California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Kelly, E063517 (Cal. App. 2016):
prosecutors to exercise their discretion when charging particular defendants. We agree with the People. "[N]umerous factors properly may enter into a prosecutor's decision to charge under one statute and not another, such as a defendant's background and the severity of the crime, and so long as there is no showing that a defendant 'has been singled out deliberately for prosecution on the basis of some invidious criterion,' that is, '"one that is arbitrary and thus unjustified because it bears no rational relationship to legitimate law enforcement interests[,]"' the defendant cannot make out an equal protection violation. [Citation.]" (People v. Wilkinson, supra, at pp. 838-839.)
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