Family of Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Slams Derek Schmidt for Still Employing Lawyer Who Engaged In Misconduct

The family of an innocent man who spent 12 years behind bars is slamming Derek Schmidt for his failures as attorney general as he continues to use taxpayer funds to employ a lawyer — Edmond Brancart — who “engaged in serious prosecutorial misconduct” in this case.

“The judge ruled that the trial court prosecutor violated the defendant’s constitutional rights by suppressing evidence on multiple occasions and knowingly eliciting false testimony from a jailhouse informant,” the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Even after Schmidt’s office approved over $826,000 in compensation for the wrongful imprisonment, Schmidt continues to employ Brancart as a lawyer in his office to this day.

The victim’s widow said in a statement today, “The Attorney General of Kansas, current or future, should be familiar with the people they’ve entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the law.”

“Derek Schmidt’s willingness to employ a lawyer who engaged in misconduct and violated the constitutional rights of Kansans shows his complete and total incompetence,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “Schmidt must explain why he’s using his taxpayer-funded office to employ this lawyer — despite pleas from the family of the innocent man who was wrongly forced to spend over a decade behind bars.”

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