Packer v. Superior Court
Annotate this CasePetitioner was charged with three counts of first degree murder and related charges. Petitioner filed a motion to recuse the lead prosecutor on the case on grounds that the prosecutor allegedly knew one of the victims in the case, that two of the prosecutor’s adult children knew Petitioner and would be called as witnesses by the defense at the penalty phase if Petitioner was found guilty, and that the prosecutor’s daughter dated Petitioner’s friend, a proposed prosecution and defense penalty phase witness. The trial court denied Petitioner’s request for an evidentiary hearing and denied his motion to recuse the prosecutor. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by denying Petitioner’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the ground that Petitioner had failed to make a prima facie showing that recusal was warranted, as a hearing was necessary to determine whether the conflict in this case would render it unlikely that Petitioner would receive a fair trial if the prosecutor was not recused as lead prosecutor in the case.
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