By Terry Baynes
Nov 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused
to consider whether criminal defendants who are acquitted can
recover fees from the Justice Department for conducting
prosecutions in bad faith.
The high court rejected an appeal brought by Ali Shaygan, a
Miami doctor cleared of charges of illegally prescribing
pain-killers, who sought to hold federal prosecutors responsible
for alleged misconduct in his case.
Shaygan, a pain-management specialist, was accused of
trafficking in illegal prescriptions after a patient died of a
drug overdose.
A jury acquitted Shaygan and a Miami federal judge later
awarded the doctor $602,000 under a federal law called the Hyde
Amendment, which allows judges to sanction prosecutors for
taking positions that are "vexatious, frivolous or in bad
faith."
The judge found that prosecutors acted in bad faith by
pursuing new charges and secretly recording Shaygan's defense
team. The steps were taken in retribution after Shaygan's
attorney tried to keep statements the doctor made to
investigators out of evidence, the judge found.
The judge called the prosecution's tactics "profoundly
disturbing," adding that they raised "troubling issues about the
integrity of those who wield enormous power over the people they
prosecute."
But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta
overturned the award, ruling that prosecutors have broad
discretion under the doctrines of sovereign immunity and
separation of powers.
Regardless of prosecutors' subjective ill will, they had an
objectively reasonable basis for their acts, the appeals court
found.
Shaygan appealed to the Supreme Court, with the support of
close to 70 federal judges and prosecutors who filed an amicus
brief in the case. They argued that prosecutors' subjective
ill-will should be sufficient to justify sanctions under the
Hyde Amendment.
The Supreme Court declined to take the case without comment.
Justice Elena Kagan, who previously served as U.S. Solicitor
General, did not take part in the decision, the order said.
David Markus, a lawyer for Shaygan, said he was disappointed
the court decided not to review the case despite the support
from prosecutors, judges, defense lawyers and doctors.
"Despite the decision, no one can ever take away the fact
that Dr. Shaygan was found not guilty of 141 counts that never
should have been brought in the first place," he said.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
The case is Shaygan v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court,
No. 12-44.
For Shaygan: Imhotep Alkebu-Lan.
For the United States: Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.
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