Kareem Bellamy spent 14 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, thanks to prosecutorial misconduct by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is hearing oral argument April 26 to decide whether Bellamy can get relief for this gross injustice. The case is crucial not just for Bellamy’s future, but also because it illustrates the shocking degree to which prosecutors can routinely violate the law with impunity.

Under the landmark Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, prosecutors must give the defense any material evidence favorable to the accused. But the Queens County D.A.’s Office found a way to skirt this obligation. For years, the office paid witnesses massive amounts of money to testify against defendants like Bellamy. This is classic “Brady material,” because defendants would obviously want to know (and be able to argue to a jury) that the witnesses against them were, in effect, being bribed by the government.