As we saw in the documentary “Who Killed Garrett Phillips”, former District Attorney Mary Rain withheld evidence from the defendants and urged a witness to lie about seeing Nick Hillary in the window. This violated the “Brandy rule” which is suppression of evidence and also violated obstruction of justice. Since the end of Hillary’s trial, she was investigated for two years and shut down her private practice in 2018. She was then suspended for violating twenty-four district rules of professional misconduct in 2017. Bennett L. Gershman, a professor of law at Pace University claimed her as “the most dangerous prosecutor in New York state”.
Some may say that the actions taken by Rain were out of pressure from the town of Potsdam. Since her campaign was all about justice for Garrett, she did what she had to do to please the town who had been waiting five years for the sentencing. But should ethics be violated in order to further one's career? Even if it is to solve the murder of a twelve-year-old? I don’t think that her actions should be excused considering how badly Hillary was treated during the trial and pinpointed from the beginning.
Rain’s suspension only lasts for two years starting from 2018. Hopefully, she will take the ethical route and stop practicing law, or if she continues to change her ways and learn from the mistakes made.
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