Macy's unethical approach to prosecution drew criticism from multiple Courts. His tactics in some cases were called into question, including his use of jailhouse informants and his alleged withholding of exculpatory evidence, aka: brady violations.
Macy retired in 2001 amid the Oklahoma county crime lab scandal, after more than 20 years as the District Attorney of Oklahoma County.
Misconduct alleged in 94.4% of his death penalty cases.
“As amply—but not exhaustively—demonstrated above, in his career Macy has struck hard blows and he has struck foul ones. Under the harmless-error doctrine we cannot afford relief to all defendants who have been subjected to his foul blows. This fact speaks only to our limited role in the federal system of justice and affords no ethical absolution for the prosecutor who repeatedly engages in such misconduct. ”
“Macy’s persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an indelibly tarnished legal career.”
Mr. Macy's statements fall squarely within the category of misstatement and manipulation condemned by the Court in Darden 477 U.S. at 182.
Robert Macy, deceived the jury in closing argument by falsely stating that he did not know why the charges against Mr. Paxton had been dismissed and by inviting the jury to be suspicious of the reason for the dismissal. The court held that Mr. Macy's prosecutorial misconduct exacerbated both the erroneous admission of the hearsay and the erroneous exclusion of the polygraph test.
Mr. Macy clearly and deliberately made two critical misrepresentations to the jury: he told the jury that Mr. Paxton had been given the opportunity to present any evidence showing that he had not killed his wife, and he told the jury that the reason for the dismissal was unknown. In fact, as Mr. Macy well knew, his objections had prevented Mr. Paxton from presenting evidence that he had passed a polygraph test in connection with the shooting, and that those test results were the reason for the dismissal.