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Washington Court Holds (2-1) Prosecutors Didn’t Improperly “Play[] into Religious or Cultural Prejudices” in Trial of Iraqi Immigrant Husband for Murdering Wife
Some short excerpts from yesterday’s long opinion in State v. Darraji (Wash. App.), written by Judge Tracy Staab and joined by Chief Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey:
Prosecutors are prohibited from injecting improper bias into a trial by playing into religious or cultural prejudices. But not all references to religion or culture play into improper bias. When relevant and grounded in the evidence, it is not improper for a prosecutor to present testimony or argument related to religion and culture. Indeed, such evidence may be necessary to prove a fact at issue, such as motive. That is what happened in this case.
The State charged Yasir Darraji with second degree felony murder …. The State’s evidence was that Yasir, an Iraqi immigrant, was upset that his former wife, Ibtihal Darraji, had changed her behavior and beliefs in ways that did not conform to Iraqi culture. Yasir himself framed his concerns about Ibtihal in terms of his Iraqi culture and Islamic beliefs.
After police found Ibtihal’s murdered body inside a burning vehicle, the investigation focused on Yasir, largely due to evidence of his admitted disapproval of Ibtihal’s behavior, which he described as culturally and religiously motivated. Given this specific factual circumstance, Yasir’s religious beliefs and cultural affiliation were relevant to the State’s case. It therefore was not improper for the State to present evidence and arguments pertaining to religion and culture to the jury….
In February 2020, the State charged Yasir with second degree murder against an intimate partner, committed during the course of a second degree assault by strangulation….
At trial, the State’s theory was that Ibtihal’s rejection of traditional Iraqi culture and Islamic beliefs, and her embrace of American culture and Christianity, was the source of conflict between the former spouses. Their fighting and insults escalated until Yasir strangled Ibtihal to death in her car, drove the vehicle to a different location, and lit the car on fire with Ibtihal’s body inside.
On appeal, Yasir argues that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct by introducing irrelevant and inflammatory evidence of Islamic beliefs to invoke antiMuslim bias with jurors. He asserts that the State’s theory of conflict between the couple was manufactured when the couple simply disrespected each other. Yasir maintains that the State’s evidence of Iraqi culture, Islamic beliefs, and Ibtihal’s non-conforming behavior was irrelevant. He points to specific evidence and comments as particularly inflammatory, including evidence of Ibtihal’s decision to convert to Christianity and stop wearing a hijab, and evidence of their daughter wearing traditional Islamic attire and praying. Along with the prosecutor’s use of the term “Americanized,” he contends these comments and evidence amounted to prosecutorial misconduct. While acknowledging that he failed to raise this issue at trial, Yasir argues that we should apply the standard for race-based misconduct to his arguments based on culture and religious bias….
“[T]o prevail on a claim of race-based prosecutorial misconduct, the defendant must demonstrate that the prosecutor’s conduct was both improper and prejudicial by showing that [the prosecut
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