Also known as: prosecuting attorneys · prosecutor · district attorney · DA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A public official who represents the government in criminal prosecutions by presenting evidence and arguments to prove the defendant's guilt. The role includes complying with notice requirements before offering certain evidence and refraining from improper public statements that could prejudice the accused.
Perry Pratt is on trial for assault. His counsel introduces evidence that the alleged victim had a violent character. The prosecuting attorney responds by calling a witness to testify that the victim was known for nonviolence in the community. The court admits the rebuttal testimony under the applicable evidence rule.
Phuong Pham stands trial for murder after claiming the victim attacked first. The prosecuting attorney offers testimony from coworkers that the victim was consistently peaceful and avoided confrontations. The evidence is admitted to rebut the first-aggressor claim in the homicide prosecution.
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Portia Price faces charges for theft. The prosecuting attorney seeks to introduce a prior final felony conviction against Price to prove an essential fact in the current case. The court admits the judgment because it meets the requirements for a conviction entered after trial or guilty plea.
Pilar Pena is arrested and taken to a station house. A prosecuting attorney questions her in a closed room without giving any warnings about rights to silence or counsel. Her resulting statements are later challenged as inadmissible because the interrogation occurred while she was deprived of freedom in a significant way.
Paige Porter, a prosecuting attorney, registers and enforces a foreign protection order in good faith. When the alleged violator sues for damages arising from the enforcement action, the court dismisses the claim because the statute grants immunity to the prosecuting attorney for acts performed in an official capacity.
Priscilla Parks is charged after officers locate evidence through an improper interrogation. The prosecuting attorney argues that the same evidence would have been discovered through lawful means already underway. The court admits the evidence because the independent investigation would have inevitably uncovered it regardless of the violation.
The prosecuting attorney must give reasonable notice of any such evidence the prosecutor intends to offer at trial so that the defendant has a fair opportunity to meet it.
A prosecuting attorney must refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused except for statements necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor's action that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
A prosecuting attorney is immune from civil and criminal liability for an act or omission arising out of the registration or enforcement of a foreign protection order if the act or omission was done in good faith in an effort to comply with the uniform act.
…in any significant way. In each of the four cases before us, the defendant was questioned by police officers, detectives, or a prosecuting attorney in a room in which he was cut off from the outside world. In none of these cases was the defendant given a full and effective warning of his rights at the outset of the interrogation…