The People versus Tyronne Johnson - 1116 Words

The Assistant District Attorney, Queens County, New York, Claude Stuart was the lead prosecutor in a murder case, titled, People v. Tyronne Johnson. Johnson was tried for the murder of Leroy Vann Tony. Johnson was convicted of murder and sentenced to the term of 20 years to life. After serving 13 years of the prison sentence, the conviction of the defendant was overturned. There was a determination that the prosecutor, Claude Stuart withheld evidence from the defense which was the reason the judgment was overturned. During the course of the trial, the defense counsel raised questions in reference to a police report containing witness information that could prove favorable for the defense. During the trial, the Justice, Honorable Jaime Rios questioned Assistant District Attorney Stuart regarding the witness location information from that police report. The Respondent replied that he made several attempts to contact the witness but was not successful. The respondent continued to deny his awareness of the location of that witness. Further investigation revealed that ADA Stuart had knowledge of the witness location in question due to the fact that he met the witness at her place of employment on a recent occasion. The Court determined that ADA Stuart’s response to the question asked by the Justice was false. Respondent did not correct the error at the trial. The Board of Professional Responsibility recommended and imposed a three year suspension for Claude Stuart as