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US judge blasts DC's handling of protest cases
A federal judge chastised D.C. government lawyers Wednesday for how they have defended lawsuits brought by nearly 400 people arrested during a 2002 protest in downtown Washington.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said at a hearing that he was so shocked by the government's handling of evidence in the cases that he was tempted to launch an independent investigation of the D.C. attorney general's office.
Some evidence, including a key report and portions of radio transmissions, has vanished. In recent days, the D.C. government has also turned over thousands of pages of records and videotapes to protesters' lawyers, some of which should have been produced years ago.
Sullivan ordered D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles to submit a sworn declaration detailing his office's shoddy work and the steps he was taking to fix the problems.
Sullivan said he would impose "severe" monetary sanctions on the D.C. government and urged Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) to "settle this case soon."
"This kind of conduct is not acceptable," Sullivan said, calling the actions of D.C. government lawyers "abysmal" and urging the D.C. Council to investigate the attorney general's office.
After the judge's harangue, the District's attorney, Thomas Koger, had tears in his eyes. He declined to comment.