How have the courts interpreted comments made by a prosecutor to the jury in a criminal case?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Woodruff, 235 Cal.Rptr.3d 513, 421 P.3d 588, 5 Cal.5th 697 (Cal. 2018):

Next, defendant claims that the prosecutors comment, while he was searching for an exhibit in the jurys presence, "Im sure Ill never see it again," was an "accusation that defense counsel was hiding or misplacing evidence." Defendant reaches this conclusion by referring to an earlier comment by the prosecutor, out of the jurys presence, that defense counsel had removed exhibits from the court. " To prevail on a claim of prosecutorial misconduct based on remarks to the jury, the defendant must show a reasonable likelihood the jury understood or applied the complained-of comments in an improper or erroneous manner. " ( People v. Dykes (2009) 46 Cal.4th 731, 771-772, 95 Cal.Rptr.3d 78, 209 P.3d 1.) We see no reasonable likelihood the jurors would have believed this innocuous comment referred to defense counsel, given that they had not heard the earlier comment. By itself, the comment did not suggest that defense counsel had taken the exhibits.

[235 Cal.Rptr.3d 574]

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