Opinion ID: 2508357
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was prosecutor Steven Ipsen's argument of inconsistent factual theories to the juries in the trials of petitioners Waidla and Sakarias intentional or inadvertent?

Text: 2. (a) Did Ipsen believe, at the time of Sakarias's trial, that the murder victim, Viivi Piirisild, was already dead at the time she was dragged from the living room to the bedroom? (b) Did he have reason to believe Piirisild was dead when moved to the bedroom? 3. At Sakarias's trial, did Ipsen deliberately refrain from asking the medical examiner, Dr. James Ribe, about a postmortem abrasion on the victim's back? 4. At Waidla's trial, did Ipsen refrain from seeking admission of Sakarias's confession into evidence because it contradicted the factual theory he intended to argue to the Waidla jury? The referee heard testimony from Ipsen and from the former head of Ipsen's branch of the district attorney's office. In addition, the referee admitted and reviewed numerous exhibits, including crime scene and autopsy photographs from the two trials, and took notice of the reporters' transcripts of the trials. The referee summarized his findings on the submitted questions as follows: 1. Ipsen's argument of inconsistent factual theories to the juries in the trials of Waidla and Sakarias was an intentional strategic decision designed to fit the evidence Ipsen presented at the successive trials, to meet the proffered defense theories, and to maximize the portrayal of each defendant's culpability. 2. (a) At the time of the Sakarias trial, Ipsen did not believe that Piirisild was already dead when she was dragged from the living room to the bedroom. (b) At the time of the Sakarias trial, Ipsen had strong reason to believe that Piirisild was dead when she was dragged from the living room to the bedroom. Although Ipsen also had some lesser reason to believe she may have been alive, the great weight of the evidence did not support that view. Further, as explained below in Issue No. 3, Ipsen intentionally did not elicit testimony from Dr. Ribe about the postmortem abrasion on Piirisild's back, because the most likely interpretation of the abrasion was inconsistent with the theory of the killing Ipsen presented at Sakarias' trial. 3. Ipsen deliberately refrained from asking Dr. Ribe about the postmortem abrasion on Piirisild's back. He did so to tailor his evidentiary presentation to his changed theory of the hatchet wounds. The most likely explanation of that abrasion would have been inconsistent with the factual theory of the killing he presented in Sakarias' trial. 4. Ipsen believed that Sakarias' confession was inadmissible at Waidla's trial. For that reason, and not because it contradicted the factual theory he intended to argue to the Waidla jury, he did not offer it against Waidla. The parties (and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, as amicus curiae) have filed postreference briefs on the merits. They take no exception to the referee's findings, but dispute the legal consequences of those findings.