Opinion ID: 2621310
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The prosecution's changed argument

Text: In opposing Johnson's pretrial motion to suppress, the State argued, among other things, that Johnson did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the Everman residence because he did not live there. In his closing argument, however, the prosecutor referred to the Everman home as [Johnson's] residence, the place where [Johnson] stays, and [Johnson's] home and to the master bedroom as [Johnson's] room. Johnson contends that the prosecutor improperly changed his position at trial. Johnson cites Thompson v. Calderon, [17] in which the Ninth Circuit held that, absent significant newly discovered evidence, a prosecutor cannot assert fundamentally inconsistent theories in order to convict two defendants at separate trials. To do so, the court held, is unfair and violates the defendants' constitutional right to due process. [18] We conclude that Thompson has no application here. In responding to Johnson's motion to suppress, the State asserted alternate theories as to why the search of the Everman home was proper. First, the State argued that Johnson was not a resident of the Everman home and therefore a reasonable expectation of privacy in the home. The State also argued that even if Johnson was a resident, Armstrong had common authority to consent to the search. Finally, the State argued that even if Armstrong did not have common authority, the police officers reasonably relied on his apparent authority to consent to the search. The State maintained all three theories while Johnson's motion was pending. When the district court rejected the argument that Johnson lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy, the State abandoned its claim that Johnson did not have a privacy interest in the Everman home. Because the State had not prevailed with the theory, abandoning it was not inconsistent or unfair.