Judge Sheila Murphy (Ret) Full Circuit Court Judge in Cook County, and Professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She runs the Restorative Justice Program there.
As the judge explains in this video, “prosecutors can do whatever they want” and there is “no accountability.” The prosecutors in Jesse Brooks case were a perfect example of this. Not only did they withhold exculpatory evidence but they took advantage of Jesse’s trial counsel, who were inexperienced in trying New Hampshire cases, by introducing inadmissible hearsay and lies as well as improperly appealing to the biases and emotions of the jurors. The prosecutors were able to get away with this because Jesse’s lawyers did not properly object to this evidence.
Prosecutors Janice Rundles and Michael Lewis committed blatant misconduct when they knowingly withheld exculpatory evidence that would have exonerated Jesse Brooks. Joseph Vrooman, who was facing the death penalty for physically killing Jack Reid, fabricated a “conspiracy bedroom meeting and call to Michael Benton” to implicate Jesse Brooks in exchange for a light sentence.
Jesse’s trial attorneys knew this testimony to be false but remained silent and allowed prosecutors to use Vrooman’s perjured testimony during their opening statement, throughout the trial, closing argument, sentencing and during Jesse’s appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
Incredibly, the State continues to argue the fictitious bedroom meeting as its narrative and is now asking the judge to have Jesse’s Habeas Petition DISMISSED. Tragically, Jesse’s attorneys never objected to the fictitious meeting and allowed it to become part of the record. Fortunately, the judge has had an opportunity to review the irrefutable alibi exhibits from the 2013 Habeas, which proves Vrooman’s story of a conspiracy meeting could not have happened.
The focus of this hearing – if it is allowed to be heard in court - will instead be on the countless unsubstantiated hearsay statements Jesse’s lawyers failed to object to, along with the pervasive wealth bias prosecutors leveraged from opening statements to closing arguments.
(Click here to listen to Janice Rundless repeatedly give perjured testimony of a bedroom meeting she knew to be FALSE and withheld the evidence - Scroll to Indictment # 10)
(Click here to listen to Michael Lewis read and ALTER Andrew Carter’s Grand Jury testimony into the record to negatively influence the jury.)