A Prosecutor's Duties

The Prosecutor's Duties When the Criminal Charges are Not Supported by Probable Cause

The rule is that a prosecutor, district attorney or city attorney, must never file criminal charges or continue to prosecute a case when the prosecutor personally believes the defendant to be innocent.  This concept was outlined in Berger v. U.S., a 1934 Supreme Court case

California Rules of Professional Conduct 5-110 generally states that, if after the filing of the criminal charges the prosecutor responsible for prosecuting the case no longer believes the charges are supported by probable cause, the attorney must inform the court in which the case is being heard.

Errol Cook, Esq.
(562) 209-1114