Can a judge comment on the evidence in a criminal case?

There is an inherent tension between the authority of a trial court to comment on the evidence and the right of a criminal defendant to a jury trial. A court's exercise of its authority to comment on the evidence always poses the danger of a violation of the right to jury trial. Because a judge presiding [4 Cal.4th 557] over a trial necessarily has substantial influence on the jury (Bollenbach v. United States (1946) 326 U.S. 607, 612, 66 S.Ct. 402, 405, 90 L.Ed. 350), every judicial comment on the evidence carries with it an appreciable risk that the jury may discount its own view of the evidence in deference to the judge's opinion. (People v. Cook (1983) 33 Cal.3d 400, 407, 189 Cal.Rptr. 159, 658 P.2d 86.) Therefore, in the interest of protecting the right to jury trial while giving efficacy to our state Constitution's grant of authority to comment on the evidence, appellate courts have imposed strict limitations on the trial court's authority to comment.