Opinion ID: 1594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: .Due Process Violations: Brady, False Evidence and Prosecutorial Misconduct

Text: Three of petitioners' claims  Brady, false evidence and prosecutorial misconduct  are closely related in that they all stem principally from the July 10 letter. To wit, petitioners contend that if the prosecution had not committed a Brady violation as to the July 10 letter, it would not have been able to present false evidence concerning McLoren's immunity, or, in the alternative, petitioners would have been able to impeach McLoren with the letter once he gave false testimony. Similarly, if petitioners possessed the letter, they claim, the prosecution would not have been able to make certain improper arguments in summation regarding McLoren's criminal liability without defense counsel pointing out their impropriety. In sum, petitioners argue that, when viewed together with McLoren's challenged testimony and the prosecution's improper summation, the suppression of the letter affected their convictions by rendering the trial unfair. We discuss Brady, false evidence and prosecutorial misconduct challenges individually to determine, respectively, whether the prosecution failed to disclose the July 10 letter, presented false evidence or made improper argument in summation. Although we find that the prosecution did not present false evidence, we agree with petitioners that the prosecution failed to disclose the letter to Jason and Hein and made improper comments in summation. Because petitioners' Brady and prosecutorial misconduct claims require similar analyses for evaluating prejudice [4] and encompass overlapping considerations, we analyze their effect on petitioners' convictions collectively and conclude that, to the extent the prosecution committed error, it did not prejudice petitioners.