It may have sounded like an April Fool’s prank, but this was no joke.  On April 1, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department was dropping all charges against former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, convicted of seven felony counts of ethics violations last October. 

The cloud over the Justice Department darkened further when a federal judge launched an outside investigation into what he called “shocking and disturbing” behavior by the government, whom he did not trust to conduct an honest review.

The allegation of criminal misconduct by federal prosecutors threatens our very notions of innocence and equal justice under the law.   In this episode of Law in 10, host Pam Hardy speaks with Mario Conte, former Executive Director of Federal Defenders of San Diego and a Distinguished Practitioner at California Western.