State v. Green

The State of Washington (plaintiff) prosecuted Nathaniel Green (defendant) and codefendants for burglary based partly on a signed pretrial statement from codefendant Gaither implicating Green; the prosecutor never re-interviewed Gaither before trial. At trial, Gaither unexpectedly testified Green did not participate and claimed his earlier statement referred to a different "Green." Surprised, the prosecutor introduced the pretrial statement and other witnesses to show it truly referred to Green and was corroborated by other evidence. Green was convicted and appealed, arguing the prosecutor could not claim surprise because he never vetted Gaither's reliability beforehand.