Editing Prosecutor (section)

===United States===
The United States is the only country in the world where citizens elect prosecutors. The director of a prosecution office is known by any of several names depending on the jurisdiction, most commonly [[district attorney]]. Other names include '''state's attorney''', '''state attorney''', '''county attorney''', and '''commonwealth's attorney'''. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual or a corporation suspected of breaking the law, initiating and directing further criminal investigations, guiding and recommending the sentencing of offenders, and are the only attorneys allowed to participate in grand jury proceedings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanbar.org/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_pinvestigate.html |title=Standards on Prosecutorial Investigations (Table of Contents) &#124; Criminal Justice Section |access-date=13 November 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219015946/https://www.americanbar.org/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_pinvestigate.html |archive-date=19 December 2017 }} Standards on Prosecutorial Investigations</ref>

The titles of prosecutors in [[State court (United States)|state courts]] vary from state to state and level of government (i.e. city, county, and state) and include the terms District Attorney in [[New York (state)|New York]], [[California]], [[Texas]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Delaware]], [[Massachusetts]], [[North Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Nevada]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Oregon]], and [[Oklahoma]];<ref>''See:'' [[:Category:District attorneys]].</ref> City Attorney in [[California]] cities (typically prosecute only minor and misdemeanor offenses) [[Commonwealth's attorney|Commonwealth's Attorney]] in [[Kentucky]] and [[Virginia]]; County Attorney in [[Nebraska]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://necaa.org/county-attorneys/|title=Directory of Nebraska County Attorneys|access-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507185732/http://necaa.org/county-attorneys/|archive-date=7 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Minnesota]], and [[Arizona]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org |title=Maricopa County Attorney's Office • Phoenix, Arizona |publisher=Maricopacountyattorney.org |access-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005024100/http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/ |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> County Prosecutor in [[New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite web|title=President's Message|date=5 November 2010|publisher=Prosecutor's Office Management Association ("POMA") of New Jersey|url=http://www.njpoma.org/|access-date=22 December 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904133621/http://www.njpoma.org/|archive-date=4 September 2012}}</ref> [[Ohio]], and [[Indiana]];<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office|url=https://www.stjoepros.org|access-date=5 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028030157/https://stjoepros.org/|archive-date=28 October 2016}}</ref> District Attorney General in Tennessee; Prosecuting Attorney in [[Arkansas]],<ref>''See, e.g.'', Ark. Const. amdt. 21, §&nbsp;1 (offenses may be prosecuted by an "information filed by the Prosecuting Attorney"), and amdt. 80, §&nbsp;20 ("A Prosecuting Attorney shall be elected by the qualified electors of each judicial circuit."); Ark. Code Ann. §§&nbsp;16-21-101 et seq. (provisions concerning "prosecuting attorneys").</ref> [[Hawaii]], [[Idaho]], [[Michigan]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], and [[West Virginia]], as well as in [[Missouri]] where cities additionally use City Attorneys to prosecute on their behalf; [[State's attorney|State's Attorney]] in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, North Dakota, and Vermont; State Prosecutor; Attorney General in Delaware and Rhode Island; and Solicitor in South Carolina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/summaryCourtBenchBook/HTML/GeneralA.htm |title=South Carolina Bench Book for Summary Court Judges–General Section |publisher=Judicial.state.sc.us |access-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203052342/http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/summaryCourtBenchBook/HTML/GeneralA.htm |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref>

Prosecutors are most often chosen through local elections, and typically hire other attorneys as deputies or assistants to conduct most of the actual work of the office. [[United States Attorney]]s are appointed by [[President of the United States|the President]] and confirmed by the [[United States Senate]]. They represent the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] in [[United States federal courts|federal court]] in both civil and criminal cases. [[Private attorney general|Private attorneys general]] can bring criminal cases on behalf of private parties in some states. Prosecutors are required by state and federal laws to follow certain rules. For example, the government must disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense;<ref>{{ussc|name=Brady v. Maryland|source=w|casename=Brady v. Maryland|volume=373|page=83|year=1963}}.</ref> must disclose matters affecting the credibility of prosecution witnesses, such as an agreement to dismiss the witness's own charges in exchange for their testimony;<ref>{{ussc|name=Giglio v. United States|405|150|1972}}.</ref> must not destroy potentially useful evidence in bad faith;<ref>{{ussc|name=Arizona v. Youngblood|488|51|1988}}.</ref> and must not use false testimony to secure a conviction.<ref>{{ussc|name=Napue v. Illinois|360|264|1959}}.</ref> Failure to follow these rules may result in a finding of [[prosecutorial misconduct]], although a 2013 investigation found that actual discipline for prosecutorial misconduct was lacking.<ref>[https://www.propublica.org/article/who-polices-prosecutors-who-abuse-their-authority-usually-nobody Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? Usually Nobody] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630184935/https://www.propublica.org/article/who-polices-prosecutors-who-abuse-their-authority-usually-nobody |date=30 June 2017 }}. ProPublica.</ref>

Prosecutors are also tasked with seeking justice in their prosecutions. "The United States Attorney," explained the U.S. Supreme Court, <blockquote>is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all, and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the two-fold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor—indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.<ref>{{ussc|name=Berger v. United States|source=w|casename=Berger v. United States (295 U.S. 78)|volume=295|page=78|pin=88|year=1935}}.</ref></blockquote>

Prosecutors in some jurisdictions have the discretion to not pursue criminal charges, even when there is [[probable cause]], if they determine that there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.<ref>''See'' {{cite court |litigants=State v. Gomez |vol=127 |reporter=P.3d |opinion=873 |pinpoint=877 |court=Ariz. |date=2006 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9043197580032161970 |quote=Indictments can be dismissed for various reasons, including a prosecutor's determination that the person charged did not in fact commit the crime or—as this case illustrates—that there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.}}.</ref> Prosecutors may dismiss charges in this situation by seeking a [[voluntary dismissal]] or [[nolle prosequi]]. In Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, criminal prosecutions are brought in the name of the [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth]]. In California, [[Colorado]], [[Illinois]], Michigan, and New York, criminal prosecutions are brought in the name of the People.  In the remaining states, criminal prosecutions are brought in the name of the State.