Court Opinion

ID: 9742565
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:16:06.772769+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:33.796142
License: Public Domain

T. M. Burns, P. J.
(dissenting). While I concur with the majority that the prosecutor’s threats and intimidation directed toward a res gestae witness are to be condemned, I cannot agree that such action was not reversible error and does not mandate a reversal.
It is indefensible for a prosecutor to intimidate a witness either in or out of court. People v Pena, 383 Mich 402, 406; 175 NW2d 767, 768 (1970).
Here the record discloses that the prosecutor met with the witness, used questionable language, told the witness if she lied she would be prosecuted for perjury, that he would eventually obtain evidence to convict her and the defendant of the crime, and closed by stating "I’ll get you one way or the other, you and Richard Harley [defendant] if you don’t leave the county”.
The prosecutor’s inference was clear, the witness was to either testify favorable for the prosecutor or face perjury charges. Such conduct on the part of the prosecutor is reprehensible under the rationale of Pena, supra.
Notwithstanding the fact that the witness eventually testified favorably to the defendant, the prosecutor’s conduct cannot be lightly classified as harmless error.
Not only was the evidence produced at trial against the defendant extremely weak, the prosecutor’s actions toward the witness were so offen*735sive to the maintenance of a sound judicial process and such an affront to the integrity of the trial process that it can never be regarded as harmless error. People v Robinson, 386 Mich 551, 563; 194 NW2d 709, 713-714 (1972).
Therefore, I vote to reverse and remand for a new trial.