Is a jury entitled to consider the closing arguments of counsel?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Pinski, G056453 (Cal. App. 2019):

"Moreover, we presume that the jury relied on the instructions, not the arguments, in convicting defendant. '[I]t should be noted that the jury, of course, could totally disregard all the arguments of counsel.' [Citation.] Though we have focused on the prosecutor's closing arguments, we do not do so at the expense of our presumption that 'the jury treated the court's instructions as statements of law, and the prosecutor's comments as words spoken by an advocate in an attempt to persuade.' [Citation.] The trial court emphasized this rule when, as stated, it instructed the jury to follow its instructions and to exalt them over the parties' arguments and statements." (People v. Morales (2001) 25 Cal.4th 34, 47.) So too here.

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