Arrogant Leftist legal worker lies to protect dangerous criminals

Leftists seem to have a fellow-feeling for criminals -- with particular indulgence towards the worst of criminals -- as we saw in the Tookie Williams affair

A defense investigator pleaded guilty Monday to falsifying documents in the cases of four death-row inmates as part of her efforts to block executions. Kathleen Culhane agreed to a five-year term in state prison in exchange for prosecutors dropping 41 of the 45 charges against her in Sacramento Superior Court. She admitted guilt to two counts of forgery, one count of perjury and one count of filing a false document.

Culhane's lawyer, Stuart Hanlon of San Francisco, said his client took responsibility for her actions but believes she was in the right. "She has very strong moral and political beliefs against the death penalty," he said. "She believes it is immoral and illegal." Hanlon said he knows many death-penalty opponents who think Culhane's actions were wrong. But he said history might judge her more favorably if the death penalty is ever abolished. "She's not a criminal in the sense she did this for gain," he said. "Her beliefs are right. If she chose a wrong way to do it, that's for others to decide."

Senior Assistant Attorney General Michael Farrell prosecuted Culhane and said she had harmed her own cause by trying to undermine the criminal justice system. "She was trying to undo and unravel capital verdicts," he said. "If you agree to be part of the criminal-justice system, you have to play by the rules, regardless of what your beliefs are." Farrell said he hadn't seen any evidence to suggest the attorneys Culhane worked for at the state's Habeas Corpus Resource Center and in private practice were involved in her crimes.

Prosecutors began to question Culhane's work last year when defense lawyers filed documents in the clemency petition of condemned inmate Michael Morales. Prepared by Culhane and submitted to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the documents said five jurors regretted their decision to condemn Morales to death for the 1981 rape and murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell of Lodi. The jurors told prosecutors they had never met Culhane and had never made the statements.

In February, the California attorney general's office charged Culhane, 40, of Petaluma with 45 felony counts of perjury, forgery and counterfeiting documents. Prosecutors alleged she submitted 23 false declarations in four death-penalty cases, including the cases of Vicente Figueroa Benavides, Christian Monterroso and Jose Guerra. She faced a maximum of 18 years and eight months in prison. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary Ransom is scheduled to sentence Culhane on Aug. 16.

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