Washington, DC- Prosecutors are under investigation for possible unethical behavior in the prosecution of drunk driving cases.

WASHINGTON - FOX 5 has learned at least one prosecutor in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General is under investigation. The Office of Bar Council is looking into claims of unethical behavior in the prosecution of drunk driving cases.

As many as a half a dozen police officers and defense attorneys have been interviewed so far.

No one would talk about the investigation on the record Tuesday. In fact, the Office of Bar Council, which is the city agency that investigates attorneys, wouldn't even confirm an investigation.

But sources familiar with the probe say at least one prosecutor is under investigation for allegedly asking police officers to lie under oath on the stand.

But it goes deeper than that.

In the last several months, three D.C. Police officers, the Fraternal Order of Police along with three defense attorneys, have publicly questioned the behavior of prosecutors in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General.

Officers Ben Fetting, Andrew Zabavsky and Jose Rodriguez even took their stories to the D.C. City Council.

Back in February, an affidavit was prepared by the FOP and sent to the Inspector General in a request for an investigation.

It reads in part:

“Both Officer Jose Rodriguez and Andrew Zabavsky were advised by the Office of the Attorney General to limit their testimony at DUI trials with regards to the problems with the Intoxilyzers.

“They were told not to answer questions about when they became aware of the problems with the equipment and told to say that they were not familiar with the problems or investigations even if they did know the answer. Both officers indicated they were unwilling to alter their testimony or perjure themselves.”


Link:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/dc/dc-prosecutor-under-investigation-for-unethical-behavior-in-prosecution-of-drunk-driving-cases-051011