Opinion ID: 784661
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prosecutorial Misconduct/Brady Issues

Text: 40 Defendant raises prosecutorial misconduct in two ways: (1) Inappropriate comments during trial and sentencing and (2) failure to turn over exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). 41 1. Prosecutor's Comments. To grant relief for prosecutorial misconduct, the prosecutor's comments must be so fundamentally unfair as to deny [the defendant] due process based on the totality of the circumstances. Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 645, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974); accord Kincade v. Sparkman, 175 F.3d 444, 445-46 (6th Cir.1999) (prosecutorial misconduct found where prosecutor inferred that defendant committed other burglaries than the one for which he was standing trial). Specifically, our court takes into account: the degree to which the remarks complained of have a tendency to mislead the jury and to prejudice the accused; whether they are isolated or extensive; whether they were deliberately or accidentally placed before the jury and the strength of the competent proof to establish the guilt of the accused. 42 Angel v. Overberg, 682 F.2d 605, 608 (6th Cir.1982) (en banc) (citing United States v. Leon, 534 F.2d 667, 677 (6th Cir.1976)); see also United States v. Carroll, 26 F.3d 1380 (6th Cir.1994). 43 The prosecutor's repeated reference to the numerous blows received by the victim is not backed by the evidence. The pathologist for the state testified that the victim received at least one blow to the head that caused her death. She went on to explain that the body showed no evidence of more than one blow to the head, although she could not rule out that further blows might have occurred that did not show up on the body. Neither this testimony by the state's pathologist, nor any other evidence, supports the prosecutor's inference that the victim was repeatedly hit and beaten. The remarks were prejudicial because they implied that defendant beat the victim beyond all reason when the evidence shows that it is more likely the victim received one blow to the head that killed her. 44 Despite the inappropriate references by the prosecutor, we cannot say that his comments were so fundamentally unfair as to deny [the defendant] due process based on the totality of the circumstances. Many of the improper comments came during the closing and the jury was instructed by the court shortly thereafter to look only to the evidence, not the comments of the lawyers. Furthermore, the considerable amount of physical evidence pointing to defendant's guilt cannot be ignored. The jury was likely to convict defendant based on this evidence even had the prosecution not made the improper comments. The comments went to the nature and intent of the attack, not to defendant's guilt or innocence of killing the victim. Accordingly, we find that the comments made by the prosecutor were error, but that the jury would probably have returned the verdict of guilty anyway. 45 2. Brady Violation. Under Brady, the prosecution must disclose favorable evidence to the defendant. Favorable evidence is material if there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). Here, the question is whether the government failed to preserve evidence that might have been useful to the defendant. The defendant must show that the government (1) acted in bad faith in failing to preserve the evidence; (2) that the exculpatory nature of the evidence was apparent and (3) the defendant was unable to obtain similar evidence. Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 57-58, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988). 46 The State's firearm expert testified that there was a negative result on the defendant's clothes for gunshot residue. The defense was not notified of the results before trial; and, by the time of trial, the state had lost the evidence. Defendant claims that the evidence was necessary because it might have cast doubt on whether he shot the ranger. (The shooting of the ranger and the murder of Lillian Merrick were tried together.) The district court, although finding the claim procedurally defaulted, addressed it and found no bad faith on the part of the government and found the evidence of only speculative materiality. 47 Again, given that the evidence of defendant's guilt is substantial, we cannot find that a reasonable probability exists that the state's failure undermines confidence in the outcome of the trial. Although the government should always turn over results from firearm tests, and it was at fault for failing to do this here, this evidence would not have had an impact on the outcome of the guilt phase nor has it otherwise undermined our confidence in the outcome. 48