You may be familiar with the term in an entirely different context than today’s post.
Sometimes it is fun to just write about something light and less significant than certain other topics. Such is the state of the world when I can say that about a state supreme court opinion in a brutal, first-degree murder case, but, in fairness, I’ve never before read an opinion in a state supreme court case (brutal murder or not) that begins like this:
In this case of severe and pervasive prosecutorial misconduct, exacerbated by a lackluster defense, we hold that an Assistant District Attorney who uses opening statements to expose the jury to incriminating allegations from a non-testifying codefendant, repeatedly accuses a defendant of witchcraft, and relies on inflammatory and inadmissible evidence throughout the case, has knowingly committed misconduct so unfairly prejudicial and with such willful disregard for a reversal on appeal that retrial is barred by double jeopardy under Article II, Section 15 of the New Mexico Constitution.
The entire opinion is well worth a read as it lays out a pretty unbelievable level of prosecutorial misconduct when it comes to repeated references to things that were known to be inadmissible evidence, a clear violation of RPC 3.4(e) in most jurisdictions, as well as an apparent masterclass in having a potted plant dress up as a criminal defense lawyer.
You can grab it below:
The bad news for the prosecutor called out by name in the opinion, Cosme Ripol, is that they have had a murder conviction definitively overturned. The good news is that they are now probably on the short list for being appointed the new U.S. Attorney for New Mexico by the Trump Administration.
And, if you are looking for more light-hearted ethics discussion, and particularly if you are Tennessee lawyer in need of CLE, I recently did the 2025 Ethics Homeshow for the TBA as a webcast earlier this month. We talked about the various ethics rules that are violated by some of your favorite lawyer streaming shows. You can watch it on-demand and get 3 dual CLE credits in Tennessee through this link.