Violated Trust: Conceptualizing Prosecutorial Misconduct

Abstract

In the past decade, investigations into wrongful convictions have uncovered multiple incidents of prosecutorial misconduct during trial. This article proposes a theoretical explanation of prosecutorial misconductwith the goal of promptingfurther research. The theory builds from the characterization of prosecutors as agents of trust and prosecutorial misconduct as a violation of the norms of trust. Utilizing theories of occupational crime, the theory explains how the structure of the trust relationship creates motivation and opportunities for misconduct. Motivation to engage in misconductstems fromprosecutors’definitionsofsuccess, whichare influencedbythe reward structure and the availability of techniques of neutralization. Opportunities for misconduct arise because of the organization of the prosecutorial role and weak sanctions for prosecutors’misbehavior. Given the motivation and opportunity, prosecutors’ decision to engage in misconduct depends on their evaluation of existing opportunities, which is influenced by their workplace subculture and their values and beliefs.