IAR Sys. Software, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Mateo Cnty.

*507 In these writ proceedings, petitioners IAR Systems Software, Inc. (IAR) and Valla and Associates, Inc. (Valla), seek a writ of mandate ordering the trial court to vacate its finding of June 30, 2016, that Valla, a law firm, should be deemed part of the "prosecution team" prosecuting Nadim Shehayed for embezzlement. In addition, petitioners request that we set aside the related order granting the motion of defendant and real party in interest, Nadim Shehayed (defendant) to order Valla, as part of the prosecution team, to disclose material, exculpatory evidence in its possession in accordance with Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 ( Brady ). For reasons addressed below, we agree the trial court erred, first, in imposing a duty under Brady to disclose material, exculpatory evidence directly on Valla, as opposed to on the prosecution, and, second, in finding Valla to be part of the prosecution team. Accordingly, we grant the requested relief.

*508 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant served as Chief Executive Officer of IAR for nearly 20 years. 1 Sometime around 2012, IAR discovered evidence that defendant had embezzled large sums of…