Prosecutors
Houston Requires Prosecutors’ OK Before Police May Speak to Defense Lawyers
A new Houston police policy bars officers from speaking with defense lawyers unless they get “express permission” from prosecutors.
The critics include defense lawyer Murray Newman, the Houston Chronicle reports.
He told the newspaper that the policy “is absolutely destroying any last vestiges that a police officer is a neutral witness who is just trying to figure out what happened.” University of Houston law professor Adam Gershowitz also weighed in, telling the Chronicle that a prosecutor who bars communication with a defense lawyer could violate state ethics rules.
Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos issued a statement saying she had not discussed the memo announcing the policy before it was issued.
