Now, district attorneys, like all lawyers in the United States of America, take an oath that allows them to practice law.

According to the National District Attorney's Association, DAs are tasked with ensuring justice is served by, quote, prosecuting individuals accused of committing crimes.

And in my experience, DAs are typically eager to do just that,

especially when they have strong evidence like a DNA match,

and especially when the crime is as brutal and shocking as the murder of Dana Ireland.

But with wrongful convictions, the egos of law enforcement come into play.

DAs like to protect their conviction record and are too often reluctant to admit they got it wrong.

And it's hard not to note that in this case, had they brought Albert Laurel Jr. to trial,

there would have been massive media tension

on the fact that he'd acted alone, shining a persistent spotlight on the three wrongful

prosecutions that preceded it. This might explain why during this Zoom call between the judge,

the Hawaii Innocence Project, and the DA's office? The prosecution is not

forthcoming about what they knew and when, and the judge is forced to press them for information.

Ken says that on the Zoom call, Shannon Kagawa is present, but Michael Kagami is tuning in via speakerphone

through Shannon, which the judge isn't exactly thrilled about.

You know, I have him on the phone near the speaker because he's at a CLE, and the judge said,

so you're telling me that a CLE is more important than what we're talking about today?

Then he's just like, okay, fine, let's just do this.

He said, and I want to know, did you guys know that this guy was dead when we were in court yesterday?

And I was asking where he was at, and you were telling me, did you know he was dead then?

Your Honor, we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

So it's almost like you got the prosecutors and corporate counsel telling them to take the fifth, right?

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