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Henry County State's
Attorney |
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THE ROLE
OF A PROSECUTOR |
Prosecutors are unique in that they
have both powers and duties that other lawyers do not. This does
not mean prosecutors are any better or worse than other lawyers, but it
does result in many misconceptions about the prosecutor’s role in the
criminal justice system. The quotations contained on this page are
intended to shed some light on this role.
“The duty of a public prosecutor or
other government lawyer is to seek justice, not merely to convict.”
Rule 3.8(a) of the Illinois Rules of
Professional Conduct
“The United States Attorney [a
prosecutor in Federal Court] is the representative not of an ordinary
party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern
impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and
whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it
shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is
in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the
twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.
He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor – indeed, he should do so.
But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul
ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods
calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every
legitimate means to bring about a just one.”
Berger v. United States, 295
U.S. 78, 88 (1935) (bracketed material added)
“The qualities of a good prosecutor
are as elusive and as impossible to define as those which make a
gentleman. And those who need to be told would not understand it
anyway. A sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps
the best protection against the abuse of power, and the citizens safety
lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks
truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes,
and who approaches his task with humility.”
United States Supreme Court Justice
Robert H. Jackson, April 1, 1940
“While a not guilty finding is
sometimes equated with a finding of innocence, that conclusion is
erroneous. Courts do not find people guilty or innocent.
They find them guilty or not guilty. A not guilty verdict
expresses no view as to a defendant’s innocence. Rather, it
indicates simply that the prosecution has failed to meet its burden of
proof. While there are those who may criticize courts for turning
criminals loose, courts have a duty to ensure that all citizens receive
those rights which are applicable equally to every citizen who may find
himself charged with a crime, whatever the crime and whatever the
circumstances. When the State cannot meet its burden of proof, the
defendant must go free.”
People v Smith, 185 Ill.2d 532,
545 (1999)
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Henry County
State's Attorney,
Terence M. Patton
Phone: 309-937-3582
Fax 309-937-5936
Address
307 West Center Street
Cambridge IL 61238
Office Hours
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Monday - Friday
Email:
stattorney@henrycty.com
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