Of course th ereal answer is not to do illegal searches
Cost of appeal deters DAs from arguing some cases
By Kathleen Burge and Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff, 3/13/2004
On a late summer night four years ago, state and federal investigators made the year's biggest drug bust in Suffolk County: more than $2 million worth of cocaine stashed in an apartment along Revere Beach Boulevard.
But no one has been convicted of selling the 22 kilograms of cocaine, partly because a judge ruled that the search was illegal. While such rulings are not uncommon, Suffolk County prosecutors had concerns that extended beyond matters of law: They said they couldn't afford to appeal.
Under a state law loathed by district attorneys, but unnoticed by the general public, the DA's office would have to pay the legal fees of the two alleged drug dealers if they appealed the judge's ruling, potentially tens of thousands of dollars.
The Suffolk District Attorney's office asked the state's highest court to exempt it from the requirement, but the court refused. Prosecutors are now pursuing the appeal, in spite of the cost.
For nearly a decade, district attorney's offices have had to pay the fees of defendants' lawyers when prosecutors appeal pretrial rulings that suppress evidence and gut their cases. But district attorneys say that budget cuts are making it all but impossible to continue doing so. In response, Governor Mitt Romney has proposed eliminating the requirement in the fiscal 2005 budget.
