Stroud disavows the death penalty, observing that he was 33 years old at the time of Ford’s case and had no business making decisions that could result in someone’s death. “No one should be given the ability to impose a sentence of death in any criminal proceeding,” the former prosecutor declared. “We are simply incapable of devising a system that can fairly and impartially impose a sentence of death because we are all fallible human beings.”
He described how prosecutors missed exculpatory evidence. “Had I been more inquisitive, perhaps the evidence would have come to light years ago. But I wasn’t, and my inaction contributed to the miscarriage of justice in this matter. Based on what we had, I was confident that the right man was being prosecuted and I was not going to commit resources to investigate what I considered to be bogus claims that we had the wrong man. My mindset was wrong and blinded me to my purpose of seeking justice, rather than obtaining a conviction of a person who I believed to be guilty. I did not hide evidence, I simply did not seriously consider that sufficient information may have been out there that could have led to a different conclusion.”
“I did not question the unfairness of Mr. Ford having appointed counsel who had never tried a criminal jury case much less a capital one,” he wrote. “It never concerned me that the defense had insufficient funds to hire experts or that defense counsel shut down their firms for substantial periods of time to prepare for trial.” Very few prosecutors object in such circumstances.
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