Why do prosecutors lie?

Answer 1

Prosecutors are a special type of attorney. All attorneys are taught to tell a story of the facts, as they see the facts. The way people (you, me, other people, attorneys) see facts and how we see a story can be very different. Rather than telling lies, prosecutors are trained to take facts and tell the story in a way that supports the legal charges. Defense attorneys are taught to take facts and tell the story in a way that disputes the legal charges. Juries and Judges are supposed to be neutral and decide which part or parts of the two stories make the MOST sense or are supported by evidence. So as a simple example:

A boy has always been in trouble with the law. When a store next door is robbed and the store owner describes someone who sounds similar to the boy's physical description, the police think the boy did it. There is no video taping; no fingerprints; no evidence at the scene. The boy claims, "I didn't do it!" The case goes to trial. The prosecutor tells "a story" about this boy's bad behavior and that the store owner ID'd the boy. But the Defense tells a different story: A new boy moved into the neighborhood two months before the robbery. The two boys look almost exactly alike. Though these are two different "stories", neither side is lying. They are telling "a story" based on how they view the known facts. On the last day of the trial, the 2nd boy is caught red-handed stealing. He cut himself on glass at the store. Ironically, his DNA matches the first boy's DNA! It turns out they share the same father, but the boys never knew each other existed. The Defense changes its story, to include the half-brother. The Prosecutor replies that this doesn't prove the first boy did not commit the crime! The Jury though sees that the charge is based only on circumstantial evidence against the first boy. The fact he has a half brother who looks almost like him adds reasonable doubt. Nobody lied in the courtroom. (Remember, the 2nd boy was never in the courtroom so we don't know what story he'd tell, or if it would be truth or a lie.)