In re Sakarias

In In re Sakarias (2005) 35 Cal.4th 140, the prosecutor separately tried two defendants for the same murder of a single victim. In the co-defendant's trial, the prosecutor attributed the fatal blows to the victim solely to the co-defendant, but subsequently, in Sakarias's trial, the prosecutor attributed the same fatal blows solely to Sakarias. The Supreme Court concluded the prosecutor acted improperly "by intentionally and without good faith justification arguing inconsistent and irreconcilable factual theories in the two trials, attributing to each petitioner in turn culpable acts that could have been committed by only one person." (Id. at p. 145.)