"I have every confidence the nation and the world will see him for the coward he is," [Attorney General Eric] Holder says in a written version of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "I'm not scared of what (Mohammed) will have to say at trial - and no one else needs to be either."

Is this sort of remark by the prosecutor in advance of trial prohibited by the disciplinary rules?

Rest of story.

[This message was edited by JB on 11-18-09 at .]

Does our rule track the Model Rule?


Rule 3.07 Trial Publicity
(a) In the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not make an extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicatory proceeding. A lawyer shall not counsel or assist another person to make such a statement.

(b) A lawyer ordinarily will violate paragraph (a), and the likelihood of a violation increases if the adjudication is ongoing or imminent, by making an extrajudicial statement of the type referred to in that paragraph when the statement refers to:

(1)the character, credibility, reputation or criminal record of a party, suspect in a criminal investigation or witness; or the expected testimony of a party or witness...

Isn't that the sort of overbearing statement that got Nifong in trouble? Or, does the AG have the right to make such a statement to protect political concerns?

The AG will be testifying before a Congressional committee soon on the decision to prosecute those cases in federal court. Is he limited in what he should be saying?

I'm sympathetic to his position: remain silent and get clobbered by political opponents; speak and endanger the fairness of the trial. But, surely someone realized that would be one of the problems of deciding to prosecute an enemy soldier in a federal courtroom rather than through a military court.

Our own Attorney General is disclosing facts about a pending case as well in the following press release:

Austin County Grand Jury Indicts Former Elementary School Teacher on Child Pornography Charges
Suspect accused of possessing thousands of illicit images, video of children

HOUSTON � An Austin County grand jury has indicted former elementary school teacher Stephen Wayne Sudduth, 34, of Sealy, on 30 counts of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of promotion of child pornography. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott�s Cyber Crimes Unit investigators found more than 57,000 images and 1,000 videos during a forensic examination of Sudduth�s computers and external media devices.

�An elementary school educator possessing thousands of sexually explicit images and video of children frightens parents around the state,� Attorney General Abbott said. �The indictment reflects the Cyber Crime Unit�s continued focus to capture the worst of the worst cyber criminals. Investigators will continue working to stop sexual predators from exploiting children online.�

(The revelation by the AG as to the number of images appears to be questionable.)