Opinion ID: 712827
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Prosecutions False Assertions Regarding Testimony

Text: 47 Thierman argues that the prosecution knowingly made three false assertions during closing: 48 (1) The prosecutor implied that the recipient of a package of GHB was not a medical doctor, and yet defendant labeled the package Dr. Bruni. 49 Because there was a stipulation by both parties, stating that Dr. Bruni was indeed a doctor, we mention this matter only to caution the prosecution to be careful should the government elect to pursue another trial. 50 (2) Prosecution's assertion that defendant never tested his GHB for purity. 51 Thierman argues that this statement is false and misleading due to the prosecution's stipulation that the GHB samples admitted at trial were pure. 4 However, the stipulation stated merely that the samples presented in court were pure--it said nothing as to whether prior testing had been done or whether other batches of GHB sold by Thierman were pure. Moreover, the prosecution quickly qualified its statement by stating, or at least there's been no evidence of that. Thus the prosecution does not appear to have made an intentional misstatement of fact. 52 (3) The prosecutor argued that defendant sealed his bottles, and that such sealing was improper as it misled customers. 53 Thierman argues that this was a false and misleading argument as good manufacturing practices required that he seal his bottles. However, the prosecutor did not allege that Thierman did not follow good manufacturing practices when he sealed his bottles. Rather, her argument appeared to be that by following some practices of other druggists--those visible to a customer--Thierman implied that he was following other, non-visible practices. We find nothing misleading or improper in this argument. 54