An official of the state, acting in their official capacity, exercises the power of the state. It is an absurd notion to suggest that the state is shielded from accountability because the power vested in its institutions was misused by those within.

The purpose of training lawyers is to preserve the sanctity of a thorough, fair judicial process. Unduly restricting a party’s access to evidence in the form of witness testimony is antithetical to the pursuit of justice.

If Phillips claims that a lawyer can not call a witness a liar, but can argue that the jury should not believe him, why should it be permissible to call a witness a straight shooter rather than arguing that the jury should believe him?