A Cuyahoga County, Ohio prosecutor has been fired after admitting to using a fake Facebook profile in an attempt to persuade two key witnesses for the defense to recant their testimony.
Aaron Brockler remains adamant that he did nothing wrong, and that this type of practice is common among law enforcement.
“Law enforcement, including prosecutors, have long engaged in the practice of using a ruse to obtain the truth,” said Brockler. “I think the public is better off for what I did…to me, this is all a massive overreaction. I wasn’t some rogue prosecutor sitting behind a computer trying to wrongfully convict someone. I did what the Cleveland police detectives should have done before I got the file.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Brockler, who had served as a county prosecutor since 2006, posed a a fictitious girlfriend of the defendant in a murder case. The defendant, 29-year-old Damon Dunn, is accused of shooting Kenneth Adams on May 18th of last year at a car wash.
Apparently, Brockler held Facebook chats with the two alibi witnesses, who both claimed that Dunn was actually on the other side of town when the murder occurred. He claims that they both told him that their stories for the defense were “bogus,” and that they weren’t going to lie for Dunn.
The odd thing here is that Brockler didn’t try to conceal his actions. He printed out the Facebook chat transcripts and logged them into his file.
Despite Brockler’s claim that he actually did nothing wrong, County prosecutor Timothy McGinty said that the termination was a no-brainer.
“This office does not condone and will not tolerate such unethical behavior,” said McGinty. “He disgraced this office and everyone who works here. By creating false evidence, lying to witnesses as well as another prosecutor, Aaron Brockler has damaged the prosecution’s chances in a murder case where a totally innocent man was killed at his work.”