Does a prosecutor's statement that the defense's role was to make the jury "doubt the truth" assume facts not in evidence?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Patlan, H038200 (Cal. App. 2014):

Defendant argues the prosecutor's statement that the defense's role was to make the jury "doubt the truth" assumed facts not in evidence because it suggested that the prosecutor knew what "the truth" was. Even assuming counsel was deficient for not objecting on that basis, defendant can show no prejudice because, as discussed above, the trial court sustained counsel's objection as it was presented and admonished the jury to be "independent judges of the facts . . . ." In essence, the court's admonition, which it related to the jurors soon after the objectionable statement, reminded them that they were responsible for determining "the truth." As such, defendant suffered no prejudice from this omission. (People v. Pigage (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 1359, 1375 ["a timely admonition from the court generally cures any harm"].)

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