Opinion ID: 1342412
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inconsistent Factual Positions Taken in Banig's Indictment

Text: The Appellant contends that his due process rights were also violated subsequent to the Appellant's trial. In the separate indictment of Banig upon gun charges not specifically related to the night of the decedents' deaths, the prosecutor informed the grand jury that Banig had exercised control of the pistol when the Appellant and Banig presented the weapons to Brewer for potential sale. The Appellant's trial concluded on January 11, 2007. The Banig grand jury heard evidence on January 18, 2007. During that proceeding, Sheriff Lonnie Hannah, also the investigator in the Appellant's case, testified that the Appellant and Banig had visited the home of Robert Brewer to discuss a sale of guns. Sheriff Hannah explained to the Banig grand jury that they sold him a 22 rifle and they had a 45 pistol, automatic pistol, also, that they did not sell him that was later on, we found, was used in the commission of a crime. Sheriff Hannah indicated that Banig had possession of the firearms. The Appellant contends that statements to the Banig grand jury are inconsistent with the testimony at the Appellant's trial with regard to the possession of the murder weapon. In response to the Appellant's concerns, the trial court reviewed the Banig grand jury transcript and made that transcript a part of the record in this case for appellate review. The Appellant contends that the State violated a fundamental principle prohibiting the utilization of inconsistent theories in separate trials of defendants. Indeed, as the Appellant emphasizes, Thompson v. Calderon, 120 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir.1997), vacated on other grounds, 523 U.S. 538, 118 S.Ct. 1489, 140 L.Ed.2d 728 (1998), does stand for the proposition that a prosecutor's pursuit of fundamentally inconsistent theories in separate trials of defendants charged with the same murder violated due process. 120 F.3d at 1056. We find the Appellant's argument to be without merit, however, because the critical issue in the Thompson analysis is the fact that the defendants were charged with the same murder. In the present case, Banig was charged with a separate violation, a firearm possession in violation of West Virginia Code § 61-7-7(b)(1) (2004) (Repl.Vol.2005). [11] The two crimes by two different defendants were committed on separate dates, with different elements, and entirely distinct theories of prosecution. The presentation to which the Appellant objects in Banig's indictment process did not even occur until after the Appellant's trial. No unfair advantage was gained by the State against the Appellant, and we can discern no prejudice suffered by the Appellant due to the manner in which Banig's indictment was later presented.