Barak Cohen was quoted in The Washington Post* article, “Inauguration Day Rioting Charges Dropped Against 7 Defendants,” regarding federal prosecutors’ decision to drop their cases after a Washington D.C. judge determined the government intentionally misrepresented information and withheld evidence from the defense.

An inherent problem with the system, according to former federal prosecutor Barak Cohen, is that it asks “the fox to guard the henhouse.”

“Even a well-intentioned prosecutor is less likely to think creatively and aggressively about what might be exculpatory than a defense lawyer fighting to protect a client,” said Cohen, now a white-collar defense lawyer with Perkins Coie.

Concerning the scale of the material withheld, Cohen said that “even a small violation of Brady is problematic, but the bigger the misconduct, the more it calls into question the prosecution’s tactics.”

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