California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Silva, F066141 (Cal. App. 2014):
In People v. Edelbacher (1989) 47 Cal.3d 983, the court held the prosecutor did not commit misconduct by describing defendant as, among other things, "a 'pathological liar,' and 'one of the greatest liars in the history of Fresno County.' " (Id. at p. 1030.) "Referring to the testimony and out-of-court statements of a defendant as 'lies' is an acceptable practice so long as the prosecutor argues inferences based on evidence rather than the prosecutor's personal belief resulting from personal experience or from evidence outside the record. [Citations.] Argument may be vigorous and may include opprobrious epithets reasonably warranted by the evidence. [Citations.] The prosecutor's comments
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were based on the evidence and amounted to no more than vigorous but fair argument." (Ibid.)
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