Opinion ID: 181488
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: General Prosecutorial Misconduct

Text: Finally, we note the more general line of authority regarding prosecutorial misconduct and due process. These cases do not address particular forms of misconduct, but instead establish the test for whether some generic misconduct rises to the level of a due process violation. The relevant question is whether the prosecutors' [misconduct] `so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process.' Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181, 106 S.Ct. 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) (quoting Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 643, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974)). The Arizona Supreme Court found that there was misconduct even if it was unintentional. Towery, 920 P.2d at 306. Assuming that is so, we need only decide whether the prosecutor's misconduct so tainted the trial as to violate due process. In section I.D.1, supra, we have held that the Arizona Supreme Court's harmless error determination was objectively reasonable. For the same reasons, we also hold that the court's analysis was correct and that it applies here. Because we agree that beyond a reasonable doubt . . . the prosecutor's misconduct did not affect the verdict, Towery, 920 P.2d at 307, we conclude the trial was not significantly infected with unfairness. Any misconduct by Ditsworth therefore did not violate due process under the Darden/Donnelly standard.