16 results for 'cat:"Murder" AND cat:"Prosecutorial Misconduct"'.
J. Egan finds the trial court erred in convicting defendant of murder after prosecutorial misstatements. “Prosecutor’s argument during his rebuttal both misstated the burden of proof and encouraged the jury to decide the case with reference to impermissible character-based reasoning that directed the jury ‘away from the facts [and] toward emotion.’” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Egan, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A178335, Categories: murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Baker holds that defendant is entitled to a new trial because cumulative errors led to his conviction for deliberate homicide. The state implicitly suggested to the jury that defendant and his girlfriend were drug dealers. The state also failed to disclose that defendant's home was burglarized by associates of the homicide victim on the night of the homicide, and it failed to attempt to unlock the victim's phone, which may have shown a broader conspiracy against defendant. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0290, Categories: Evidence, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Cates finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempted murder, after defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to counsel. There were no significant changes during the trial that required re-admonishments of the risks of proceeding pro se. Further, defendant forfeited the issue of whether the state made improper remarks during closing arguments. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Cates, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 220008, Categories: murder, prosecutorial Misconduct, Self Representation
J. Chutich affirms the defendant's three first-degree premeditated murder convictions for the killings of his girlfriend, their unborn child, and the girlfriend's infant son. The defendant forfeited appellate relief for an allegedly improper closing argument by failing to object to the relevant portions of that argument at trial, and he has failed to show that speculative statements in closing arguments are a repeated problem warranting prophylactic reversal. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Chutich, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A22-1277, Categories: murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Shorr finds the trial court failed to strike certain statements made by the prosecutor to convict defendant of attempted second-degree murder and other crimes. “The prosecutor’s reference to a statement that was not admitted in evidence, and invitation to the jury to infer that the contents of that statement would not have benefitted defendant…deprived defendant of a fair trial.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Shorr, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: A177836, Categories: murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
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J. Piper finds the admission of a detective's testimony about the silence of defendant's brother during a police interview did not violate defendant's fair trial rights. Although it attacked defendant's credibility, he had already changed his story several times and admitted to the jury he lied to police; therefore, the testimony did not act as a "credibility tiebreaker." Meanwhile, the prosecution's question to defendant about his decision to remain silent after his arrest did not constitute prosecutorial misconduct because it was part of a valid cross-examination and was used to impeach defendant about his previous version of events. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Piper, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-382, Categories: Fair Trial, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Zamora finds the appeals court improperly vacated defendant's second-degree murder conviction. While the prosecutor violated defendant's constitutional rights when they commented on his post-arrest silence during opening arguments, defendant was not prejudiced. He admitted he killed the victim at the scene of the crime and the jury was tasked only with determining whether provocation existed to justify the murder. Even if fully credited, defendant's testimony failed to establish the victim intended to harm him or was plotting with others to kill him, and so his decision to remain silent after he was arrested was immaterial to the case. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Zamora, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-39294, Categories: murder, prosecutorial Misconduct, Self Incrimination
J. Huffman finds the trial court properly admitted all of the state's autopsy photos into evidence during defendant's trial on murder and firearms offenses. Although some included graphic images of the victim's gunshot wounds, each was used to explain the circumstances of the victim's death and the angle at which the bullet entered his head in support of the prosecution's theory of the case. Meanwhile, the prosecutor's isolated statement during closing arguments that defendant was the only individual charged despite video evidence of multiple shooters was not prosecutorial misconduct that implied his guilt. It was designed only to remind the jury to focus on the specific evidence against defendant and supported the state's complicity theory. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Huffman, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-4834, Categories: Firearms, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Joyce finds the trial court erred in failing to sua sponte declare a mistrial based upon allegedly improper statements that the prosecutor made during closing and rebuttal arguments. “From the prosecutor’s statements, the jury could have inferred that the prosecutor believed that defendant had lied and that the state’s witnesses were truthful, and the jury could have improperly evaluated the credibility on that basis.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: A176552, Categories: Firearms, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Herndon finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for two counts of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Defendant was charged after he reported his having fatally shot his 70-year-old neighbor and her friend. Though defendant had a tumultuous relationship with the victims for many years, substantial evidence, including surveillance video, supports the finding that defendant shot the unarmed victims in the head during an argument, while no evidence supports his claims of self-defense. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Supreme Court, Judge: Herndon , Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 85120, Categories: Evidence, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Gilbert finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for attempted murder. The court concedes the prosecutor’s rebuttal argument, that defendant “admitted to having an ambiguous ethnic presentation and that people that don’t know him think he’s something other than Black,” violated the Racial Justice Act. Defense counsel also rendered ineffective assistance for failing to raise the issue at the sentencing hearing. Reversed and remanded.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Gilbert, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: B309921, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Moore affirms the district court's denial of the defendant's petition for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing, finding that even if the facts alleged in the defendant's postconviction petition were proven by a preponderance of the evidence at such a hearing, his ineffective-assistance claims would not have succeeded because his appellate counsel could reasonably have concluded that the defendant's disputes would not prevail on appeal.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: A22-1483, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct
[Consolidated.] J. Ceresia finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and gun possession based on the weight of the evidence, but a new trial must be held due to several instances of prosecutorial misconduct, including the court's failure to take corrective action after the prosecution used multiple witnesses to introduce prior bad acts evidence that suggested defendant's criminal propensity. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Ceresia, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 112665, Categories: Evidence, murder, prosecutorial Misconduct