Is there any case law where a prosecutor has been found to have engaged in deceptive or reprehensible methods to persuade either the trial court or the jury?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Seumanu, S093803 (Cal. 2015):

Were we to overlook defendant's failure to preserve his misconduct claim and address its merits, we would find the prosecutor did not engage in "deceptive or reprehensible methods to attempt to persuade either the trial court or the jury." (People v. Morales (2001) 25 Cal.4th 34, 44.) As a general matter, "[i]mpermissible 'vouching' may occur where the prosecutor places the prestige of the government behind a witness through personal assurances of the witness's veracity or suggests that information not presented to the jury supports the witness's testimony." (People v. Fierro (1991) 1 Cal.4th 173, 211.) Similarly, evidence of a prosecutor's subjective motivations when prosecuting a case is not

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relevant,8 for "[i]t is misconduct for prosecutors to bolster their case 'by invoking their personal prestige, reputation, or depth of experience, or the prestige or reputation of their office, in support of it.' [Citation.] Similarly, it is misconduct ' to suggest that evidence available to the government, but not before the jury, corroborates the testimony of a witness.' [Citation.] The vice of such remarks is that they ' may be understood by jurors to permit them to avoid independently assessing witness credibility and to rely on the government's view of the evidence.' [Citation.]" (People v. Bonilla (2007) 41 Cal.4th 313, 336.)

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