Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? Usually Nobody

by Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, and Sergio Hernandez,
Special to ProPublica, April 3, 2013, 5:30 a.m.

This is Part 1 of a series. Read Part 2.

The murder case against Tony Bennett seemed pretty straightforward.

Shortly before midnight on May 7, 1994, police found a 26-year-old man in the foyer of an apartment building near Flushing, Queens. Jake Powell was near death, blood pouring from a gunshot wound, but he managed to speak the name of the man who had shot him: "Tony Bennett."

Bennett, a two-time felon, was eventually captured, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.