Opinion ID: 179722
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Final admonition

Text: Despite the fact that Brooks has not presented a claim to this court entitling him to habeas relief, we have grave concerns about how the State handled Brooks's trial, postconviction, and habeas proceedings. The State turned what should have been a strong, fairly clear-cut case into one raising serious constitutional questions. It presented inaccurate testimony to the trial court, the state post-conviction court, and the district court concerning the fingerprint evidence discovered on the Barge Point Road beer cans. The State also conducted an inadequate investigation into Nelson's criminal and mental-health background, causing it to elicit inaccurate testimony at trial concerning the extent of Nelson's criminal history. We strongly admonish the State that such conduct does not meet the high standards of ethics and professionalism expected in a criminal prosecution.