How has the jury been instructed in the context of the opening and closing statements of counsel at a jury trial?

In addition to the fact that the remarks were open to interpretation, the jurors were not left to deliberate without guidance. The court instructed the jurors on the way in which they were to consider the evidence and arguments of counsel. They were instructed that they, alone, were to decide what the facts were based only on the evidence. They were also cautioned not to let bias, sympathy, or prejudice influence their decision. The court was clear that they must follow the law as explained by the court whether or not they disagreed with it.⁵ This included the admonition that "[i]n their opening statements and closing arguments, the attorneys discuss the case, but their remarks are not evidence."⁶ Given these instructions, "We must . . . assume that the jurors are intelligent persons and capable of understanding and correlating all jury instructions which are given. [Citation.]" (People v. Yoder (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 333, 338.)