Christopher Darden served as a deputy district attorney and co-lead prosecutor. In his opening statement, he presented the prosecution’s theory of a 17-year escalating pattern of domestic violence and control as motive, and elsewhere argued that members of the Brown family should be permitted to remain during an admissibility hearing. His witness examinations included challenging Rosa Lopez about prior statements, memory lapses, defense contacts, and identification discrepancies; questioning Laura Hart McKinny’s reliability during the Fuhrman-recordings hearing; and cross-examining Robert Heidstra in proceedings that led to heated sidebars and confrontations among counsel.