For 20 Years, This Prosecutor Had a Secret Job Working For the Judges Who'd Decide His CasesOne of Ralph Petty's victims is trying to hold him accountable, but she will have to overcome prosecutorial immunity.
BILLY BINION
4.12.2022
Ralph Petty worked as an assistant district attorney in Midland County, Texas, for 20 years. Like any prosecutor, he fervidly advocated for the government. But he wasn't just any advocate, because he wasn't just a prosecutor. Each night, Petty took off his proverbial DA hat and re-entered the courthouse as a law clerk for the same judges he was trying to convince to side with him by day.
His unethical side hustle heavily tipped the scales toward the government as he discreetly wrote opinions and orders that ruled in favor of the prosecution—also known as himself—and accessed materials confidential to the defense. For two decades, Petty managed a covert balancing act: He was both prosecutor and de facto judge, pocketing an extra $250,000 for his dishonest services.
In over 300 cases, the accused were denied their due process rights due to Petty's misconduct. Among his first victims was Clinton Young, the Texas man who was inching toward execution after entering death row in 2003 for a murder he maintains he did not commit. The conviction was overturned in 2021, and Young was released on bond in January pending a new trial.
Yet while Petty may have stolen years off people's lives—and, in Young's case, almost sent someone to die—it may be almost impossible to hold him accountable, thanks to assorted immunity doctrines that provide government agents with a near-impenetrable shield against facing victims in civil court. The safeguard given to prosecutors is extra thick, affording them absolute immunity for duties carried out in their official scope, meaning they can knowingly impanel false testimony or introduce fabricated evidence and still be protected.
One of Petty's victims is willing to try.
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Source:
https://reason.com/2022/04/12/ralph-petty-prosecutor-secret-job-judges-who-decided-his-cases-prosecutorial-immunity/
