A judge found that a federal prosecutor in Kansas with a history of questionable conduct committed misconduct in a drug case, prompting a sharp reduction in the defendant's sentence (article available here).
The court ruled last week that Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead did not provide evidence to the defense about a witness’s full criminal history or a video that called into question the witness’s credibility in a case involving drug and counterfeiting charges.
The court stated that Morehead had “failed in her duty to do justice,” and the misconduct was the reason the court reduced the sentence from 20 years to nine years, according to a transcript of the May 10 federal court hearing.
Morehead's history of questionable conduct goes back decades. Morehead has been previously accused of concealing evidence and threatening witnesses. A federal judge in 2017 found Morehead committed misconduct as a federal prosecutor during the Lamont McIntyre case when she threatened a witness and belatedly disclosed evidence. McIntyre was wrongly convicted in a double murder and spent 23 years in prison before he was released.
Morehead was also involved in wrongdoing in 2016 when federal prosecutors in Kansas City, Kansas, routinely accessed calls between defendants and their attorneys in violation of their rights. A federal judge held the office in contempt.
Morehead remains a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City, Kansas.