Sullivan is keenly aware of prosecution ethics.
Sullivan, about a decade ago, was the trial judge assigned to the Ted Stevens public-corruption case. Sullivan sharply rebuked the government several times in that legal saga,
railing against Justice Department lawyers for failing to timely disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to Stevens’ defense lawyers at
Williams & Connolly. He later
named a special prosecutor to probe the prosecutors’ errors, saying: “In 25 years on the bench, I have never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I have seen in this case.”
The Stevens case proved instructive for Sullivan. He wrote in a 2017 Wall Street Journal
column that he now issues what are known as “Brady” orders in criminal cases. These orders inform prosecutors of their legal and ethical responsibilities, and their obligation to seek out and provide, in a timely fashion, any potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.
“This reminds the prosecutors who appear before me exactly what is required of them, and it ensures that any who intentionally withhold evidence can be held accountable,” Sullivan wrote in the Journal op-ed. Sullivan said he’s encouraged fellow judges to adopt the same practice, including urging an advisory committee on criminal procedure rules to offer up an amendment that would require such disclosures.