Is referring to a party's wealth to play off the bias of the jury in a personal injury case misconduct?

(Doc. No. 381 at 52:12-53:24.) Referencing a party's wealth to play off the bias of the jury is clear misconduct. See Hoffman v. Brandt, 65 Cal. 2d 549, 552-53 (1966) ("The argument was clearly error . . . a deliberate attempt by counsel to appeal to social or economic

Page 16

prejudices of the jury, including the wealth or poverty of the litigants, is misconduct where the asserted wealth or poverty is not relevant to the issues of the case."); see also Martinez v. Dep't of Transp., 238 Cal. App. 4th 559, 566 (2015) ("The law, like boxing, prohibits hitting below the belt. The basic rule forbids an attorney to pander to the prejudice, passion or sympathy of the jury. In more concrete terms, attorneys cannot make appeals based on irrelevant financial aspects of the case such as the hardship that would be visited on a defendant from a plaintiff's verdict.") (internal citation omitted).