Holder Names New Head of Internal Ethics Unit

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that Mary Patrice Brown will head the Justice Department's internal ethics unit.

Holder moved the current chief of the ethics unit, H. Marshall Jarrett, to lead the executive office of U.S. attorneys. Jarrett will replace Kenneth E. Melson, who is moving to serve as acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The announcement came a day after a federal judge ordered a criminal investigation into whether Justice Department attorneys violated the law in the prosecution of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Justice officials say the changes were not related to the case.

The Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating lapses with witnesses and evidence that ultimately destroyed the government's case against Stevens. The judge appointed a special prosecutor to investigate six government lawyers involved in the case against the former Alaska senator, who was convicted last fall of ethics violations for accepting gifts from an oil services company executive.

Brown, who heads the criminal division at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, will become on the third chief of the Office of Professional Responsibility since it was founded in 1975 after the Watergate scandal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.