
- he spent 17 years in death row
- came back on a habeas procedure, the judge (Brock Jones) determined there had been a withholding of evidence
- came through state court system, then to federal court system
- After 17 years on death row, he went free, because a district attorney (prosecutor) had hidden evidence
- a district attny has tremendous moral obligations to justice, not just to prosecuting

I have been a judge for 12 yearsj
- as a matter of course, the undercover work MUST be corroborated by body mics, video surveillance, observation
- in the case of the Tulia case, there was no corroboration
- documentation must be kept, but in this case it did not happen
- reports were devoid of any detail

In this case, the facts seem to clearly point to
-almost all the defense lawyers came into the picture because they were appointed
- when appointed, a defense lawyer has an ethical obligation to defend the person to the best of his/her ability

Question: how can a lawyer
- EVERYONE is entitled to a fair trial, to a prosecutor prove a person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
- the gov’t must prove the person guilty, the accused does not have to prove themselves innocent

This ensures that liberty is only taken after due process of law
- either all of us get a fair trial, or none of us get a fair trial

In Tulia cases, some of the appointed lawyers did their duty, some did not
- one basically did nothing, did no research, hardly met with his client (just twice) and his client went to jail
- other appointed lawyers did everything they could to help their clients
- they learned the undercover officer had been accused of lying in previous jobs, had been fired from his other law enforcement jobs, etc

Unfortunately the judge in this situation was NOT
- he would not give defense attorneys the latitude they needed to challenge credibility
- a judge has an obligation to give both sides a fair trial
- when a police officer violates so many protocols, his credibility should be at issue
- the judge did not allow it, however

This made the trials a travesty
- jury after jury found defendants guilty
- as a general rule, the juries get it right if the lawyers and judges do their jobs
- in this case, the juries didn’t have a chance because the lawyers and judge did not do their job

Even clearly innocent people had trouble getting fair treatment
- in one case, a women had clear documentary evidence showing she was in Oklahoma City that same day
- while it was clear the charge was bogus, the sheriff asked the DA if that evidence could be suppressed so that innocent person could be convicted
- the DA refused, and the evidence was admitted so the

The defense lawyers in this case kept fighting even after the trials were over
- laywers from all over the world, including some from Washington DC, came in

The first trial judge recused himself
- a new and more thoughtful judge came to the case
- by Aug 2003, 4 years later, all the charges for false accusations
- collectively, those accused had served 60 years in prison

The undercover officer was tried in Lubbock, Texas was sentenced for 10 years probation (after he sentenced people for 60 years in prison)

This case shows in stark terms what happens when lawyers and judges forsake their duties
- first duty is to support and defend the US Constitution

6th amendment summary: In all criminal prosecution cases, the accused has right of speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, informed of accusation, confronted by witnesses, having compulsory processed for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and having the assistance of counsel in his defense

When justice doesn’t get done to some, it is not done for all.

MLK letter: Justice denied to some in the end is justice denied to all

Our worst ethical moments are when we ignore that sacred duty
- Tulia shows us at our worst and best
- shows that when lawyers and judges forsake their ethical duties, terrible things happen

On this day..

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