I’m sure my experience as a child in a home with multiple siblings is not unique. When I was a kid, one or the other of us not infrequently threatened to “tell” on one or more of the other kids in the family for some real or perceived “sin.”
Equally as often, this statement set off a race, as each of us rushed to be the first to “tell” mom or dad “what happened.” Of course, the telling and the what happened did not always exactly match up — at least partly depending upon who made it to mom and dad first. And the reason for the race? Sometimes it seemed that whoever got their story out first had the upper hand; the other — or others — were thrown on the defensive. (“Nu-uh!”)
A similar thing happens when one is charged with a crime and one’s “siblings” — in this case, “other persons accused of crimes” — are looking for their own advantages.
And the prosecutor’s case needs a little boost.
