Savory Twins: right idea, wrong execution.

So, Dorothy Savory had the right idea: the eyewitness couldn't really identify the black male who stole her purse. In our Alice-In-Wonderland system, you can't let the jury know that eyewitness testimony is demonstrably unreliable. So, Dorothy probably thought, I'll just show it's unreliability in this case. Apparently, the problem is in the execution. She didn't let the judge know. In surrounding jurisdictions that have preliminary hearings, it is not unheard of to not have the charged defendant sitting at counsel table, and have him or her sitting in the gallery. In my many years of practice, I've seen prosecutors point out the defendant through the courtroom window, but that's apparently o.k. (You would think the only black guy sitting in the courtroom would be enough of a clue!)

Attorney Dorothy Savory's Twin Trouble

Attorney Dorothy Savory is in the news for showing up at a preliminary hearing for her client Darrel White, Jr. with his twin brother, Darrel White instead. Mark Morris's story in the KC Star is a good one and has a catchy headline: "Double trouble for KC lawyer who appeared with client's twin." Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said she is duty bound to report Savory to the Missouri Bar. "That's a responsibility I take very seriously and one I'm heavily reviewing under these circumstances." Russ Ptacek did a nice follow up for KSHB and reported that Savory had also made the news in the Baby Lisa saga and been accused of "fraud" and "mockery" in a custody battle.

If cops lie under oath, it isn't perjury.

Another trial, another cop, another lie, another pass. Attorney Dan Ross is in trial this week on a shooting case. One of the witnesses was a homicide detective who signed an affidavit for probable cause in a co-defendant's case and noted that he was only able to see and identify one of three shooters. The detective's affidavit goes into some detail about only being able to identify the one shooter. Since the detective did not identify the client on trial in the sworn affidavit, Dan was a little miffed when, during the trial, the detective testified before the jury that he could identify two shooters, one of them being the defendant on trial. Obviously the prosecutor and detective had "forgotten" about the affidavit filed in the companion case and so just presented the false testimony since it helped the prosecution. So, a detective gives two different statements under oath, and one of them must be false. He either could identify one suspect, or he could identify two suspects. He either testified falsely in the affidavit or at trial. What happens when a prosecution witness is caught lying under oath? Nothing. If you're interested, this is the perjury statute: Perjury. 575.040. 1. A person commits the crime of perjury if, with the purpose to deceive, he knowingly testifies falsely to any material fact upon oath or affirmation legally administered, in any official proceeding before any court, public body, notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths. 2. A fact is material, regardless of its admissibility under rules of evidence, if it could substantially affect, or did substantially affect, the course or outcome of the cause, matter or proceeding. 3. Knowledge of the materiality of the statement is not an element of this crime, and it is no defense that: (1) The defendant mistakenly believed the fact to be immaterial; or (2) The defendant was not competent, for reasons other than mental disability or immaturity, to make the statement. 4. It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection 1 of this section that the actor retracted the false statement in the course of the official proceeding in which it was made provided he did so before the falsity of the statement was exposed. Statements made in separate hearings at separate stages of the same proceeding, including but not limited to statements made before a grand jury, at a preliminary hearing, at a deposition or at previous trial, are made in the course of the same proceeding. 5. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting the issue of retraction under subsection 4 of this section. 6. Perjury committed in any proceeding not involving a felony charge is a class D felony. 7. Perjury committed in any proceeding involving a felony charge is a class C felony unless: (1) It is committed during a criminal trial for the purpose of securing the conviction of an accused for murder, in which case it is a class A felony; or (2) It is committed during a criminal trial for the purpose of securing the conviction of an accused for any felony except murder, in which case it is a class B felony.