Christy Barker: Post Arrest Decisions

Christy Barker's first interview dropped months ago.  She discussed her ideas of the ideal prosecutor / investigator relationship prior to arrest.

Post-arrest, that relationship needs to (and will) change.  Today she discussed what she, as a prosecutor of violent crime for three decades, would like from the investigators after they arrest a killer.

The short version is this:  If you're an investigator, you do not prosecute cases.  It's not your decision to prosecute, or to decide the strategy of that prosecution.  This is objectively the design of the US Criminal Justice System.  If you are questioning this, you need to go learn your system.

Therefore, what's the point of collecting facts if you're doing it in such a way that the person you believe did the crime cannot be charged effectively?  Sure, you can take out a warrant.

I arrested the killer!  Call the press!  Fucking hero cop over here!

Then you don't answer the phone when prosecutor calls.  She needs discovery.  He needs leads followed to get ahead of plausible defenses.  She needs alibi witnesses interviewed.  You ain't answering.  You got an arrest, so bug off and do yo job, lawyer.

If that's where you're at, don't cry when the case gets dismissed.  Don't tell the victim's mama you did everything you could.  Be real.

Learn from Christy how to manage arguably the most important time of a case - post-arrest.

-LEO