Can a federal prosecutor be found guilty of misconduct for comments made to a jury on Page 18 of the California Criminal Code?

A prosecutor's misconduct violates the federal Constitution and requires reversal when it infects the trial with such unfairness as to deny due process. (People v. Tully (2012) 54 Cal.4th 952, 1009.) Under state law, a prosecutor's conduct that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is still misconduct if it involves the use of deceptive or reprehensible methods in attempting to persuade the trier of fact. (Id. at pp. 1009-1010.) To prevail on a claim of prosecutorial misconduct based on remarks to

Page 18

the jury, the defendant must show a reasonable likelihood the jury understood or applied the disputed comments in an improper or erroneous manner. (People v. Centeno (2014) 60 Cal.4th 659, 667.)