What is the test for a claim of prosecutorial misconduct?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Avila, H040481 (Cal. App. 2015):

The general rules applying to claims of prosecutorial misconduct are as follows: "Under the federal Constitution, to be reversible, a prosecutor's improper comments must ' "so infect[ ] the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process." ' [Citations.] ' "But conduct by a prosecutor that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is prosecutorial misconduct under state law only if it involves ' "the use of deceptive or reprehensible methods to attempt to persuade either the court or the jury." ' " [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Cunningham (2001) 25 Cal.4th 926, 1000.) When the claim of prosecutorial misconduct "is based upon 'comments made by the prosecutor before the jury, the question is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury construed or applied any of the complained-of remarks in an objectionable fashion. [Citation.]' [Citations.]" (Id. at p. 1001.)

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